Beatrice Boylan became Cornwall’s newest state champion, as she won the steeplechase in Albany on June 13.
Until a week ago, the 12th-grader had not considered herself a candidate for the title. Several girls in the state had posted faster times. And a few of them had finished ahead of Beatrice in the Steeplefest in Cornwall in May.
But in the qualifying meet in Kingston everything changed. Beatrice slashed a dozen seconds off her school record for the event, and posted the fastest time in the state and nation this year.
Beatrice believed she could duplicate that time, but she didn’t know if anyone could do better. She started the day being nervous. But two things helped her get over the jitters. Her teammate Hannah Mellino came up to Albany to work out with her. And then they saw Monroe-Woodbury’s Jack Jibb finish first in the boys race.
“Watching Jack relaxed me,” Beatrice admitted a few days later. She started her race in front of the pack and stayed there until Anna Kostarellis surged ahead of her on lap number three.
Anna remained in front for the next half mile. “But I could tell she was dying,” Beatrice recalled. “I passed her and just hoped that no one else could catch me.”
Nobody else did. The champion finished in 6:52.70 (close to her previous week’s time) with her nearest pursuer, Emily Burns of Guilderland, 20 yards behind her. Anna dropped back to fifth.
Later in the day, Beatrice earned another medal as a member of the Dragons’ 3200-meter relay team. The girls covered the distance in 9:15.84, which was better than their time when they won the state indoor championship. But on the outdoor track, there were five Division I schools that ran faster.
Kevin Gangemi gained a medal the hard way. He won the second-seeded heat of the 400-meter race. His time of 48.94 set a new Cornwall record, and placed him seventh overall. The next day he was sixth in the Federation Race.
Conner Russell (15.48) was 14th in the 110-meter hurdles. Gabby Fanning (2:15.76) was 16th at 800 meters, and Kristen Henry (2332 points) was 21st in the pentathlon.
State track and field champs*
2015 Bea Boylan (steeplechase)
2012 Brittany Bryant (long jump)
2011 Olivia Jebb (triple jump)
2011 Aisling Cuffe (three titles)
2010 Aisling Cuffe (two titles)
2002 Charity Briggs (sprint)
2002 Tony Calabro (1000 meters)
2000 Joe Piascik (hurdles)
1996 Mike Fitzula (indoor distance)
1987 Marisa Maggio (sprint)
*Individuals, indoors and outdoors
