S1 State Qualifiers: Asaro, Campabasso, Kendzor and Schuck – “We are the Champions!”

The Kennedy Post, The Journal News, Armory Track

“4 athletes, 6 events!” exclaimed Coach Jake Bergmeier as he used his blackberry to book a hotel for states that would be big enough to house the delegation of athletes, coaches, family and friends from Kennedy Catholic. Meanwhile, Coach Elliot directed the Journal News reporters to his athletes for interviews with a boyish smile that reached from ear to ear. The hard work of the coaching staff combined with the dedication of the student athletes paid dividends at the 2 day 2010 State Qualifier meet.

Jessica Kendzor quietly led the way, by example. as she often has, for 4 years in the XC and Track programs at Kennedy. As she wraps up her high school career, she shines as simply the best in the storied history of the Kennedy Catholic program. In the autumn of the 2009-2010 season, Jessica finished 10th at states in the 5K. In the winter, she ran the 26th best time in the United States in the 1000-meter middle distance race. She began the spring season by winning 2 gold medals (400, 800) at ESPN’s Inaugural Walt Disney World Invitational. Now, in late spring, on Friday night, she set her 9th school record in the 800 meters, with a US first team elite time of 2:14.52. This ranks her as 148th in the United States out of 65,505 runners in the 800. On Saturday, she proved her remarkable versatility by winning the 400-meter dash in the State Qualifier in a personal best time of 58.96. With this time, Jessica broke her own school record. She has been clocked even faster (57+ and 58.0) as the anchor for Kennedy’s 4x400 relay teams. She qualified and will run in state meet in the 400 and 800 (events that are 45 minutes apart). Jessica now ranks 3rd in the 800 and 6th in the 400 as she heads to the state meet & to the final chapter of her high school career.

What can be said of Dylan Schuck? The Journal News reports the following, and I quote: “Julius Simmons of Clarkstown South emerged as the winner of the Division I pentathlon, and Dylan Schuck of Kennedy finished first in the event for Division II.”

What the Journal News stopped short of reporting is that this was Dylan’s third major pentathlon gold medal in 3 weeks. He won the Westchester County Championship and then the Sectional championship.

During the State Qualifier, Dylan totaled 2851 points. This ranks him as 4th in Division 2 in NYS. Last week at Sectionals, Dylan amassed 3009 points. This total places him 1st in NYS, Division 2.

“Two peas in a pod,” is how Mr. Schuck describes Dylan Schuck and Jessica Kendzor. They have brought the swagger back to Kennedy Catholic sports programs. Dylan was highly courted by Union College. At Union, he will play football (he has starred at Kennedy and led the football team to the Section 1 finals). He will also do track and study environmental engineering. The other pea in the pod, Jessica, will run track for Lehigh University (tuition free thanks to an alumni track grant & other funding). Guess what she will study. Yes, you guessed it, environmental engineering.

Danielle Asaro, what a bright star is she! She was written about in the sports section of The Journal News, May 30, 2010. Here is a direct quote of what was written:

“Another multi-qualifier was Danielle Asaro of Kennedy. The junior had qualified in the 100 dash on Friday and followed up that strong performance with another first-place finish in Division II, this time in the 200 dash.

Asaro qualified for states for the first time in the 200, with a personal best of 26.53.

"It's been a lot of hard work and I've done a lot of work on sprinting and my starts," Asaro said. "It's an amazing feeling to make it. I'm definitely looking forward to states and can't wait."

By the way, as a direct result of her performance at the State Qualifier in the 200 meters, Danielle broke Jessica Kendzor’s 200-meter school record time of 26.6. Jessica had been tied with the former Kennedy star. When it happened, Jessica was all smiles. After all, records are made to be broken and Jessica is Danielle’s biggest friend and fan.

Danielle is ranked 14th in the 100 and 17th in the 200 in Division 2 as the State meet draws near. And, she has been clocked faster than her current listings on Armory Track.

