A Long Island track prodigy and her family were shocked to learn that she had been barred from competing in an upcoming New York state championship due to a minor technicality.
Zariel Macchia, a William Floyd High School senior and potential Olympic hopeful, was declared ineligible after competing in the recent Boston University David Hemery Valentine Invitational alongside collegiate athletes.
According to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association handbook, the athletes Macchia competed against were “representing a college.” If the same runners had entered independently, Macchia would have had no violations, according to her father, Peter Macchia, who is looking into legal action and appeals ahead of the Staten Island competition on March 8.
“We believe Zariel should not be penalized for the decisions of other entrants,” her father told The Post, adding that she planned to compete in three events, including one as a relay anchor for her team.
Macchia is still eligible for her final spring season.
This week, the Post examines some of the more notable Long Island sporting events:
Garden City High School will host a challenger basketball game for handicapped students on Tuesday afternoon at 3 p.m. in memory of 2015 alumnus and multi-sport athlete Bobby Menges, who died of cancer at the age of 19 while attending Duke University in 2017.
“He was just such a go-getter,” Bobby’s mother, Liz Menges, told The Post about her son, who also battled neuroblastoma at the ages of five and ten.
According to Menges, the entire town comes out in support, with some principals even ordering no homework on the day of the event. Bobby would love nothing more than to know that this game, Hoops For Hope, has been played in his honor since 2019.
Proceeds benefit the I’m Not Done Yet Foundation, which was named after Bobby and works with the NYU Langone Cancer Center for Children.
“He was always trying to get people together and work with all different kinds of kids and people,” Menges told me. “He was very interested in community service and a friend of the friendless.”
What to watch
The boys high school basketball playoffs continue this weekend, with eighth-seeded Massapequa traveling to top-ranked Port Washington for a 2 p.m. Friday quarterfinal game.
Hempstead, the fourth seed, will also host Farmingdale, the fifth seed, on Friday at 5 p.m.