NEW ROCHELLE, NY — Iona Prep Senior Ryan Herrera-Murphy is one of Westchester county’s “Elite Eight” of track and field athletes. The senior soared over the pole vault bar at 15-6 both indoors and outdoors as a junior. Herrera-Murphy won at the Loucks and Westchester meets and finished fourth in the Federation outdoors. After a summer and fall of workouts, coach Jan Mitchell expects him to break the county indoor record of 16-5 and become the top vaulter in the state.
The Iona Prep Boys team is the favorite in Westchester county. The Gaels won Westchester outdoors and will be the favorite indoors, especially considering Mitchell thinks this is his best team in 40 years at Prep. Herrera-Murphy leads a deep group of pole vaulters; junior Andrew Cannistraci and seniors Xavier Tyler and Frankie Hagan stand out among the throwers; hurdler Jordan Washington is back after an injury-plagued junior year; and seniors Obehi Adubor and Josh Diakanwa are the top jumpers.