KHS Senior Becomes First Indoor Track and Field Champion in Over 25 Years

KHS Senior Joseph McDonald Jr. became the first indoor track and field champion in over 25 years for Kingston this past weekend winning the long jump at the NYSPHSAA Indoor Track & Field Championship at the Ocean Breeze Track & Field Facility in Staten Island, New York.

McDonald won the event with a mark of 24 feet, 2 inches, his second best jump ever. McDonald was both the NYSPHSAA (public schools) and Federation (all schools) champion for the event. These weren't his only medals on the day as McDonald later finished in third place for the high jump, jumping 6 feet, 6 inches.

"I did a lot of speed and plyometric training throughout the season which helped with my long jump progression. My hope was that long jump and high jump wouldn't be at the same time, but they were, so it slowed me down for high jump. However, my long jump performance went well and I achieved the goal of becoming a state champion," said McDonald.

Daniella Johnson was a silver medalist for the weight throw at the event finishing the day with a mark of 50 feet, 5.25 inches. This was her second best throw ever in the event and she earned both state and federation medals for her efforts. Johnson wasn't done there however, she also earned two medals in the shotput. Her mark of 37 feet 4.75 inches led to a finish of fourth for state and fifth for federation.

Maia Rich was another senior who would also earn four medals. Rich finished third in the state for the 55 meter high hurdles and fourth for the federation running her second best time ever of 8.14 seconds. Rich later ran with teammate Hazel Lewis on the Section IX Intersectional Relay finishing in third place for both state and federation. Earlier in the day, Lewis broke her own school record in the 1000 meter run, finishing in 13th overall with a time of 2:57.77.

Andrew Lee would finish in fifth place for federation and state earning two medals in the 1600 meter run. His time of 4:17.09 broke the school record set by Robert Becker in 2018. This is the fourth different indoor track school record that Lee holds. Lee later ran with teammates Tim Leiching, Nick Osuna, and Lukas Paunovic on the 4x800 meter relay with a time of 8:08.67 finishing in 10th place for Division 1 state relays.

The 4x200 meter relay team of Marco Campbell, Logan Manor, Carl Richards, and Peter Rogerson would start their day by finishing in third place for Division 1 state relays. The quartet broke their own school record for a fourth time this season running a time of 1:30.04. Their third place finish earned themselves a spot in the federation finals which was the last event of the evening. The foursome would run 1:30.92 in the federation finals finishing in fourth earning them a second medal of the day. Richards also finished in thirteenth overall in the 55 meter dash with a time of 6.57 seconds.

Overall for the Championship event, Kingston earned 24 medals. In addition to the 24 medals, there were 24 instances where a school record was broken this season.

"It has been rewarding to watch our athletes mature over the course of the season and throughout their careers. Each of our athletes has continued the tradition of leaving the program in a better place. Being able to see this group walk away from the state meet with so many podium finishes is a testament to their work ethic, passion for this sport, their teammates, and our program," said head coach Joe Cahill.

Despite this being the end of the indoor track season for most schools, the season will continue through this week for the Tigers. Many athletes will compete next week at either Nike Indoor Nationals in New York City or New Balance Nationals in Boston.