Now two years into the revived Mineola high school track and field program, the Mustang thinclads are making their mark. One has to wonder why this sport was ever eliminated. The Mineola boys enjoyed a successful year, taking 5th place in the Nassau County meet. They came away county champions in four different field events. Team captain Joe Stigliano, reached 5 feet 10 inches in the high jump and claimed the county Class-C title. Chris Boeshore was equally successful in the pole vault. Boeshore elevated himself to 9 feet and took the title. Senior Adam Minsky turned in an outstanding performance in back-to-back days. Minsky hurled the discus 136 feet 11 inches on day one, then came back to shot put 45 feet 9 inches the next day. Minsky earned the title county champ in both events. Senior Brian O'Neill also medaled in the county meet by shot putting 41 feet 5 inches, good for 4th place.

Meanwhile, juniors Ramon Valente and Chris Silverman and senior Victor Ouyang all performed well in the county meet. Valente set a Mineola high school record in the 400 meters with a time of 54.7. Silverman improved his long jump by over two feet and his 200 meter dash time by over five seconds during the course of the season. Ouyang, a team captain, improved his 400 meter time by over five seconds from last year and was a key contributor on many successful relay teams this season.

The Mustang track & field team also has some outstanding freshman performers, which bodes well for the future. The quartet of Alex Jansen, Craig Strein, Tom Varughese and Edgar Gallindo, the freshman boys, earned several honors during the season. At the Division IVA championships, Jansen placed 4th in the mile and 5th in the two-mile runs. Strein was the freshman county champion in the 400 meters and placed second among all freshmen in the 200-meter dash. Varughese broke 60 seconds in the 400 meters and was among the best in the county in the mile. Gallindo improved his 400-meter time by almost five seconds and was a fixture on the 4-by-100 and 4-by-400 relay teams. The 4-by-400 relay team of Valente, Jansen, Ouyang and Strein placed 5th overall at the county championships and improved their overall time by 14 seconds.

Coaches Kristin Degnan and Mike Santa Maria will miss departing seniors Gabe Moreira, Adam Minsky, Brian O'Neill, Jonathan Goldstein, Andrew Montanez and Victor Ouyang. But, the leadership they've shown this season will carry over into the 2004 season.

Mustangs Send Five to State Meet

The second year Mineola High School track and field program, under the direction of head coach Kristin Degnan and assistant coach Mike Santa Maria, sent five athletes to the New York State Championship Meet. It was actually sunny and hot on the opening day of the meet, Friday June 6. Nassau County Class-C pole vault champion Chris Boeshore was not able to clear the opening height, but had three strong attempts. The opening height was two-and-a-half feet higher than Chris had ever vaulted. So, as coach Degnan said, "We were looking for him to make good attempts and he did that."

Senior Kristin McNally placed 10th in the discuss. She threw her second-best distance of the season, 92 feet 1 inch. Junior Joe Stigliano, the county champion in the high jump, completed 3 of the 5 events in the pentathlon on Friday. His 110-meter hurdle time was 17.6. He high jumped 5 feet, 6-and-a-half inches. He threw the shot put 31 feet.

As has been typical of this spring in the northeast, it rained all day Saturday during the competition. Stigliano completed the final two events of the pentathlon. He long jumped 4.97 meters and ran his best time in the 1500-meters, at 5:28. Stigliano finished 24th. Sophomore Jess Donahue tied for 11th place in the shot put with a toss of 29 feet, 2 inches.

Mineola's best performance was turned in by senior Adam Minsky. He reached a personal-best of 46 feet, 5 inches in the shot put to place 9th. Coach Degnan made of point of congratulating all the mustang athletes for representing their school and their county at the state meet.