Rye High’s outdoor track and field team more than held its own recently at the school’s namesake meet — the annual Rye Relays — an event that for a second year honored two beloved former track coaches, the late Jim “Yed” Yedowitz and John “Mitty” McGee.“
Coach Yed,” after whom Rye High School’s track is named, died five years ago after battling pancreatic cancer. McGee, Yedowitz’s longtime colleague and friend, retired two years ago, but was present at the April 27 meet to cheer on his former charges.
The boys squad swept the top four finishes in the 400-meter sprint: senior co-captain William Squarek led the charge, taking first with a remarkable time of 52.59 seconds, closely followed by another senior co-captain, Jake Zion, in 53.56, junior Justin McCarthy in 53.62, and sophomore Ben Truman in 53.75.
In the 200 sprint, senior Akachukwu Udgeha finished second in 23.79 seconds, while in the 1,600 middle-distance event, sophomore Clayton Stark placed second with a time of 5 minutes, 7.86 seconds. The boys also dominated the relay events, taking first place in the 4×800, the short medley relay (200-200-400-800), and the distance med-ley relay (400-800-1,200-1,600).
In the field events, noteworthy performances included those of two Garnet juniors: Harrison Kaplan, who took third place in shot put with a throw of 35 feet, 4 inches, and Aidan Schmidt, who secured second place in the long jump with a leap of 17 feet, 2 inches.
The girls squad, meanwhile, dominated the meet’s distance races. Sophomore Lily Oberbannscheidt and senior captain Aine Kennelly took fourth and fifth place, respectively, in the 1,500-meter run, with impressive times of 5:18.34 and 5:24.82. The girls excelled in relay events as well, clinching second place in both the 4×800 and the distance medley.
In the high jump, seniors Sophia Shoemaker and Isabela Lulaj came in third and fourth, respectively, with jumps of 4 feet, 3 inches for Shoemaker and 4 feet even for Lulaj. Senior Ava Hoogstra placed third in long jump with a leap stretching 14 feet, 11 inches.
RHS track and field competes again May 17-18 at the regional Section 1 Westchester County championships.