WEST POINT -- There is no “I” in team but there is most assuredly an “I' in win. Track and field is proof positive of that maxim. Each and every athlete's contribution goes into the aggregate score and sometimes that result is, as it was at this year's OCIAA Division VI championships, truly astounding.

While the Sullivan West girls have been dominant for the past six years and the odds-on favorite to win the Division VI title during that era, few could expect this year's team comprised of many underclassmen and missing standouts Sam Becker and Tallula Gann to marshal a 149-110 victory over favored Millbrook to claim their seventh straight Division title under the outstanding mentorship of Coach Joe Seidl.

Seidl's brilliant placement of athletes in events, even those they had previously not entered into, made the difference in the point hunt against stunned Millbrook.

Coach Seidl summed the win up this way: “After losing 11 seniors and two state ranked athletes to graduation, the Sullivan West girls Track team has moved into a new era. The goal as always was to continually improve as individuals and as a team. Millbrook is certainly a talented team and going into the Division Championship our goal was to stay as close as possible. The girls once again outperformed all expectations as they put up several outstanding performances and shocked a favored Millbrook team by a score of 149-110.”

Remarkably, this division championship was the 7th in a row for the girls' team. They have not lost to a division opponent since 2013. The more things change, the more they remain the same. Congratulations to the girls and their continued commitment to excellence.

While the girls were pulling off what many would designate an upset, the Sullivan West boys did something equally amazing by defeating the loaded Tri-Valley team 131-117 to regain the title they last held in 2014.

Coach Seidl noted, “The Sullivan West Boys Indoor Track and Field Team had one goal this season, namely, to recapture the Division Title from rival Tri-Valley. On Friday night they did just that. With a hard-fought victory over a hardworking and dedicated Tri-Valley team, the SW boys displayed true grit and fortitude. The TV boys started strong building a nearly 40-point lead early in the meet, but the SW boys fought back from this deficit one event at a time. Overcoming adversity and focusing at the task at hand is essential in any big meet and to their credit this group of young men rose to the challenge and were crowned champions once again.”

Kudos as well to the Liberty girls who placed second in Division IV and the Fallsburg girls who took second in Division V.

RESULTS

Division VI Girls -- Team scores: 1. Sullivan West 149; 2. Millbrook 110; 3. Pine Plains 80; 4. Chapel Field 56; 5. Eldred 50; 6. Tri-Valley 29.

55: 4. Faith Peters (SW) 8.15.9; 300: 4. Emily Bair (SW) 48.61, 5. Alyana Brown (T-V) 49.60. 600: 1. Bair (SW) 2:00.3; 3. Sam Everett (SW) 2:01.70; 1000: 3. Bair (SW) 3:35.65; 1500: 4. Kate Cortright (Eld) 7:01.93; 3000: 2. Laura Smith (SW) 16:15.15; 3. Zoe Nizzico (Eld) 16:37.04; 55 Hurdles: 4. Keely Schock (SW) 11:36; 5. Rebecca Coombe (T-V). 4x200: 2. Sullivan West 2:22.58. 4x400: 1. Sullivan West 5:24.74. 4x800: 2. Sullivan West 15:21.88. High jump: 1. Paige Paruki (SW) 4-08; 4. Cortright (Eld) 4-02. Long jump: 1. Paruki (SW) 12:94.50; 2. Peters (SW) 11-01. Triple jump: 3. Paruki (SW) 26-11.50. Shot put: 1. Andrea Decker (T-V) 32:04.25; 2. Carrie Sykes (SW) 26-10; 3. Sarah Jacobson (SW) 25-11.50. Weight throw: 1. Decker (T-V) 37-04.50; 3. Sykes (SW) 26-10.75; 3. Jacobson (SW) 24-01.75. 1500 Racewalk: 1. Smith (SW) 10:40.59; 2. Decker (T-V) 11:19.43.

Division VI Boys-- Team scores: 1. Sullivan West 131; 2. Tri-Valley 117; 3. Pine Plains 99; 4. Millbrook 59; 5. Eldred 57.

