Leading off today: Warwick Valley senior Luke Beattie collected his sixth state title in the boys pole vault to highlight the second day of the NYSPHSAA indoor track and field championships on Saturday at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex on Staten Island.
Beattie set a meet record by clearing 16 feet, 8 inches to easily top runner-up Joshua Tara of Webster Schroeder (15-0). After winning, Beattie missed three attempts at 17-6.
In another top performance, Aiden Bryant of Midlakes scored a pair of victories in the horizontal jumps. Gatorade's 2025 New York boys outdoor track athlete of the year won the long jump with a leap of 24-7.25 and the triple jump at 49-5.
Minisink Valley took home a pair of individual titles on the track. Maximillian Wickrath won the 55 meters in 6.28 seconds, and Robert LaBarbera topped the field in the 600 meters in 1:20.44.
In the girls meet, Ursuline senior Jane Hickey moved to No. 2 all-time in New York and No. 4 in the country in the 600 meters with a dominant effort. The University of North Carolina recruit finished in 1:27.14, easily outdistancing Olivia Solomon of New Rochelle (1:31.96).
Hickey's time was one one-hundredth of a second off the 2017 state record by Sammy Watson of Rush-Henrietta.
"I'm not disappointed," Hickey told LoHud.com. "One twenty-seven is crazy fast, so just to have some elite company, I'm really proud of that."
McQuaid quartet wins three relays at state swim meet
Three seniors and a junior teamed up to deliver a sweep of the relays for McQuaid during the NYSPHSAA boys swimming championships at Ithaca College.
The winning quartet consisted of junior Ian Miller and seniors Luke McCormack, Ben Hinds, and Xavier Joseph.
They opened with a time of 1:30.88 in the 200-yard medley relay, followed by 1:22.94 in the 200 freestyle and 3:03.92 in the 400 freestyle. All three times met the automatic All-American standard.
Their work helped McQuaid to the unofficial team championship by a 198-190 margin over Long Island power Chaminade.
Individually, Johnny Macko of Bellmore-Merrick scored victories in the 200 and 500 freestyles. The junior's times were 1:39.47 and 4:28.31.
"I'm just ecstatic," he told Newsday. "I work so hard, I train every single day, and it's great because I'm making my family proud, I'm making my team proud, I'm making my friends proud. It's just a really nice feeling to show everything I've been working for."
Ward Melville three-peats in cheerleading
Ward Melville captured its third straight co-ed division title during the NYSPHSAA competitive cheerleading championships in Binghamton.
The Patriots scored 85.8 points to hold off Long Island rival Freeport (85.0). According to Newsday, the Red Devils had won every competition this season.
"We have that 15-minute rule," assistant coach Margaret Hurley joked. "You know, if you're not 15 minutes early, you're late. They were always early putting in the work."
Perennial contender Farmingdale had an unusual road to its first championship since 2020. The Dalers, who finished third in Class A in 2023 and then second the past two seasons, were delayed en route to Binghamton on Friday because their coach bus lacked seat belts. The bus pulled over in Queens after the team's coaching staff did a safety check, Section 8 Executive Director Pat Pizzarelli told Newsday.
It was anything but a trivial matter. On Sept. 21, 2023, a charter bus carrying the Farmingdale band crashed in Orange County, killing two instructors and injuring a number of students.
A state law that went into effect last spring requires passengers 8 years old and older to wear seat belts.
Seaford's cheerleading squad realized before leaving campus that it had a similar problem after being contacted by Pizzarelli with a request to assist Farmingdale.
The bus company sent a replacement, but the two Long Island teams missed Friday's practice times at Visions Veterans Memorial Arena in Binghamton, but they were rescheduled for practice at 9 p.m.
