GREENSBORO, NC – The Fallsburg area was represented by a group of talented athletes last weekend at the Adidas Nationals in North Carolina. The boys 4x400 relay team of Jefferson Benegas Gallo, Isaiah Kirk, Donovan Hart, and William Martinez completed their run with a time of 3:34, finishing in the top five of their heat. Over 60-4x400 teams competed at Nationals last Sunday. In the shorter 4x100 track relay competition, over 80 teams took to the track. Tyiese Mack, Donovan Hart, Nick Storms, and Nazir Lopez finished with a time of 44.26. They came in 36 out of 82.

The girls relay team of Kaddyjatou Darboe, Hannah Johnson, Zoey Ketcham, and Jordyn Wall-Carty, clocked in at 51.96 seconds and came incredibly close to breaking into the top 50 finishers, falling short by just 0.2 seconds!

The races have Olympic origins dating back to 1972 and 1928 respectively. The relay races in particular, are a favored event on many track & field event days along with the 100- and 200-meter dashes and field events like the long jump.

Unlike colleges and higher learning institutions, high schools do not typically cover the total costs for their athletes to compete at Nationals, due to limited school budgets. Much of the costs fall solely on the athletes and their families. When the opportunity arose for eleven of Fallsburg’s student athletes to attend, the parents sprang into action.

Nanci Lopez, Sean Wall-Carty, Allison Wall-Carty, and Rosalind Natale banned together and helped raise $5,000 in eight days through a GoFundMe contribution.

“Last year we had one athlete that competed at Nationals, but this year we had 11!” Coach Danielle Halikias said. Athletes funded the trip on their own with some help from the community and traveled to North Carolina. Despite the hea,t they had valiant efforts at such a high stage, and they all had an amazing experience running against some of the best in the nation at Adidas Nationals.

After all the hard work they put in, they deserved to compete there and have truly earned their spot as some of the best runners,” she said.

Rosalind Natale who is Nick Storms’ mother said, “Wow, they did an amazing job showing up and doing their best to represent Fallsburg. We’re a small district, and they did a great job of putting Fallsburg on the

map. They’re a small group with big heart!”

Nanci Lopez, mother of Nazir Lopez said, “The community backed these kids! Sean and Rosalind were such a big help. With the funds donated, all their expenses were covered. Lopez talked about how logistics were a bit of a challenge once everyone arrived, trying to get everyone back and forth to their events but, “It was a great experience for the kids.” Other parents assisted with transportation of athletes. It was truly a group effort.

On another positive note, according to the Fallsburg Central School District’s social media page, five of the seniors that ran in the Adidas Nationals have signed letters of commitment to compete at the collegiate level:

Jordan Wall-Carty- Southern New Hampshire University- track & field

Isaiah Kirk- St. Thomas Aquinas- track & field

Nazir Lopez- Long Island University- track & field

William Martinez- University of Valley Forge- track & field

Nick Storms- Molloy University- football

Final results  from individual events

100m

Donovan Hart- 11.1

 Nazir Lopez- 11.3

100m hurdles

Hannah Johnson 16.2

High Jump

Tyiese Mack- 6’1”

Hannah Johnson 4’11”

200m 

Nazir Lopez 22.7”