55: 1. Roan Gillingham (SW) 6.90; 3. CJ Sickmiller (Eld) 7.08; 5. Michael Squires T-V) 7.43. 300: 1. Gillingham (SW) 37.41; 2. Jaxon Stutz (Eld) 38.86; 4. Sickmiller (Eld) 40.41; 5. Sid South (SW) 41.31. 600: 2. Sean Rush 1:34.14; 3. Matt Dunker (Eld) 1:35.74; 4. Dayne Wall (T-V) 1:36.28; 5. Henry Leon Marin 1:36.30. 1000: 2. Rush (T-V) 2:51.66; 3. Bryce Maopolski (SW) 2:59.75; 5. Vincent Mingo (T-V) 3:01.31. 1600: 1. Daniel Rush (T-V) 4:48.97; 3. Maopolski (SW) 5:94.71; 4. Adam Furman (T-V) 5:06.27. 3200: 1. Daniel Rush 10:16.21; 2. Furman 10:27.37. 55 Hurdles: 1. William Connors (SW) 9.75; 4. Nicholas Jucha (T-V) 10:32; 5. Squires (T-V) 10.38. 4x200: 1. Tri-Valley 1.53.20; 2. Sullivan West 1:55.50. 4x400 1. Sullivan West 4:03.95; 2. Tri-Valley 4:05.10. High jump: 4. Liam Perreira Mendoza (SW) 5-00. Long jump: 1. Stutz (Eld) 19-01; 2. Enoch Peters (SW) 16-04.50; 3. Sickmiller (Eld) 15:06.50; 5. Jucha (T-V) 14-10. Triple jump: 1. Mendoza (SW) 32-10; 4. Jucha (T-V) 30-04. Shot put: 1. Frank Decker (SW) 39-07; 2. Devin Mullen (T-V) 38-11.25; 3. Chad Mercado (SW) 36-06; 4. Peters (SW) 34-03.25. Weight throw: 1. Decker (SW) 38-06.75; 2. Mullen (T-V) 35-02; 3. Matt Dutcher (Eld) 35-01.50; 5. David Allison (T-V) 30-07.50.

Girls Division V (Fallsburg only) -- Team Scores 1. Ellenville 232; 2. Fallsburg 97; 3. Chester 52; 4. Burke 52; 5. Onteora 16; 6. Dover 8; 7. Spackenkill 5.

55: 1. Dolce McPherson 7.54. 55 Hurdles: 3. Bintous Darboe 11.88; 300: 1. McPherson 44.33; 600: 5. Katerin Yaneth Pena Ortiz 2:22.21; 1000: 5. Josephine Zyla 4:06.25. 1500: 5.Fatourmatta Darboe 6:47.90; 3000: 2. Gisella King 12.17.77. 1500 Racewalk: 2. Cici Mancia 12:22.51; 4x400: 1. 4:35.16. High jump: 4. Jamie Rein 4-02. Long jump: 4. Madison Lent 10-05.50. Weight throw: 3. Anna Dell'Aquila 24-03.

Division V Boys (Fallsburg only) -- Team scores 1. Burke 150; 2. Ellenville 102; 3. Chester 75; 4. Spackenkill 43; 5. Fallsburg 41; 6. Dover 9; 7. Onteora 8.

55: 4. Derryck Payton 7.14. 55 Hurdles: 2. Josie Galeas 10:44; 4. Hunter Doty 13.05; 300: 3. Payton 41.08. 600: 5. Galeas 1:48.21; 4x200: 2. 145.99. 4x400 4. 5:10.32.

Girls Division IV (Liberty only) -- Team scores: 1. Port Jervis 103; 2. Liberty 84; 3. Marlboro 80; 4. James I. O'Neill 71; 5. Red Hook 55; 6. Rondout Valley 53; 7. Highland 26.

55 Hurdles: 2. Brooke Roth 10:21; 3. Kylie Bachman 10:48. 600: 3. Katrina Blais1:57.49; 5. Bachman 2:01.09. 1500 Racewalk: 1. Sydneigh Fleischman 9:18.16. 4x200: 5. 2:09.64.4x800: 3. 13:13.10. High jump: 3. Brianna Roth 4-04; 4. Chazzy Hanofee 4-04. Long Jump: 1. Brooke Roth 15-00.50. Pole Vault: 2. Brianna Roth 6-00. Triple jump: 1. Brooke Roth 31-06.25.

Boys Division IV (Liberty only) -- Team scores: 1. James I. O'Neill 107; 2. Port Jervis 104; 3.Ellenville 102.33; 4. Marlboro 99.33; 5. Highland 33.333; 6.Red Hook. 21; 7. Liberty 19.

300: 5. Wayne Kratz 39.73.1000: 3. Gabriel Desrochers 2:50.34; 4x200: 4. 1:43.51; 4x400 4:19.18; Weight throw: 4. Richard Jandik 39-07.

Girls Division III (Monticello only) --

Team Scores: 1.Cornwall 189; 2. Goshen 150; 3. New Paltz 86; 4. Wallkill 55; 5. Monticello 36.

55: 3. Meg Cruz 7.94. 55 Hurdles: 1. Taina DeJesus 43.77. 300: 2. DeJesus 43.77. 600: 5. Aubrey Soller 2:00.72. 1000: 5. Soller 3:37.01; 4x200: 2. 1:55.51.

Boys Division III (Monticello only) -- Team Scores: 1. Cornwall 136; 2. Goshen 121; 3. New Paltz 105; 4. Wallkill 92; 5. Monticello 32

1600: 2. Steve Bello 4:36.13; 4. Brandon Mancroni 4:43.54. 3200: 2. Bello 9:52.18; 4. Evan Waterton 9:57.95; 4x800: 2. 8:51.88.