John Jay duo reaches the big time on the track at Penn Relays

Top, Sloan Wasserman of John Jay competes in the 3,000-meter race at the Penn Relays. Bottom, John Jay senior Andy Condon finished ninth at the prestigious Penn Relays. Photos by Greg Kaplowitz.

By JIM MACLEAN

Every track and field athlete has heard of the Penn Relays. It is one of the most prestigious track and field events of the year, athletes from around the country descending on the Franklin Field track at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pa., for the three-day meet.

You have to earn a chance to compete against a field of the best of the best, All-Americans, NCAA champions and Olympians from every state.

To qualify to compete means you have reached the pinnacle of your sport, and on April 25, two John Jay athletes were out on the track for the 129th annual Penn Relays. Senior Andy Condon and junior Sloan Wasserman both earned the chance to step on the track and race in the Penn Relays, an event they admit was something they will always remember.

“When I was warming up an Olympian ran by me and I was like, ‘wow’ that was so cool,” admitted Wasserman. “The culture and atmosphere was insane. This was one of the biggest meets I’ve been to and it was super fun and super competitive. I got a five second P.R. so I was really happy with that and ran a good race,” she said of her personal record.

Wasserman competed in the High School Girls’ 3,000-Meter championship and she finished 10th out of 24 runners with a time of 9:45.33.

Condon was just a few minutes after her on the track on Friday afternoon as he competed in the High School boys’ 3,000-meter championship and finished sixth with a time of 8:27.39.

“I saw a bunch of national champions and raced against some All-Americans, just a fun experience against some really great competition,” explained Condon. “Going to that track and racing in that environment was really a fun experience. I just wanted to go out there and have fun. I knew I was competing against some really good kids, so I just wanted to compete and see what I could do.”

It helped both John Jay runners to know that their coach Dey Dey had competed three years in a row at the Penn Relays in college. He knows it is an intense environment and some runners can falter under the pressure, but he felt his two runners were up for the challenge and ran well.

“It was a good day, they did very well,” said Dey Dey. “They handled it well. When you’re seeing kids from all around the country who are making headlines, you definitely can get intimidated. They didn’t get that in their mind and did what they could and gave all they had and I’m happy for them.”

John Jay girls finish second at League I-C championship meet

Just two days after the Penn Relays, both Condon and Wasserman were on the track with their John Jay teammates competing in the League I-C championship meet at Somers on Monday, and Harrison on Tuesday.

It was an impressive showing for the John Jay girls team as the Wolves finished second in the team standings.

Of course Wasserman did her part as a double champion leading the way in the distance events. Wasserman won the 1,500-meter race with teammate Emma Barniv right behind in second and Maya Serai was in fifth for the Wolves. Wasserman then won the 3,000-meter race with Barniv in fourth place for the Wolves.

It wasn’t just the distance runners piling up points for the John Jay women’s team as the Wolves continued to make strides around the track.

Helena Schembri was a double winner for the Wolves as she was first in the 100-meter hurdles with Elyse Hermanto in fourth place for the Wolves. Helena was also first in the shot put with her sister Lorelai Schembri in fourth place.

The women’s high jump was a highlight for John Jay as the Wolves swept the top three spots with Jillian Samuels in first, Elyse Hermanto in second and Helena Schembri in third.

Olivia Casabona was also a champion for the Wolves as she won the women’s javelin competition with teammate Bluma Klein in fourth. Casabona was also third in the discus for the Wolves, while other fourth-place finishers in the field events included Lily Parker in the long jump and Kaylee Jean in the triple jump.

Carly Mangiaracina earned three top five finishes for the Wolves as she was third in the 100-meter dash with teammate Kylie-Paige Topey in fourth. Mangiaracina was fourth in the 200-meter race. Mykel Papa was third in the 400-meter race for John Jay with Mangiaracina in fourth place.

Papa was third in the 800-meters, and Kate Kaplowitz was fifth in the 400-meter hurdles for John Jay.

Condon led the John Jay boys team to a fourth-place finish at the league championship meet as he won two individual events and anchored a winning relay team. Condon was first in the 800-meter race with teammate Dylan Scott in fifth. Condon also won the 1,600 race. Condon and Scott teamed up with Rohan Patel and Will George to win the 4x800-meter relay race.

Joey Kern was also a champion for the John Jay boys team as he won the javelin event.

Other top five finishers for the John Jay boys included Nicolai Elias, who was third in the 400 meters, and Haolin Li was fourth in the 400-meter hurdles. In the field events, Owen Campisi was third in the shot put with teammate Skylar Monasch in fourth. Monasch was also third in the shot put for John Jay.