Can you say dynasty? The Sachem East girls’ varsity track and field team won the 2018 Suffolk County League I championship this past weekend at Suffolk County Community College Brentwood. The victory is the third consecutive league title for Sachem East, which has now also won seven of the last 11 league championships.

The league meet, the first team scoring meet of the entire winter season, pits each of the nine League I teams against each other with a scoring format of 10 points to first place, eight points to second place, six points to third, four points to fourth, two points to fifth, and one point to sixth in each of the individual and relay events. A score of 136 points (good for ninth all-time in league meet history) outdistanced Sachem East from the remainder of League I’s top teams: Longwood (81 points), Brentwood (58 points), Ward Melville (52 points) and Sachem North (50 points).

Taking home the title of individual event league champion were Margaret Atwood (racewalk), Bridget Abraldes (1,000 meters), Lindsey Dodenhoff (3,000 meters), Michaela Parker (shot put) and Rachel Ruggiero (1,500 meters). 

The combination of Bridget Abraldes, Shayna Arrigo, Brooke Papele and Lauren Trejo took home a league title (and meet record) in the 4x400 meter relay – not to be outdone by teammates Kaitlyn Famiglietti, Melissa Merone, Rachel Ruggiero and Rachel Weber, who brought home the league title in the 4x800 meter relay. 

Adding to the scoring total for Sachem East was Jasmine Ahmed, Jeilyn Balbuena, Chelsea Benedict, Angela Consalazio, Arya Deshpande, Sabrinna Mena, Anna Murphy and Sam Piezzo.

The league meet serves as a preview for the Large School Suffolk County championship, which will take place on Sunday, Feb. 4 at Suffolk Brentwood. The meet will include the top teams from League I (Brentwood, Longwood, Sachem East, Sachem North and Ward Melville) but will also feature all of League II and a portion of League III, most notably Bay Shore, Connetquot, Huntington, North Babylon and Smithtown East. The meet is expected to be very tight at the top as Sachem East seeks to win its third consecutive winter county title.