By Izhaan Ahmed and Helee Shukla
NHP’s varsity winter track & field and boys and girls varsity basketball teams have wrapped up their regular seasons.
The varsity winter track & field team made strides as a team with Coach Buith, who returned to NHP after several years of college coaching, and Coach Del Santo, assistant coach for the team. The team made conference championships, and several teammates also attended county championships, where the team had a strong standing against 15 teams competing in several long and short-distance running events and shot put.
“I feel the track community was very welcoming and kind when I joined, and I personally improved a lot in strength and in stamina,” junior John Renhack said.
Trackletes also witnessed a huge season for school records. In the Armory Invitational, senior Mirolla Mikael, junior Vallerya Rojas, senior Aleeya Gonzalez and junior Betzy Salmeron earned a new school record for the girls’ SMR (a relay consisting of a 400-meter race, two 200-meter races and an 800-meter race). Joey Hoffer also broke the school record twice for the 600-meter race, previously having earned a 1:30.42 in the 600-meter race and breaking 90 seconds in county championships, with a new school record of 1:29.96.
Source from Mr. Patrick Maguire
Alec Dampman places fifth at the Nassau County championship meet after running a 2:46 1000-meter; Varun Pillai, Jonathan Rennhack and Ayush Patel pose at a weigh throw competition.
“I feel very proud to be part of a school record,” senior Joey Hoffer said. “I always looked at the records and dreamed about holding one someday but didn’t think it would actually happen. I think we are progressing as a team and my record will hopefully be broken very soon. I love all my teammates and coaches on the winter track team. They are all such awesome and kind and supportive people, and I feel so happy and fortunate to be a part of a loving community. I enjoy the time we spend together and the memories we make. Many of the people on the track team are some of my favorite people to be around, and I will miss them so much next year. I think we help each other get better each day and improve as a team but also have lots of fun in the process. I definitely wouldn’t be able to do track without them. I improved most during the season by taking my training more seriously and focusing more on getting faster and stronger through hard work. I pushed myself during practices and gave it my all at the meets.”
“I'm very honored and I'm proud of myself, but I couldn't have done it without my teammates and coaches. The community of winter track is like my second family. I have made friendships that will always stick with me. I improved the most with my mentality this season that anything is possible if you just set your mind to it and have patience and trust in your training. Being able to be a leader and push everyone on the team to be better is the best thing about going to practice. Just seeing everyone improving little by little is the best thing ever,” junior Vallerya Rojas said.
With no seniors on the team, the varsity girls basketball team faced a rough start; they started with a record of 0-3 in conference. As most members were in their first year, it was difficult for the team to get accustomed to competing at the varsity level.
However, as the members adapted to each others’ playing styles, they were able to form a solid foundation for following games. Girls basketball ended with a record of 11-9 and were able to skip the first round of playoffs. This year’s team is the first to win 11 games in over 10 years.
“I’m so proud of how far our team has come, especially since we are all so young, and we finished 6-6 in conference,” junior Alexa Stec said.
Source from Areej Zaidi
Ava DeLisse, Alexandra Stec and Lauren LoCascio celebrate after a successful game.
“After working hard and motivating my teammates, I feel like we’ve had a really successful season. This team has worked so hard to perform well every game. I have bonded so close with my teammates,” junior Julia Lopez said.
New Hyde Park’s varsity boys basketball team worked hard through their rocky season, ranking 7th in the league. Despite their efforts, the team fell to a six-game losing streak at the end of the season. By the end of the season, the team had a 6-13 record.
Source from Emily Speter
Isaiah Alix anticipates the ball's trajectory after taking a free throw shot.