Rockland girls track stars: Versatile Nya Thomas is outdoor Athlete of the Year

Nya Thomas will take some credit.

She works hard. She wants to get better.

But part of her success as a high school sprinter and jumper, she's quick to explain, also stems from her athletic genes (her mom, Tanekia, was a triple jumper and dad, Clifton, a baseball player) and the support she receives from family, friends and coaches.

All of that helped produce a strong spring for the North Rockland junior, who is The Journal News/lohud Rockland Girls Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year.

Thomas qualified for the state championships in two individual events, the 100-meter hurdles and long jump.

She narrowly missed advancing out of the preliminaries to a medal round in the hurdles, finishing ninth out of 25 in the prelims.

But the long jump was a different story.

In the Division 1 (large, public schools) competition at states, Thomas wasn't going to claim gold after Pine Bush's Madison Williams, who'll compete for Division I Columbia University next year, got off a 19-6 leap.

But she came through in the clutch, moving from a likely fourth-place showing to a silver medal with an 18-7.75 jump on her final attempt. That edged Guilderland's Tatum Cramer by just half an inch.

And Thomas went on to medal in sixth in the state Federation competition, which includes top finishers at states from all sizes of schools, both public and private.

For the season, Thomas's top jump was 18-9.75, placing her No. 8 in New York among high school girls.

"Doing multiple events isn't easy and it's never going to be easy, but, overall, I never truly felt I reached my peak too early. I felt I got continuously better," Thomas said.

Her multiple events also include high jump. While she hasn't achieved the same level of success in that, she ended her high jump season on a high note, clearing 5-0 to garner second-place points at the Section 1 Class AA meet in which North Rockland won the girls team championship, getting by a fast-improving New Rochelle squad.

She was a key to her team's success in that meet, also gaining second-place points in the 100 hurdles and first-place points in long jump, while helping the Red Raiders pick up third-place points in the 4x100 relay.

"In high jump, I kind of struggled over the heights that were easy last year. I was happy to end on a good note," Thomas said.

While long jump, where her personal best increased by more than two feet in just a year, might arguably be her best event, it's hurdles she embraces as her favorite.

With the opening round, usually early, she said hurdles often set the tone for how she'll do in a meet.

"I'm way more emotionally connected," she said.

Colleges appear intersted in Thomas in part because of her ability to do multiple events well.

She's looking at several, among them the University of Georgia, Central Florida and, a favorite landing spot for many Section 1 track athletes, Binghamton University.

Thomas, who started track in eighth grade after COVID-19 nixed sports the previous spring, only half-jokingly said half her former North Rockland teammates are at Binghamton.

That might be a slight exaggeration but one who is there is Dami Modupe, the former Red Raider hurdler and Journal News/lohud top Rockland girls track star, who keeps in touch with Thomas.

"A lot of times I find myself stressed with track, school and other factors. It does take a toll on your mind. Someone who has been there for me is Dami Modupe. She's always the first person I reach out to. ... She always has great advice."

Maybe that's not surprising because track athletes are generally close, even among competing teans,

"Even though track is really an individual sport, I find a lot more unity in it than in other sports that require a team (to compete)," Thomas said, describing fun rivalries and saying, "Everyone (also) has some sort of respect for everybody."

"You can't find that atmosphere everywhere else. Some people actually have problems on the court or field," Thomas said of other sports, noting her friends include kids on Suffern's track team.

Those kids and others shouldn't expect to see Thomas let up the gas her senior year.

She's already working out and has set goals for herself that include setting personal-best marks in each of her events — 5-2 in high jump, running a low-14 seconds or even breaking it in the hurdles and going 19 feet in long jump.

Noting she has found Quincy Wilson, the 16-year-old who ran well in the men's 400 at the recent U.S. Olympic Trials, "kind of a motivation," the 17-year-old indicated she fully expects much stronger finishes to lie ahead.

Coach of the Year

Pat Driscoll, Tappan Zee: Driscoll, whose teams excelled starting in the cross-country season, led his squad to a close third-place finish for the Rockland County girls team championship behind larger North Rockland and Suffern. And with 15 teams scoring, TZ captured the Section 1 Class B girls team title.

