GI track qualifies 4 to State Championships

Tsembelis wins 1,600; Carter takes 2nd in 3,200; Hagen, Helman take 3rd in 1,000, PV

Grand Island Dispatch, March 7, 2008

Members of the Grand Island indoor track team celebrate a successful Section
VI meet recently at Fredonia State College. Back row, from left: Jordan Gibson,
Chris Carter, Adam Helman and Evan Tsembelis. Kneeling is Ryan Hagen.

Grand Island High School’s indoor track and field team added another impressive performance to an already impressive indoor season as four athletes qualified for the State Indoor Championships at Cornell University this weekend.

“Some were expected, some were a nice surprise and one was a relief,” noted veteran GI coach Don Sauer. Evan Tsembelis was undefeated in Western New York this season in the 1,600 and won with his well-known “Greek Kick,” as he broke from the field after being boxed the first three-fourths of the race. “We had a serious discussion after about his strategy and that won’t happen again,” noted Sauer.

Chris Carter ran another impressive race in the 3,200 as he tagged onto the leader throughout the first half of the race and ran a strong solo in the second half. His time was 10:00 equivalent to his performance two weeks ago.

“Chris was much better prepared this time and was relaxed and focused. He was confident and ready to go,” commented volunteer Assistant Coach Jon Lacki.

Ryan Hagen was the big surprise in the 1,000.

“I told Ryan that he had a outside shot at States this last week if he was focused and wanted it bad enough. I guess he did, and I’m real excited for him,” said Sauer.

In the final rankings, Hagen was seeded sixth and finished third to make the trip.

“You could see it in his eyes that he really wanted it, and he ran a really smart and strong race,” noted Assistant Coach Jim Patterson.

Junior Adam Helman was the relief, according to Sauer.

“He had qualified earlier with a 13-0 effort. Then he sprained his ankle in practice two weeks ago. We put him on ice for a week and then began easy jogging and eventually sprinting again this week,” Sauer said. “Without a place to practice, it is tough to vault. Lancaster has their fieldhouse to practice every day and we have a small gym, which does not have a long enough runway for full vaults. I am totally amazed how well he does under the circumstances.”

Helman makes up his lack of facilities by his work ethic and dedication. He hits the weights on Tuesday and Thursday and does sprints and drills the rest of the week.

The 4x800 relay of Carter, Hagen, Jordan Gibson and Tsembelis placed third. Freshman Patrick Gallagher ran in the 300, placing third in his race and running his best time of the year – 39.74.

“That’s an impressive time, especially for a freshman as he was running mainly against juniors and seniors,” Sauer said.

The girls team ran well as they had Caitlyn Driscoll and Maritina Tsembelis in the 1,000m run, with Tsembelis placing second in her race. Driscoll, fighting flu-like symptoms, was seventh in her race. The girls ran the 4x400 relay and qualified for the finals. Driscoll, Tsembelis along with Kelsey Mash and Ellen Betterson finished eighth overall in the finals. Betterson raced in the 300 and finished fourth in her heat.

The State Meet will be held this Saturday afternoon at Cornell University beginning at 2 p.m.

“Four athletes in one year are very impressive. We’ve had two athletes every year except last year since 2004, and now we have four this year. We have some good young talent coming up, so next year could be as impressive, and I’m excited already thinking about it for next year,” noted Sauer.