Ward Melville's Jon Seyfert wins indoor 1,600 meters state championship

At the end of the last academic year, Ward Melville senior Jon Seyfert set a personal goal: become a state champion.

Seyfert was tired of falling short, like he did at the 2023 Suffolk cross country state qualifier meet or at last year’s indoor and outdoor track state meets. He made some progress on that goal, finishing second to Lindenhurst senior Jake Albert at last fall’s Suffolk cross country championships, but that was as close as he’d gotten to an individual championship of any kind. So once Saturday’s indoor track and field state championships at Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex on Staten Island came around, Seyfert set out to make this moment the one that got him over the hump.

Mission accomplished.

Not only did Seyfert finally become a state champion, but he was the only male from Long Island to win an individual state title. He ran the 1,600 meters in 4 minutes, 15.68 seconds to claim both the state championship and New York’s top time ranking. 

“My coach said, ‘What do you want to do this upcoming season?’ I told him that I wanted to be a state champion,” Seyfert said. “I can’t believe it finally happened.”

Even after the winning feeling had set in, Seyfert was still shaking his head with a smile, so much as to say, “no way.” Given how he began the race, it is rather hard to believe that he won.

Seyfert said he was not feeling at his physical best, and his start proved it.

He was last out of 11 runners at the start, but he ran physically and, on several occasions, used his elbows to help pass opponents.

Seyfert kept with the leaders for much of the middle of the race before taking the lead with two laps to go. On the final turn of the last lap, heading toward the home straightaway, Owen Conley of Colonie tried to pass him, but Seyfert once again held his ground with an elbow to keep him ahead of the pack.

Seyfert crossed the finish line celebrating, knowing that his dream had finally been realized.

“You can’t just go into a race thinking that maybe you’re going to get third or fourth,” Seyfert said. “Every single race, I’ve got to go in thinking that I’m going to win. That’s how you get the fastest time and the results you want. It’s awesome that it finally came to fruition.”

As part of his reward for winning the title, Seyfert was given a commemorative t-shirt.  He joked that he is going to wear it every day for the next week.

Though no other individual males from Long Island claimed a title, two relay teams did: Holy Trinity in the Division II 4 x 200 and Manhasset in both the Division I and Federation 4 x 800.

For Holy Trinity, juniors Erric Hayes, Gabriel Nathan, Jalen Josey, and senior Christian Balkcom combined to sprint a 1:31.21 en route to a state championship. Josey’s effort on the anchor leg was integral.

“That was my goal coming into the meet,” Josey said. “I wanted to win the whole section and move onto the Federation final.”

Holy Trinity coach Eugenia Bradshaw helped motivate the team before the race by prompting them to run in honor of Jaden Sinclair: a program alumnus who died in October at 21 years old. Before the race, the four boys practiced by passing around the baton that Sinclair used during his time with the team.

Bradshaw believes Sinclair helped them win it.

“I talked to him during the race,” Bradshaw said. “I was like, ‘Jaden, help them. Be with them with the baton. Be with them with the handoffs.’”

For Manhasset, seniors John Hogan, Cole Thalheimer, Ryan Boldi, and sophomore Nicolas Katsoulis combined for a 7:48.32 to deliver the program’s first ever state title in a relay.

Boldi, who qualified for the meet in the 1,000 but dropped out to stay fresh for the relay, was happy that his move paid off.

“I can’t even describe it,” Boldi said. “It still hasn’t hit me yet, but it was awesome. I’ve been on this team for five years now, and this is something that maybe we didn’t all believe in the beginning, but slowly, every year, we got a little bit closer. We couldn’t have done it without everyone else today.”