All 4 one and one 4 all: Group races relay message of teamwork 

Though track and field is mostly an individual sport, nothing quite gets everyone in the arena involved like the relay races. They are the ultimate team event.

Relays are always about something bigger.

To Manhasset boys coach Steve Steiner, one of the many valuable aspects of the relay races is that they serve as a reminder that track and field is very much a team sport.

“What people see in general are the individual efforts,” Steiner said. “It is very much like that outside of the relays. You’re out there on your own. But in the relays, it’s exactly where these kids really get to feel that same connection that kids on a ballfield or kids on a court might feel.”

There are typically six relay races at a track meet: three for the boys, and three of the same distance for the girls. Each relay incorporates a different type of running skill.

The shortest relay at next Saturday's indoor track and field championships on Staten Island will be the 4 x 200 meter relay, which calls for the skills of a sprinter. In the outdoor season, that race is replaced by the 4 x 100. The middle of the three relays is the 4 x 400, which is classified as “mid-distance” and can be run by either sprinters or distance runners, which usually leads to an interesting medley of talent. The longest is the 4 x 800, which is suited for distance runners — the best of whom dominate in cross country.

Steiner’s team won the Class B public school cross country state championship last fall, so the 4 x 800 perfectly fits their skillset. They qualified for Saturday's state meet in the 4 x 800. Last winter, they also qualified in the 4 x 800, but they fell short of a state title by 2.66 seconds.

'Individual glory is nice' but . . . 

For some runners, a relay race is their top priority. Senior Ryan Boldi — a prominent member of Manhasset’s 4 x 800 squad — qualified for the state meet as an individual in the 1,000, but he is heavily considering opting out of his race to remain fresh for the relay, which would give his team a better shot at winning it all. He did it last year. 

“It’s really about doing it with my teammates,” Boldi said. “We’ve gotten there together, and I feel like, really, it means a lot more to me. Getting the individual glory is nice, but doing it with the guys I’ve practiced with day in and day out, I feel like [it] means a little bit extra to us. I want to get onto that state podium with them and see if we can win it.”

Chemistry lesson

Holy Trinity junior Erric Hayes, a member of his team’s 4 x 200 squad that will be running Saturday, is an introverted person by nature. Last year, he would not even talk to some of his teammates — especially the older ones. However, when coach Eugenia Bradshaw added him to their 4 x 200 team this year, he learned how to work with others. The experience has taught him the art of building connections.

“Last year, when I wasn’t in the relay, I was nervous to communicate with my teammates,” Hayes said. “I didn’t really speak with them. I only came to track meets to do my events. I didn’t really socialize. But this year, coming together in the 4 x 200 really brought us all closer. Now I’m not as nervous to talk to them. It’s just more fun because it helps our bond on the track and in school.”

Sometimes with relays, that “something bigger” aspect transcends the team. In Holy Trinity’s case, the 4 x 200 is not just a learning ground to teach social skills but a vessel to honor someone who came before.

Jaden Sinclair, a Holy Trinity alumnus and former member of its 4 x 200 team, died last October at just 21 years old. Bradshaw made a promise to Sinclair’s father that she would never let his memory be forgotten.

At the CHSAA Intersectional championships on Feb. 15, Bradshaw brought the baton that Sinclair used back in his day, and she told her 4 x 200 boys to get themselves to “do it for Jaden.” Motivated by the message Hayes, junior Jalen Josey, senior Christian Balkcom and junior Gabriel Nathan all combined to finish in 1 minute, 30.91 seconds to place second and hit the state standard, punching their ticket to the state championship.

“Coaching high school kids, it’s not about the race; it’s about so much more,” Bradshaw said. “When I’m coaching these kids and I see a kid going through something, like Erric being nervous, it makes me want to help them even more, and I believe the relay can help them in that way.”

Sibling revelry 

In the Gabrielson household, succeeding in relays is a new family tradition. Mount Sinai freshman Cali Gabrielson and her sister, seventh-grader Capri, helped their program get all three of their relay teams to the state meet, the only girls team on Long Island to do so.

“They’ve made a big impact on our teams in the program,” coach Bill Dwyer said. “You can always count on them; that’s the biggest thing. Athletes have their own little perks, but the two of them are always 'noses to the grindstone' and they’re going to give you everything they have.”

Both girls are distance runners but were needed on other relays that do not fit their strengths. Dwyer wanted Cali — one of the top distance runners in the state — to get faster, so he had run her on the 4 x 400 team. Capri, another distance runner, regularly runs on their 4 x 800 team, but she also had to fill in for a teammate on the 4 x 200 squad at the state qualifier meet. Though they did not run on the same relay, they took turns cheering one another on and helped their relay teams earn state-qualifying placements and times.

“Going to states with Cali feels great,” Capri Gabrielson said. “She has all the knowledge, so I can get lots of tips and tricks from her. And she’s the best at cheering me on, so she’s my motivation.”

Twice as nice 

Mount inai also has the only boys program on Long Island to get all three relay teams to qualify for the state meet. Though no other programs got all of their relays to the state meet, there were several schools that got both a boys and girls relay team there in the same event. Malverne, Baldwin and Glenn will send both of their 4 x 200 teams, Friends Academy will send both of its 4 x 400 teams and Northport will send both 4 x 800 teams.

Three girls programs will send a pair of relay teams to the state championships: North Shore (4 x 400 and 4 x 800), Sachem East (4 x 400 and 4 x800) and St. Anthony’s (4 x 200 and 4 x 800).

Kellenberg will send its boys 4 x 200 and its girls 4 x 400 teams to the meet, while Syosset will send its girls 4 x 400 and its boys 4 x 800 teams.

A relay team is not necessarily always loaded with top-tier talent across the board — even the good ones. However, when a program is particularly deep with a certain kind of runner (sprinter, mid-distance or distance), the relay format allows the coach to utilize a superteam.

Case in point: Baldwin’s girls 4 x 200 unit. The back-to-back defending indoor state champions have three different sprinters who qualified for the state meet as individuals: senior Sariah Doresca, junior Breanne Barnett and senior Jahzara Emeli. Doresca was on both championship 4 x 200 teams and has also won consecutive state titles in the 55. Barnett is the state’s top-ranked runner in the 300. Emeli qualified for the state meet in the 300, as well.

Their fourth member, senior Kelys Walker, ran the second leg on last year’s state championship relay team. This depth of both talent and accolades makes it competitive within the team, which in turn, elevates them to a champion’s level.

“We’ve been doing this for such a long time, so we push each other,” Doresca said. “I know I have to do my best because [my teammates are] going to do their best, or even past that. So I think it just brings the competitive side out of all of us and makes us do better. It just adds more hype to it that [Barnett] has the number one time, I’m the returning state champion … It does give us an added confidence knowing that we are the best at what we do.”