Zariel Macchia of Floyd wins state track title after court allows her to run

None of Floyd senior Zariel Macchia’s seven career state championships had more drama than the one Saturday at Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex on Staten Island.

Macchia was found to have violated a New York State Public High School Athletic Association regulation known as the “college rule” on Feb. 15 when she raced against 45 collegiate athletes representing their schools, and was deemed ineligible for the remainder of the indoor season — including the track and field state championships.

With no traditional appeal process available, Macchia and her family sued the NYSPHSAA to have her eligibility restored. After a two-day emergency hearing, New York State Supreme Court judge Christopher Modelewski granted Macchia’s petition Thursday, allowing her to run in the championships.

Macchia capitalized on the second chance. She won the 3,000 meters by posting a national-best 9 minutes, 21.73 seconds to claim her second career indoor state title.

“After the whole case and everything, I definitely had to come out with a title today,” Macchia said. “After this whole thing, that just felt like something I had to do.”

The moment was emotional for her. She had to work hard for the win, as she trailed both Fayetteville-Manlius senior Izzie Sullivan and Ithaca sophomore Tsadia Bercuvitz for the first few laps. Macchia methodically outlasted them, working her way into second place halfway through the race before taking the lead with three laps to go.

On the last lap, with little breathing room, Macchia began to kick and stretched her lead on the far straightaway. After maintaining separation on the final curve, she finished strong. Once the race ended, Macchia pumped both fists in the air and smiled wide.

“It definitely feels special after the whole situation to even be able to compete in the state meet today,” Macchia said. “Starting the day off with a title in a tight race [and] a U.S. No. 1 [time], a huge [personal best], I just had a lot of fun. I couldn’t have asked for a better start to the day.”

Later, she ran 2:46.95 to finish third in the 1,000, just three milliseconds shy of second place. She also ran the 1,500-meter anchor leg of Suffolk’s intersectional relay victory, helping the team come-from-behind and win in 10:02.06.

Her parents, grandparents and five siblings were in attendance for the historic day. Her father, Pete Macchia, a former runner at Chaminade and Columbia University and now a teacher at Weldon E. Howitt Middle School in Farmingdale, has played an integral role in Zariel’s development, both on and off the track.

He left work early Thursday to testify in her defense. His testimony helped make the case that the family was unaware of the entire scope of the college rule at the time of the Feb. 15 race, and that the NYSPHSAA had been inconsistent with past enforcement of the rule.

Pete Macchia was overjoyed with how his daughter handled the whole situation. Watching her win another championship only furthered his pride.

“I’m incredibly proud,” he said. “It was the one message that I shared with her when she finished in court. We know she can do some things with running that very few people can do, which I think says more about her character than about her training.”