As Michael Campobasso wrote down Dylan’s name as a roommate for states, he thought aloud about the good times they all had and wondered what the future would bring. After all, he is just a sophomore!

Just a sophomore!! Michael is just a sophomore!!! Michael is already ranked 20th in the state in Division 2 with his fast 1st place finish on day 1 of the State Qualifiers.

One thing is for certain, he’ll be in good company. So will Danielle. As the Kendzors, the Mannions, the Schucks, and the Apriles pass the baton to the Asaros and Campabassos, they know that they have set the stage and raised the bar for Kennedy XC and Track. They also know that the Michael and Danielle will have the likes of Anthony and Cat who have performed already like champions. The list goes on. Proper training will be key and dedication is of paramount importance to achieve even loftier goals. Good luck, Kennedy Catholic.

Section 1 State Qualifier Day 2

At White Plains High

Boys

Division 1

3,000 steeplechase — 1. *James Naglieri (North Rockland) 9:42.87, 2. Peter Gelston (White Plains) 9:46.68, 5. *Kevin McKenna (Suffern). 1,600 — 1. *Chris Sacks (Fox Lane) 4:16.63, 2. Manu Kumar (Yorktown). 400 — 1. *Jonathan Jackson (Roosevelt) 49.74, 2. *Alex Shapiro (Beacon). 400 hurdles — 1. *Andres Montalvo (New Rochelle) 56.88, 2. Rob Farrell (Mahopac) 57.88, 8. *Anthony Congress (North Rockland). 200 — 1. *Michael Blake (Mount Vernon) 22.14; 2. Aaron Thevenin (Ramapo) 22.35. 3,200 relay — 1. *North Rockland (Tim Mendez, Dylan Landry, Nick Bien-Aime, Alex Andre) 7:49.77, 2. *New Rochelle 7:52.07. 400 relay — 1. *Mount Vernon (Kadeem Anderson, Darien Burnside, Michael Blake, Rawle Crawford) 42.42, 2. *Ramapo 42.80. 1,600 relay — 1. *Mount Vernon (Kadeem Anderson, Davon Moore, Nazarene Jones, Rawle Crawford) 3:22.20, 2. White Plains 3:24.50. Triple jump — 1. *Kevin Bowen (New Rochelle) 45-1 1/2. 2. Thomas Johnson (White Plains) 43-7. Shot put — 1. *Kaydon Davis (Mount Vernon) 55-5 1/2, 2. Andrew Sniffen (Brewster) 46-8, *Joe Fox (Clarkstown South) fouls, no distance. Pole vault — 1. *Jordan Yamoah (Arlington) 14-0, 2. *Chris Spadaccini (Pearl River) 13-6. Pentathlon — 1. *Julius Simmons (Clarkstown South) 3,101, 2. *John Henry (New Rochelle) 3,068.

Division 2

3,000 steeplechase — 1. *Dayton Flannery (Bronxville) 9:57.97, 2. *Robert Swick (Pawling) 10:04.20. 1,600 — 1. *Cody Orton (Dover) 4:27.08, 2. Julian Saliani (Irvington). 400 — 1. *Kevin Sainvil (Woodlands) 49.26, 2. *Kevin Hunter (Pawling) 49.99. 400 hurdles — 1. *Christian Soto (Hastings) 58.18, 2. Ho Jin Euam (Nanuet) 58.58. 200 — 1. *Kevin Sainvil (Woodlands) 22.50, 2. Robert Winston (Blind Brook) 23.40. 3,200 relay — 1. *Pawling (Chris Boyle, Alex Maruzella, Brandon Freyer, Taylor Souter) 8:13.38, 2. Irvington 8:27.92. 400 relay — 1. *Woodlands (David Essex, Ivan Bozier, Melward Rattigan, Kevin Sainvil) 44.06, 2. Bronxville 44.50. 1,600 relay — 1. *Pawling (Kevin Hunter, Alex Maruzzella, Tim Yu, Chris Boyle) 3:24.37, 2. Bronxville 3:29.97. Triple jump — 1. *Bryandt Douglas (Dover) 42-11 1/2, 2. Alex Fenyn (Irvington) 42-0 3/4. Shot put — 1. *Henry Palermo (Bronxville) 45-11, 2. J.D. Roth (Nanuet) 42-6 3/4. Pole vault — 1. *Nick Collins (Dover) 12-0, 2. Jack Dennen (Bronxville) 11-0. Pentathlon — 1. *Dylan Schuck (Kennedy) 2,851, 2. Andrew Klock (Nanuet) 2,766.

