Former Mineola Runners Return for Alumni Relay

The following article was posted by Geoffrey Walter. It was written by Zachary Englis.

Every year the Bulldog Invitational at Hewlett High School is a special event for the Mineola High School Track team.

“The meet is always scheduled the weekend before the county championships, so it serves as a great tune-up for those competing at counties,” coach Thomas Leninger said this past Saturday.

While the warm-up may be a valid reason, it also allows a chance for former track stars to return to the lanes alongside their former instructors in the coaches/alumni relay.

This year two recent Mineola High School graduates joined their former coaches for the race:  Juan Lopez (class of 2010) and Nicholas Harran (class of 2012) ran with coaches Thomas Leninger and John Fretz in the 1,200m relay. 

“I enjoy coming back to race with my coaches because it brings back the good memories of when I was on the team,” Lopez, a former captain and a key member of the 2010 Spring Track and Field Class A County Championship team, said.

The hard work and determination is what he hopes each generation, of track and field athletes, will be able to exhibit and to pass on to future generations.  Lopez is currently studying athletic training at Stony Brook University, and has also been volunteering his time with Mineola’s hurdlers at practices.

Harran said that “although it is a race for fun, there is also pressure because I run track in college: you don’t want to come off as a slouch to your old teammates.  You get nervous knowing you have to represent your new school well to the younger guys.  But overall there’s nothing like running with the guys that have coached you for all those years.”

Harran is currently studying graphic design and runs track for Queens College in Flushing. He was a member of Queen’s 2013 ECC Men’s Outdoor Track and Field Championship.

For the coaches the race is more than just a role reversal with their athletes.

“(It) shows the camaraderie and sense of family that is possible on a track team,” Leninger said.

It is also special for the current members of the team.

“It was a pleasure seeing them run again, even after they graduated,” sophomore Robin Abraham said. “It shows how even after you graduate, you’ll always be remembered as a member of our track family.”

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