Brewster Indoor Track & Field Wins Second Straight League Title

BREWSTER—The Brewster High indoor track and field team recently wrapped up another strong season. The Bears accomplished their goal of winning the league for a second straight year and had several outstanding individual performances as well.

Adam McIe SKIP PEARLMAN Bears coach Joe Scelia was pleased with his team’s performance this year.

“I think it went well,” said Scelia. “Becoming league champs was a goal we wanted to accomplish. This is a good league, so it took a good team effort. We were underdogs going into the season, but our kids just wanted it more. We have some tough kids... It’s tough to train when the track is covered in snow, but we made it work. Sometimes we would have to practice in parking lots, we trained wherever we could. The end result was a bunch of performances to be proud of. The kids really seemed to rise up when it counted the most.”

Shawn McDonnell SKIP PEARLMAN Brewster also competed in the Northern County Championships, which included schools in Dutchess and Putnam County. Brewster came in second behind Arlington, but the team’s performance showed just how strong the Bears were.

“Those meets are great for the kids,” said Scelia. “We went up against a lot of schools that were bigger than us, but we were able to perform well.”

The Bears had several athletes receive post-season honors.

Jason DiNardo was named All-Section after a great season, and a trip to Cornell for the state championships. Shawn McDonnell also qualified for the state championships, where he earned a silver medal in the 600M relay. He was named All-County. Greg Hodge, Mike Thomas, James Courte, Adam McIe, Ariana Bottalico, Ally Tschinkel and Natalie Poljak also earned All-County honors and Mauricio Madureira was named All-League.

Mike Thomas SKIP PEARLMAN “We had a versatile group of runners and jumpers,” said Scelia. “Di- Nardo is becoming one of the best jumpers around, McDonnell was a monster, and it was a joy to watch him run. Mike has been here for years, and he will be running at Siena next year. Bottalico was great as a freshman, she is already one of the best distance runners in the section. Tschinkel has been a great jumper, she had a strong season and always stepped up. Poljak did the shot put and also did the high jump, she was versatile and strong.”

Six seniors will be leaving the team, McDonnell, Thomas, Courte, Poljak, Nicole Zazzero and Miriam Munn.

“They have been huge for us,” said Scelia. “We had a strong senior class. It’s tough losing them because they are not only great athletes but great kids.”

Scelia is happy with the success his team saw this season, but he thinks his team can be even better next year.

Brewster coaches Joe Scelia, Larry Maggiotto SKIP PEARLMAN “We need to continue getting kids connected to the sport,” said Scelia. “Most of these kids run track year round. We want to continue on the success we have had, there is always room for improvement so we will keep working.”
Greg Hodge SKIP PEARLMAN