Article by Phoenix writer Nicholas Cortese ’23:
On Saturday, April 1, the Firebird boys track team opened up the 2023 spring season with some solid performances at the Valley Stream Challenge. William Mullin leaped to 3rd place in the 400-meter hurdles and Danny Carsey ranked 6th in the 110-meter hurdles. Mario Sanabria raced to a 5th place finish in the 400 meter dash and Kavon Morris and Malachi McCaskill placed 2nd and 3rd respectively in the 100 meter dash final. Ryan Mroz placed 3rd in the triple jump. Ethan Thomas placed 4th in the 200 dash. The highlight of the day came at a perfect time as the skies finally cleared up for the 4×100 meter relay. The team of Kavon Morris, Mario Sanabria, Malachi McCaskill, and Evans Linzey secured the gold from lane 1 against some powerful public school teams. The relay team of Nicolas Baldwin, Justin McKenzie, Miguel Haskell, and Ethan Thomas also placed 4th.
Temperatures began heating up over Easter break, and the boys track and field team continued to scorch the track with some top notch performances. At the Ed Jennings Jamboree, Evans Linzey and Captain Kavon Morris went 1 & 2 respectively in the 200 meter dash. At the Easter Classic, Kavon took a silver in the 100, Mario Sanabria took a bronze in the 200, Danny Carsey took a silver in the 110 hurdles, and Kevin O’Keefe and Sebastian Galofaro took silver and bronze respectively in the 400 hurdles. On the freshman side, Alex Morgan and Kaleb Dyasi took silver and bronze respectively in the 100 meter dash with Ethan Linzey taking bronze in the 200. Gold medal performances were turned in by Evans Linzey in the 400 dash and Amir Ajenishe in the 2000 meter steeplechase. At the Dennis Walker Relay Showdown, Kavon Morris took home gold in the 100 and joined Mario Sanabria, Malachi McCaskill, and Ethan Thomas for gold medals in the 4×100 relay. Malachi and Mario took gold and silver respectively in the freshman/sophomore 100 meter dash.
The highlight of the Easter Break came at the East Meadow Invitational from Senior Ryan Mroz. Ryan had already earned the nickname “Jump Man” and now earned the nickname “Iron Man” after his performance in the pentathlon. The pentathlon consists of the 110 hurdles, long jump, high jump, shot put, and 1500 run all in one day. Truly a grueling event, many participants fail to rise up to the occasion. Kellenberg’s track athletes, however, are wired differently. Coach Moncada always tells the gentlemen to “Trust the Process” and Ryan said that motivation was all he needed. “It take a lot to push yourself through such an intense event, but when my mind is in the right place, nothing can stop me.” Ryan medaled in the event en route to a school record in the event with a whopping 2,355 points. The entire team displayed immense dedication to the program during the break, fully embodying their ideologies and trusting in the process.