Newburgh track celebrates seniors and new record board at Pine Bush meet

A new record board now hangs in the Newburgh Free Academy athletics building beside Academy Field, and the Goldbacks used the ceremony to honor their male and female seniors before running into a tough Pine Bush lineup.

The symbolic start did not change the final score. Pine Bush swept the meet, with Newburgh’s boys falling 83-58 and the girls losing 93-35, but the afternoon still gave the Goldbacks a chance to tie current performances to the program’s history in front of families, teammates and supporters in Newburgh.

That history has been active all spring and winter. In March, the school’s athletics newsletter said Roman D’Alfonso set a new school record in the weight throw and qualified for the state championships, while Jaden Williams set a new school record in the triple jump and also advanced to States. Gabrielle Robles added to that momentum by placing fifth with the Section IX intersectional relay at both the NY State Indoor Track & Field Championship and the Federation Championship, earning two state medals.

On the track and in the field, Newburgh still found enough to celebrate. Giwenn Eloge won the 110-meter hurdles and the 400-meter hurdles for the boys, and Williams added another victory in the triple jump. Moosa Shahkhan, Williams, Jeron Underwood and John Mena took the 400-meter relay in 43.80 seconds, while Keith Martin, Enix Vega, Kiernan Judson and Cooper Schmidt won the 3,200-meter relay in 8:44.80.

The girls’ side was led by Diosmari Rodriguez, who won the discus. Vanessa Caraballo, Jimeiris Morales, Isabella Blanco and Gabrielle Robles also delivered a win in the 1,600-meter relay, finishing in 4:12.72. Those results kept Newburgh in the mix across sprints, hurdles, distances and field events even as Pine Bush controlled the team totals.

For Newburgh Free Academy, the meet at Academy Field fit a larger pattern. The school at 201 Fullerton Avenue says all NFA students may take part in interscholastic sports and club activities regardless of campus choice, which makes milestones like the record board and senior recognition feel larger than a single team result. With Terri’nashjae “TT” Burden already in the school record books for girls basketball and the track program continuing to add its own marks, the Goldbacks are building an identity that reaches beyond one afternoon’s loss.