Valley Stream North's Paige Fessler has jump of her life, wins state title 

MIDDLETOWN — Valley Stream North sophomore Paige Fessler has been a track and field star for a couple of years now. However, her performance on Friday has likely elevated her label from star to superstar.

On the first day of the New York State track and field championships, Fessler pulled off the jump of her life on the final attempt, flying 18 feet, 6 ¼ inches to win the Class B championship in the long jump. Her win came as a surprise, as she entered the event as the seventh seed in her own class with a previous season-best of 18-1.

On her first jump of the day, she flew 17-1, which put her into sixth place. Over the next four jumps, she rose to fourth place before dropping to seventh. On her fifth jump, she flew a then-personal-record 18-1 ½, but she still trailed Ichabod Crane’s Ariana Henry by 4 ½ inches.

Finally, with nothing left to lose, Fessler unleashed the depths of her athleticism to clear Henry by a quarter-inch. None of the remaining contestants matched or bested Fessler’s last-ditch effort, giving her the gold medal.

“It’s very exciting because coming into today, I wasn’t expecting anything,” Fessler said. “Knowing now that I even had a chance to make All-Federal was amazing, and so is being a sophomore and being able to do this. When I landed, and I heard the official, I was so excited.”

Those extra inches came from some motivation given to her before the sixth jump by Valley Stream North coaches Mike Frazer and Tim Boyens, as well as her father.

“They told me that I had decent jumps already and to just give it my all and to not worry about fouling,” Fessler said. “So that gave me the confidence to go for it.”

She joined a long list of Long Island girls to win state titles, including some who have already accomplished the feat. In the Class B shot put, Miller Place senior Jillian Scully threw 45-11 ½ to win her seventh career state title. Bayport-Blue Point senior Sophia McInnes won the Class B 800 meters in 2 minutes, 6.14 seconds for her 10th career state title. Malverne senior Nicea Jones won the Class B 400 in 54.26 for her second career state title. 

Floyd senior Zariel Macchia brought her career state championships total to nine by winning the Federation and Class A title in the 3,000 with a personal-best 9:26.55, while Mount Sinai freshman Cali Gabrielson won her second career championship by taking the Class B title in 9:41.54. Macchia did this despite rolling her right ankle while just 40 minutes before running.

“I couldn’t walk on it for a few minutes, and I wasn’t even sure I was going to be able to run,” Macchia said. “I’m really glad I was able to, and I figured that if I’m able to run, I might as well run well.”

Gabrielson’s teammate, senior Kelly Hughes, won her first state title. She took first in the Class B 400-meter hurdles with a 1:03.19.

“I came into this knowing I had a chance of winning, but I can’t believe it actually came true,” Hughes said. “I’m just so happy to end my high school hurdling career this way.”

Elsewhere, Baldwin junior Breanne Barnett — the defending 300 champion from the indoor season — won the Class A 400 in 55.41. Later, she led off for the team’s championship-winning 4 x 100-meter relay team, preceding seniors Jahzara Emeli, Kelys Walker and Sariah Doresca. They broke the meet record in 45.84.

Though they are an indoor dynasty in the sprints, this group of Baldwin girls had never run in the outdoor season together. With one final chance to do so, they decided to take it, and now they are champions once more.

“It felt amazing crossing that line,” Barnett said. “I love running with them. I’m definitely going to cry when they leave. I just have to enjoy the rest of my time with them and enjoy it to the fullest.”

By Mike Anderson

michael.anderson@newsday.com

Mike Anderson is a high school sports reporter who has covered 12 sports so far at Newsday. He was the sports editor of Stony Brook University's campus newspaper for two years.