Ward Melville Athlete Wins Division I Steeplechase Title

Last year, Alex Fitzgerald traded his lacrosse stick for a pair of track shoes, and he hasn't looked back.

Formerly a midfielder in the Ward Melville lacrosse program, the 5-foot-8 junior is now a distance runner, competing in the three-mile and 5K races during the fall cross country season, the one-mile and two-mile races during the indoor track season, and the 3,200m and 4x800m relay races during the spring track season.

And now, the steeplechase, a 3K event which challenges runners to clear 35 hurdles, including seven with a water pit. Fitzgerald won the Suffolk Division I title in the event with a time of 9:51. In his previous race at the Suffolk Coaches Invitational, he ran a 10:17 for the win.

When he heads to the state qualifying meet at Port Jefferson High School on Saturday, it will be only his third time running the race. He said he feels good about it, even though he came into it so late in the season.

"We were thinking about it earlier in the season," he said. "But you can get injured from it easily if you’re not used to hurdling, so I started later."

Fitzgerald said he trains seven days a week, sometimes running with Quinn Raseman, a 2010 graduate of Ward Melville who still holds school records in the one-mile, two-mile and 5K races.

Coming into the state qualifier, Fitzgerald said he plans to first watch the leader for a couple of laps, then "stay with the leader and see what I can do towards the end."

Track coach Jerry Vessichio said while Fitzgerald is going up against a pair of experiened steeplechase runners from Smithtown East and Smithtown West, he expects Fitzgerald to really challenge them.

Fitzgerald will need to place at least second and run a 9:42 or better in order to qualify for the state meet.

"Alex brings a quiet leadership to the team with a strong work ethic," track coach Jerry Vessichio said in an email to Patch. "He leads by example."

And while he continues to push himself in track, Fitzgerald said he did learn a thing or two from playing lacrosse.

"It definitely increased my physical condition," he said. "The toughness definitely helped, it carried over."