Sacred Heart’s Natalia Taylor wins shot put, weight throw, and field event MVP at CHSAA Intersectional indoor track and field championships

One simple gym class in the fall of 2023 set the stage for Saturday at Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex on Staten Island.

Sacred Heart track and field coach Angela Mongitore, who is also a physical education teacher, had her class playing volleyball when then-freshman Natalia Taylor served an ace. Impressed by the power and velocity of the serve, Mongitore was convinced that Taylor belonged on her team, as a thrower.

It took a while for Taylor to finally agree to Mongitore’s recruiting pitch but, once she did, she altered the course of her athletic career. Fast forward to Saturday, when Taylor was named the CHSAA Intersectional championships field event MVP after winning the shot put and weight throw.

“It’s kind of insane,” Taylor said. “There’s a lot of talented girls here, and this is only my second year doing this, so this is pretty crazy. Going to states is a huge thing for me; I don’t even know what to do.”

Taylor threw the shot 34 feet, 63 ⁄4 inches. In the weight throw, she registered a 45-10 1⁄4 to become the only female double winner in the league and qualify for the state championship meet, scheduled for March 8 at Ocean Breeze

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Behind Taylor in the shot put was St. Anthony’s senior Elizabeth Scubla, who threw 34-6. The second-place finisher in the weight throw was St. Anthony’s sophomore Sofia Chiariello (43-3). Both qualified for the state championships, as well.

Elsewhere, St. John the Baptist senior Madison Guerrera won the 55-meter hurdles for the second straight year, in 8.50 seconds. She also finished second in the 55 in 7.41.

“It felt great because the competition is really competitive and I’ve been training really hard, so it felt good to win and defend my title,” Guerrera said. “I didn’t expect to do so well in the 55, so I’m happy that worked out.”

Just a tenth of a second behind Guerrera in the hurdles was St. Anthony’s junior Kaitlyn Korzonkiewicz, who ran an 8.60.

The only one standing in the way of Guerrera’s double championship was St. Anthony’s senior Camryn Daley, who sprinted 7.27 in the 55 to win.

Daley has won multiple sprinting titles at the Nassau-Suffolk CHSAA championships, but she’d never won at the Intersectional version, which includes athletes from the entire state.

“I’ve been putting in a lot of training this year, and I think the fact that I’ve been at this point every single year, but I’ve never been able to win the championship made me drive further,” Daley said. “So I was really happy today to finish and get that plaque. It’s a really nice feeling.”

Daley’s performance helped St. Anthony’s score 72 points and win its 13th consecutive indoor intersectional championship. It was their 16th title in the last 17 years, race announcer Dennis Kornfield said.

St. Anthony’s Amelia DeJoie won the 300 (40.25). Fallon Siriban finished second in the 600 (1:37.59).

Sacred Heart’s Elle Riches won the 1,500 (4:49.45) and teammate Maeve Going finished third in the 3,000 (3:02.1) to qualify for the state championships.

In the field, St. Anthony’s Amelie Demeri finished second in the pole vault (8-0) and St. John the Baptist’s Katelyn Hamel cleared 4-8 in the high jump, and hit 4-10 in a jump-off to secure second place.