The high school held a special senior parade on May 16 for the girls track team. Forty cars filled with students and parents circled the high school track parking lot honking and cheering as the team’s nine seniors – team manager Lindsey Lam; team captain and sprinter Julia DiMaio; 1,500-meter race walker Arianna Araujo; triple, high and long-jumper Marissa Cummings; sprinters Stephane Honore and Raven Hull; and throwers Tassyana Blake, Morgan Keuler and Regan Mays – looked on with the posters their teammates had made for them.
“Even though our season was canceled, these girls knew it was imperative that we all get together one last time to honor their senior teammates,” said coach James Petti.
Deer Park’s girls track program was ranked among the top teams in the county this year, and the Falcons were preparing to defend their league championship title and try to win their first-ever Suffolk County Division 2 title.
“We had the best team this program has ever seen,” Petti said. “When the quarantine halted the season, we didn’t know what to expect, so we all decided to keep training on our own. The girls took initiative and never gave up. Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months. The more time that passed, the less hope we had of having a season and seeing our seniors perform one last time. With four potential All-County athletes and three All-League-caliber runners and throwers, these seniors wanted nothing more than to get back on that track and win. When the season was officially canceled, even though we were so heartbroken, the underclassmen understood we had to give our seniors a special send -off, and they did. We are proud of these amazing athletes as exceptional students. We wish them all the best in their post-high school endeavors and will miss them tremendously.”