100

First team — Desirae Hernandez, Jr., North Rockland

Second team — Tanyiah Joseph, Jr., Spring Valley

Honorable mention — Zoey Orlando, 8th grade, Suffern

100 hurdles

First team — Desirae Hernandez, Jr., North Rockland

Second team — Marissa Gordon, Sr., Clarktown North

Honorable mention — Pilar Fernandez, Jr., Tappan Zee

200

First team — Jayda Johnson, Fr., Nyack

Second team — Zoey Orlando, 8th grade, Suffern

Honorable mention — Herricka Lorveus, Jr., Ramapo

400

First team — Jayda Johnson, Fr., Nyack

Second team — Claire O'Sullivan, Sr., Pearl River

Honorable mention — Cyan Theodore, Sr., North Rockland

400 hurdles

First team — Karen Augustin, Jr., Suffern

Second team — Junibel Fernandez, Sr., Nyack

Honorable mention — Pilar Fernandez, Jr., Tappan Zee

800

First team — Bridget Dunn, So., Tappan Zee

Second team — Claire O'Sullivan, Sr., Pearl River

Honorable mention — Mia Dellolio, So, Tappan Zee

1,500

First team — Bridget Dunn, So., Tappan Zee

Second team — Danielle List, So., Albertus Magnus

Honorable mention — Cassidy Donovan, Jr., Tappan Zee

3,000

First team — Bridget Dunn, So., Tappan Zee

Second team — Cassidy Donovan, Jr., Tappan Zee

Honorable mention — Grace Delaney, 7th grade, Suffern

2,000 steeplechase

First team — Cassidy Donovan, Jr., Tappan Zee

Second team — Katie Schmid, So., Nanuet

Honorable mention — Sophonie Michel, Sr., North Rockland

High jump

First team — Desirae Hernandez, Jr., North Rockland

Second team — Tosia Bednarz, Fr., Tappan Zee

Honorable mention — Mia Chindemi, So., Nanuet; Hope Italiano, So., North Rockland

Long jump

Second team — Destiny Lawrence, Jr., Spring Valley

Honorable mention — Tanyiah Joseph, Jr., Ramapo

Triple jump

First team — Karen Augustin, Jr., Suffern

Second team — Pilar Fernandez, Jr., Tappan Zee

Honorable mention — Claurdia Chery, Jr., North Rockland

Pole vault

First team — Anna Riskin, Jr., Suffern

Second team — Kate Dowling, Jr., Pearl River

Honorable mention — Ava Ingersoll, Jr., Tappan Zee; Karoline Lupi, Jr., Tappan Zee

Shot put

First team — Maddie Stiefel, Jr., Tappan Zee

Second team — Keara Dorvil, Jr., Nyack, Maggie Hansen, Jr., Clarkstown South

Honorable mention — Gloria Mitchell, Sr., Clarkstown North

Discus

First team — Maggie Hansen, Jr., Clarkstown South

Second team — Gabby Vizcarrondo, Jr., Nanuet

Honorable mention — Julia Vitiello, Sr., Pearl River

Pentathlon

First team — Elise Falcon, Sr., Suffern

Second team — Allianis Estrella, Jr., North Rockland

Honorable mention — Alyssa Croke, Sr., Pearl River

At large

First team — Sam Dow, Sr., Nanuet

First team — Kayla Darius, Jr., Suffern

First team — Sofia Fenton, Sr., Tappan Zee

First team — .Chrystelle Fignole, Jr., Pearl River

First team — Kaelyn Prince, Sr., North Rockland

First team — Kyra Skoglund, Sr., Suffern

Rockland track championships: Grandmother helps grandson & others medal, North Rockland county team champs

4x100 relay

First team — North Rockland (Gabriella Cabrera, Jr., Desirae Hernandez, Jr., Taylor Lewis, Jr., Nya Thomas, Jr., Mitchella Louis, Fr.)

Second team — Suffern (Zoey Orlando, 8th grade, Kayla Darius, Jr., Karen Augustin, Jr., Emma Pelecova, Jr., Madison Davis, So.)

Honorable mention — Ramapo (Herricka Lorveus, Jr., Belleky Durosier, Jr., Imyiarha Saint-Germain, Fr., Stania Joachim, Jr.

4x400 relay

First team — Suffern (Avi Sanon, Fr., Elise Falcon, Sr., Kayla Darius, Jr., Karen Augustin, Jr., Sydney Fleming, Fr.)

Second team — Nyack (Junibel Fernandez, Sr., Taitu Forrest, So., Leila Harrison, So., Jayda Johnson, Fr.)

Honorable mention — Nanuet (Sam Dow, Sr., Leila Mendez, Fr., Olivia Samtos, Fr., Aliyah Wilson, 8th grade), North Rockland (Claudia Chery, Jr., Laila Dor, Jr., Hope Italiano, So., Cyan Theodore, Sr.)

4x800 relay

First team — Tappan Zee (Cassidy Donovan, Jr., Mia Dellolio, So., Bridget Dunn, So., Sofia Fenton, Sr.)

Second team — North Rockland (Gaby Castro, So., Sophonie Michel, Sr., Kaelyn Prince, Sr., Riley Sheehan, Jr.)

Honorable mention — Suffern (Grace Delaney, 7th grade, Kennedy Leone, So., Ava Brodsky, So., Joy Yin, So., Kaila Quinn, Jr.), Nanuet (Sam Dow, Sr., Leila Mendez, Fr., Olivia Santos, Fr., Katie Schmid, So.)

Nancy Haggerty covers cross-country, track & field, field hockey, skiing, ice hockey, basketball, girls lacrosse and other sporting events for The Journal News/lohud. Follow her on Twitter at @HaggertyNancy .

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Rockland girls track stars: Versatile Nya Thomas is outdoor Athlete of the Year