Ward Melville's Jon Seyfert, Holy Trinity and Manhasset relay teams take home indoor track titles

Jon Seyfert, Ward Melville,1,600 meters

The only individual male from Long Island to win a state title waited until his senior year to achieve that level of glory.

Seyfert came from behind to win in a state-best 4 minutes, 15.68 seconds at Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex on Staten Island, his first state title.

Immediately after the starter pistol sounded Seyfert found himself in last place, but quickly made a big pass to propel himself into second by the end of the first lap. He carefully used his elbow as a wedging device to cram between opponents without shoving or jostling them.

Over the final seven laps, Seyfert seesawed between the top three spots and lost the lead in the penultimate lap. However, he regained it in the final lap and fended off Colonie’s Owen Conley.

“I just can’t believe it,” Seyfert said after the race. “There’s always doubt, maybe today’s just not the day, maybe my training isn’t going well. But for everything to work out, for me to run fast, have a [personal best] and just feel on top of the world, it makes it all worth it. It makes you think, ‘How did I even have doubt?’”

Holy Trinity’s 4 x 200 meter relay team (Erric Hayes, Gabriel Nathan, Christian Balkcom, Jalen Josey)

Holy Trinity’s squad got off to a good start in the Division II race, with juniors Hayes and Nathan putting the team in second place through

400 meters.

The Titans took the lead when Balkcom ran a 23.5-second third leg and then secured the championship after he passed the baton to Josey, who sprinted a 21.94-second anchor leg to nail down the victory. All told, Holy Trinity registered a 1:31.21.

Josey and his crew dedicated their races throughout the indoor season to Jaden Sinclair, an alumnus of the program who ran on the 4 x 200 team and passed away in October.

“When he passed away, it was very sad, so we’ve been running for him,” Josey said. “A lot of people don’t think we’re that fast, so I feel like we’re underdogs. I’m just here to show people what we’re really about.”

Manhasset 4 x 800 meter relay team (John Hogan, Cole Thalheimer, Nicolas Katsoulis, Ryan Boldi)

After Hogan got his crew off to a third-place start, Thalheimer ran 1:57.05 to move the team into second. He then passed the baton to Katsoulis, whose 1:56.67 third leg gave Manhasset the lead, putting the team’s goals within sight.

It was up to Boldi to bring home the championship, which he did by running a 1:55.61 anchor leg to win in a combined 7:48.32.

It was the program’s first state championship in the event, which fittingly followed the school’s first team state cross country title, won in November.

“They’ve been able to work together for a long period of time and get so comfortable and confident,” Manhasset coach Steve Steiner said. “They were very confident that they could take care of the job.

“It’s especially gratifying to know that we had to go through four months to get here.”