Nanuet Summer Track Club Competes Against Suffern

On Tuesday, the heat was unbearably hot for most, but not for Nanuet Summer Track Program members. The meet was a Suffern Middle School and the students have the choice of three events including the 100 meter, 300 meter, 1 mile,  long jump, high jump and discus.

Alexander Nikac, 9, of Nanuet participated in the 100 meter, 300 meter and long jump.

“I like to the 100 meters because I run full speed ahead, the 300 is not too short, but not too long," said Nikac. "I love the long jump because I love to jump.  It’s a lot of fun.”

“I love the 100 because it’s really easy, the 300 is not hard just longer,  but I do it because I don’t have many ribbons and I can collect ribbons in running because I’m good at it,”  said Christopher Potenza, 8.

Matthew Soraghan, 11, participated in the 100 meters, long jump and high jump

“I love the high jump because you get to fly up in the air and I love the long jump because I land in the sand," he said. "It’s a lot of fun.”

Kelli Chesterman, 8 , joined the club with her brother Andrew and her big brother Kyle is involved in the Nanuet Track Club. 

“I like running, but I like jumping the best,” she said.

“I love running, sprinting and jumping," said Kali Greenberg, 12, of Suffern. "I like doing something different. The long jump is easy for me.”

Malcolm McDermid, 12, loves the competition. 

"The discus is my favorite because I’m really good at it and it’s fun,” McDermid said.

Gabe Rodriguez, 10, received a second place ribbon for the 1 mile and a third place ribbon for the 100 meter.   He is proud of what he did, but feels next time he will do better. 

"My favorite is the shot put and the mile," he said. "Most people can’t last for the mile, but I can. I’m usually first in shot put.”

Brian Sayre, 10, received a second place ribbon for the 300 meter. 

"It feels good to win a ribbon," Sayre said. "Shot put is really my favorite because it’s like throwing balls and it’s easy for me. My other favorite is the 100 meter.”

The volunteers that help make this program so successful are the older students from Nanuet and Suffern high schools. They help with tracking the time during races, measuring the long jump and high jump. 

Deanna Felicissimo, a senior in Nanuet has been volunteering since ninth grade. She has run in the summer program since she was six years old and started varsity track in seventh grade.

“Mrs. Dempsey found all of us through the summer program and introduced us to running at the varsity level," she said. "I love volunteering every year because it’s fun to watch and I like helping the younger kids.”

Katie Strickland and Sara Schragenheim, both sophomores in Nanuet, volunteer to inspire the younger kids to join cross country when they get older. Both started in the summer program.

The heat was not a factor for the Summer Twilight Nanuet and Suffern runners on Tuesday evening. The kids love the events no matter what weather. The next event will be on Thursday, July 14 at the Nanuet High School at 6 p.m. 

Sheri Dempsey coaches the Nanuet students and her husband Jeff coaches the Suffern students. Sheri Dempsey was involved through the Town of Orangetown Summer Twilight series which was geared for adults since 1996 when she saw a need for the younger children.  Both have been coaching the Summer Twilight Series together since 2005.   

Dempsey started the Summer Twilight Series in Nanuet in 2005.  The Nanuet Track Club is open to any Nanuet School District student who are enrolled in grades 2-9 from 2011-2012.   The Nanuet students compete against the Suffern students at both schools. 

The meets are on Tuesday at the Suffern Middle School and on Thursday they are at the Nanuet High School.