No matter how many officials or administrators helped run the Nassau Class A indoor track and field championship meet Tuesday night at St. Anthony’s High School, make no mistake who really ran the show: East Meadow junior Zaria Hall.
Hall was the main attraction, accomplishing the difficult - and somewhat rare - feat of winning all three distance races. She kicked off her night by running the 3,000 meters for only the second time this year, and set a new personal-best by finishing in 10 minutes, 20.11 seconds. Later, she ran a 3:03.66 in the 1,000 and 4:52.63 in the 1,500.
The common thread between all three wins was that she came from behind in each race, purposely digging holes to save energy for the finish.
“In these types of conference and county championships here in Nassau, I know my [personal best times] and what I’m capable of, so it makes more sense to just sit and conserve energy, so I can kick it when I need to,” Hall said after the 1,500. “I know my strategy and what I’m capable of, as well as my competition. My strategy has always worked against them. I’ve noticed since last year that I’ve been starting to have a lot more confidence, where I’ve now realized a lot of things that I’m capable of.”
Hall’s hat trick helped East Meadow score 86 team points to narrowly edge second-place Massapequa by nine and become county champions for the first time since 2004. East Meadow had another multi-event winner in junior Katelyn Coffey, who registered a 33-foot, 10 ¼-inch throw in the shot put and a 47-foot, 4 ¼-inch marking in the weight throw.
Elsewhere, Port Washington senior Isabella Lucas cleared 5-4 to win the high jump and flew 36-10 ¼ to take the triple jump.
On the boys side, Farmingdale senior George Thomatos opened the night with a victorious 9:53.41 in the 3,200 and later won the 1,600 by 0.77 seconds, clocking a 4:32.14.
Thomatos is a late bloomer as far as wins at big meets are concerned. So, with a legitimate chance to win a second event for his team, he felt some nerves before the 1,600.
“I haven’t been good at doubling or tripling throughout high school … I always wanted to be that guy that the team could rely on to win them the meet,” Thomatos said. “I was really nervous for the double because I’ve never ran it well before today.... I went out way too fast. But it worked out.”
Syosset won the boys team championship for the first time in three years with 76 points, aided greatly by victories from senior Matthew Robotham and junior Jonah Kim, as well as the winning 4x800 team. Robotham flew 22-2 ½ in the long jump and Kim cleared 12-6 in the pole vault. Seniors Nicoli Liu and Colin McGann, followed by juniors Anthony Fiore and Luis Cruz combined to run an 8:22.68 in the 4X8.
There were numerous upsets Tuesday, as well, including one from Westbury senior Apollo Simmons, who ran 6.54 in the 55 to narrowly beat Syosset senior Ethan Ramirez by 0.02.
Simmons, who is also a four-year starting point guard on the school's basketball team, has qualified for the state meet before as a sprinter, but had never been a county champion.
“This has been a goal on my list since day one,” Simmons said. “Ever since I went out for track, this has been the number one goal for me. I probably had doubters out there in the stands, but I’ve proven them wrong. Now I’ve got the fastest time and we’ve just got to keep going from here.”
Hempstead senior Brailyn Jimenez pulled off an exciting win in the 600. He trailed for roughly the first 590 meters before finishing strong and clocking a 1:23.6, beating Freeport senior Dorian Boyd by 0.06 seconds.
By remaining strong through the race’s finish and executing the comeback, Jimenez learned a valuable lesson.
“You’ve just got to push it until you can’t anymore,” he said. “Give it your all. Never give half an inch less. Everything you’ve got, put it in there, because it can be that small amount that makes the difference.”
Baldwin junior Brandon Thweat won the 55 hurdles (7.72), Uniondale junior Romain Eccleston took the 300 (36.27) and Oceanside senior Matthew Laudicina won the 1,000 (2:35.35). Baldwin won the 4x200 in 1:33.99 and Freeport ran 3:32.62 in its 4x400 victory.
In the field, MacArthur senior Jonathan Maggio cleared 6-0 in the high jump, Uniondale junior Molenson Jnmary flew 44-1 in the triple jump, Herricks junior Kenneth Ramdayal threw 52-11 1/2 in the shot put and Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK senior Ethan Kaufman threw 61-9 in the weight throw.
Baldwin senior Sariah Doresca won the girls 55 in 7.06 seconds, Oceanside junior Alexa Kosakowski took the 55 hurdles in 9.19 seconds and Baldwin junior Breanne Barnett won the 300 in 40.01. Uniondale senior Kimora McKay won the 600 in 1:39.51. Baldwin’s 4x200 team sprinted to victory in 1:47.07, Uniondale’s 4x400 team ran 4:09.75 and MacArthur’s 4x800 finished in 10:00.54.
Freeport junior Angel Omokeni flew 17-4 ½ in the long jump and Massapequa junior Keira McLaughlin cleared 9-0 to win the pole vault.