On Saturday May 13, the Bethpage Marine Fitness Team competed at Nationals in Little Rock Arkansas. The competition consists of five events: crunches, pushups, standing broad jump, pullups, and a 300 yard shuttle run.

Bethpage had four teams compete: Girls A, Girls B, Boys A, and Boys B. Although four teams from BHS competed, only A teams were counted towards final placements. 

Despite competing in the heat with tough judging, Bethpage was still extremely successful. Competing in an unfamiliar environment can be nerve wracking for everyone.

Junior Grace Severin says, “Competing in a different location is exciting, but the heat and humidity in Arkansas was stressful because the teams are not used to those conditions.”

After all teams competed the team anxiously awaited the results to be written on the board. 

Senior Matthew Tarabojika says, “The tension was building as we were looking at the board for the scores. No matter what happened out there I knew everyone did their best. I wouldn’t have wanted any other group by my side.”

Finally all scores were written and the results were incredible. The Bethpage girls team absolutely destroyed the competition, winning by over 400 points. The Bethpage boys team came in second place. In addition to team accomplishments, many Bethpage athletes placed individually. For the female individual placements all Bethpage girls were in the top ten. First place Erin O’Boyle, second place Devyn Sparke, fourth place Adrienne Blonder, sixth place Grace Severin, seventh place Nora Kerrigan, and tenth place Victoria Leogrande. For the male individual placements, fourth place Caio DaSilva, sixth place Joseph Bashker, tenth place Aidian Landers, eleventh place Alex Jacob, and twelfth place Daniyal Khambati. 

Erin O’Boyle says winning nationals, “…feels like a dream come true. I was only able to do it because of my girls next to me who make me better every single day.”

Devyn Sparke reveals, “I hope next year both the boys and girls teams can become national champions and make BHS Marine Fitness history.”

On behalf of the BHS Marine Fitness Team, we would like to thank all students, teachers, administrators, and especially our coaches Mr. Como and Gianna Davillias. None of our accomplishments are possible without the endless support from our community.