Valley Stream North's Paige Fessler, Sachem East's Bella Galeas win state titles in pentathlon
Bella Galeas of Sachem East competes in the girls pentathlon 100-meter hurdles during the second day of the state outdoor track and field championships at Webster Schroeder High School in Webster, N.Y. on Saturday. Credit: Ben Cleeton
New challenges have reaped some new rewards for several Long Island girls track and field athletes.
Valley Stream North’s Paige Fessler and Sachem East’s Bella Galeas both validated some risks at the outdoor state and Federation championships at Webster Schroeder High School in Webster this weekend. Fessler scored 3,521 points to win both the Class B and Federation titles in the pentathlon, and Galeas won Class A and placed second in the Federation with 3,489.
Both juniors are multisport athletes, which has carried them to individual success in several events. Galeas is a top-three 400-meter hurdler and the best long jumper on Long Island. Fessler won the outdoor state Class B long jump championship last year, as well as the Class B and Federation high jump titles.
So their coaches — Mike Frazer of Valley Stream North and Bart Sessa of Sachem East — both challenged them with the idea of becoming pentathletes. Both girls said they were initially apprehensive, but obliged. Now, both are state champions.
“At first, I was hesitant about doing the pentathlon because I knew I had a shot to win the high and long jumps again,” Fessler said. “Looking back, I’m really happy I listened to Coach because it pushed me out of my comfort zone and helped me accomplish something I wasn’t sure I could at the start of the season.”
Their weekends began on Saturday with the 100-meter hurdles. Galeas ran it in 14.66 seconds and Fessler finished in 15.05. Later, in the high jump, Fessler cleared 5 feet, 10 3⁄4 inches — which would have won the individual Federation title — while Galeas hit 4-9. In the shot put, Galeas threw 29-11 1⁄2, and Fessler threw 28-2 1⁄4.
On Sunday, both girls flew 18-7 3⁄4 in the long jump. Then Galeas ran the 800 in 2 minutes, 21.02 seconds and Fessler finished in 2:44.96.
Another Long Islander on a new mission was Port Jefferson senior Alexa Jacobs, who had previously won state titles in the Class C 100 and 200. This year, she discarded those events in pursuit of a different championship: the Class C 400.
She won it in 55.79 on Saturday.
“I wanted to prove myself as an all-around, well-rounded sprinter who could run a longer race,” Jacobs said. “It was definitely a risk . . . but I wanted to make a statement in my last meet, and I think I did that.”
Sewanhaka senior Zoe Amadike is also relatively new to her main event: the triple jump. She started doing it only this past winter.
However, after flying 40-3 1⁄2 on Sunday, she is now the state Class B champion.
“I’m super glad I did this,” Amadike said. “It shows that stepping outside your comfort zone and trying new things can lead to amazing opportunities.”
Elsewhere, Bay Shore’s Maggie McCormick won the Class A and Federation titles in the 1,500 in 4:17.87 on Sunday. Eastport-South Manor’s Maddie Laezza was the only Long Island double champion, as she won the Class B 800 (2:09.55) on Saturday and the Class B 1,500 (4:22.07) on Sunday. Hewlett senior Nylah Phillips won the Class B 400 in 54.89.
Mike Anderson is a high school sports reporter who has covered 12 sports so far at Newsday. He was the sports editor of Stony Brook University's campus newspaper for two years.