Girls

Section 1 State Qualifier Day 2

Division 1

2,000 steeplechase — 1. Rachel Sorna (Arlington) 6:56.19; 2. Jessica Torbin (Clarkstown South) 7:04.43. 1,500 race walk — 1. Caitlin Lardaro (Pearl River) 7:37.69; 2. Amanda Borok (Yorktown) 7:47.82. 1,500 — 1. Hayley McMahon (Arlington) 4:34.64; 2. Gina Talt (Mamaroneck) 4:36.65. 400 — 1. Deajah Stevens (Mount Vernon) 56.18; 2. Kamilah Williams (White Plains) 57.00. 400 hurdles — 1. Daniella Bernasconi (John Jay-EF) 62.38; 2. Nina Sarmiento (Harrison) 65.96. 200 — 1. Deajah Stevens (Mount Vernon) 24.29; 2. Victoria Alexander (Beacon) 24.97. 3,200 relay — 1. Tappan Zee 9:13.24; 2. North Rockland 9:14.45. 400 relay — 1. Mount Vernon 49.20; 2. New Rochelle 50.19. 1,600 relay — 1. Mount Vernon 3:54.90; 2. Ursuline 4:26.05. Triple jump — 1. Rula Samad (Harrison) 33-02,.50; 2. Lorraine Santiago (Clarkstown North) 32-02.25. Discus — 1. Amy Brady (Somers) 82-03; 2. Stacey Fischer (Clarkstown North) 78-07. Pole vault — 1. Sami Persic (Somers) 7-0; 2. Amie Kovarik (Pearl River) 7-0; 3. Jessica Kimpel (Somers) 7-0. Pentathlon — 1. Margaret Moore (Pearl River) 2,974; 2. Samantha Olyha (Arlington) 2,840.

Division 2

2,000 steeplechase — 1. Sami Jorgensen (Pawling) 7:00.31; 2. Meredith Rizzo (Bronxville) 7:04.65. 1,500 race walk — 1. KerryAnne Mitchell (Nanuet) 8:07.03. 1,500 — 1. Libby Lazare (Pleasantville) 4:51.47; 2. Courtney Campbell (Bronxville) 5:00.48. 400 — 1. Jessica Kendzor (Kennedy) 58.96; 2. Sarah Haley (Dover) 59.27. 400 hurdles — 1. Nia Holmes (Woodlands) 65.36; 2. Rachel Kim (Bronxville) 68.13. 200 — 1. Danielle Asaro (Kennedy) 26.53; 2. Kiana Lee (Irvington) 26.91. 3,200 relay — 1. Bronxville 9:25.86; 2. Nanuet 9:41.70. 400 relay — 1. Woodlands 50.31; 2. Hamilton 50.77. 1,600 relay — 1. Bronxville 4:03.17; 2. Kennedy 4:14.10. Triple jump — 1. Olivia Stevens (Lourdes) 37-08.00; 2. Bria Christian (Woodlands) 34-02.00. Discus — 1. Tiffany Henry (Edgemont) 117-10; 2. Lauren Lopano (Croton-Harmon) 100-03. Pole vault — 1. Sarah Moore (Irvington) 9-06.00; 2. Sarah Haley (Dover) 8-0. Pentathlon — 1. Alexa Piccoli (Valhalla) 2,325; 2. Meghan Lahm (Dover) 2,120.