JEFFERSONVILLE – The Donna Deppa Track Invitational returned for another year on Wednesday, May 13. The weather forecast was less than ideal, but the events went on without a delay under overcast and rainy skies.

In addition to hosting the invitational the Sullivan West Bulldogs also celebrated their five seniors, Marcello Wasner, Rosalyn Passante, Frank Marjanov, Gracyn Halloran, and Dylan Lockwood with a brief ceremony before the start of the meet.  

The elementary 800 meter race served as the opening event of the meet followed by the popular Sprint Medley  Race (SMR)(400/200/200/800)! 

The Lady Redhawks took home first place with a time of 4:48, Sullivan finished second in 5:43, and the Fallsburg Comets rounded out the top three to the time of 5:47. The Monticello Panthers topped the boys SMR relay with a finishing time of 3:53, followed by Sullivan West in 3:58 for second place, and the Liberty Redhawks finished in third in 4:18.

Although the day was wet, parents, community and friends came out to support their favorite athlete. Umbrellas and tents surrounded the field to help keep attendees dry. 

In the boys long jump Sullivan West’s Esteban Ramos (19-3) jumped more than nine inches ahead of second place finisher Omari Ramos (18-6.25) of Monticello. 

The sprint relays historically garner a lot of attention on the track. Taking the top spots in the boys and girls 100 meter dash was the Monticello Panthers’ Tyrese Shaw (11.29), and Gabriela Almonte (12.58). The Panthers also took second place in the boys race with Demario Lennon crossing the line at 11:54 and Fallsburg’s Avery Wall-Carty finished in third at 11:75. Zoey Ketcham of Fallsburg came in second with a time of 13.08 and Liberty’s Sydania Foster ran into the to third place spot with a time of 13.44. After the meet Fallsburg’s Head Coach Danielle Halikias-Jannotti praised her young Comets’ team. “Right now we have a young team, and they have shown a lot of growth over the last few months. We had a big senior class graduate last year, and the freshmen and sophomores are very similar to them. I’m very hopeful, especially for the future of Fallsburg track!” she said.

The Bulldogs took home wins in both the girls 2000, and the boys 3000 meter steeplechase. Senior Gracyn Halloran finished the race in 7:49, ahead of Monticello’s Baya Titus. Both athletes pushing through the challenging wet conditions of the track and the barriers to cross the finish line. Giuseppe Gardner finished first in 11:43 ahead of Liberty’s Alan Cruz who finished in 12:20 for second place. 

Sullivan West Head Coach Sean Reuss said, “We had the great opportunity to showcase one of the most prestigious Invitationals held in Sullivan County for the second year in a row after several seasons without it. We just want to give a huge shout out to Joe Seidl (who was in attendance last night) for starting this Invitational back in 2003. Coach Seidl decided to honor Donna Deppa after her untimely passing.  Donna was an avid fan and supporter of track and field and volunteered a significant amount of time to the program. We are so glad we could bring this back to the team, the school and to the community.”

“The invitational went great, all schools who attended ran their best and  put on a great showing,” Reuss said. “Although weather wasn’t ideal,   athletes persevered and strived for personal records and competed at the highest level. We want to thank all of the schools who attended.

“We had all events on the schedule and even got in the coaches 55m race walk,” Reuss said. “Our athletes ran well and made the coaches and the community proud with how far they have come during this season. We as coaches couldn’t be happier with how the season has been going and look forward to a strong finish during championships. 

“Thank you to all the volunteers, families and officials, grounds crew for helping our invitational run smoothly last night,” Reuss said.

MVP Awards went to:

Girls Field MVP: 

Nicky Cole (Monticello)

Girls Track MVP: 

Sydania Foster (Liberty)

Boys Track MVP: 

Tyrese Shaw (Monticello)

Boys Field MVP: 

Esteban Ramos (Sullivan West)