Deer Park High School’s girls winter track team competed against the best in Suffolk County at the Large School Team County Championship, held Saturday at Suffolk Community College in Brentwood, and delivered a historic performance. Entering the meet as one of the county’s top-ranked teams, the Lady Falcons rose to the occasion by finishing third overall, the highest placement in the indoor program’s history.

Chelsea Cornelia led the way, capturing the county championship in the 1,000-meter race with a time of 3:03.00. Just 45 minutes later, she returned to the track and nearly completed a second county title, placing third in the 600-meter run in 1:38.8 – just four-tenths of a second from first place – for a total of 16 team points.

Kayla Beaumont also earned county champion honors, winning the triple jump by more than a foot with a leap of 37 feet, 8 inches and contributing 10 points to the team score.

Additional scoring performances included All-County honors for Nadia Elsergany, who placed fourth in the shot put; Vanessa Cayea, who finished third in the high jump; and the 4x400-meter relay team of Ama Asare, Vanessa Cayea, Chelsea Cornelia and Bailey Corcoran, who placed third overall. Asare also earned sixth place in the 600-meter run.
Both county champions also hold school records in their events, Cornelia in the 1,000 meters (2:55) and Beaumont in the triple jump (38 feet, 2 inches).

“What goes unnoticed are all the athletes who played such a major role in our success this season, such as the girls who didn’t score or get those accolades,” Coach Jim Petti said. “We had girls who were hitting big personal records and improving meet-to-meet. This wasn’t about just two or three girls – this is a complete team that can go toe-to-toe with any team in this county. Although we came up short on our goal, we didn’t go down without scaring the two teams ahead of us. We sent a clear message that we are coming for that title in the spring. As much as finishing top three in arguably the best track and field section in New York State is honorable, we want more. However, I couldn’t be prouder.” 

Click here to view the Deer Park Girls Winter Track Team Earns Historic Third-Place County Finish slideshow.

Date Added: 2/6/2026

Congratulations to Deer Park High School's boys winter track 4x200-meter relay team for capturing fourth place overall and earning All-County honors at the  Suffolk County championships. Additionally, senior Max Ferguson finished fifth overall in high jump and sixth overall in long jump. 

Date Added: 2/4/2026

Stacey Pinto, an expert in trauma injury prevention from Catholic Health’s Good Samaritan University Hospital, ran a special Teddy Bear Clinic for students at Deer Park’s May Moore Primary School on Jan. 29. The Teddy Bear Clinic is designed to help students learn about medical safety and procedures in a fun, hands-on and developmentally appropriate way. After a safety education talk, students practiced caring for their own “injured” stuffed animal patients using medical supplies. 

Click here to view the Teddy Bears Get Checkups at May Moore Primary School slideshow.

Date Added: 2/2/2026

Two Deer Park High school students, Lucas Di Vanna and Aubriella Nunez, were recently named finalists in the New York Times Learning Network’s second annual Open Letter Contest. This year’s prompt asked students, “If you were to write a letter to someone asking for change, who would you write to? What would you say?”

The contest drew 9,946 entries from teenagers around the world. From that field, The New York Times selected 10 winners, 13 runners-up, 40 honorable mentions and 139 additional finalists.

Di Vanna was named a runner-up for his letter, “Our Island Has a Heartbeat – Don’t Silence It,” while Nunez was selected as an additional finalist for her piece, “Chocolate, Sweet, Sweet Chocolate!” Both students were advised and supported throughout the submission process by teacher Teresa Greco.

Date Added: 1/30/2026