Jaheim Dotson of Longwood won the boys 55 high hurdles (7.53), Westhampton’s Laurence Barr-Forget won the boys pole vault (14 feet, 3 inches) and Half Hollow Hills West’s Deyvon Wright won the boys long jump (21-3).
In the girls invitational 3,000, Singh stuck to her plan and used a late burst to edge Sacred Heart’s Maggie Maier.
“I didn’t want to take the lead too early or to die out too early,” she said. “I wanted to wait until the end and kick in and try to win the race. I just went for it.”
Maier, who finished in second with a time of 10:18.72, led the race with three laps to go, before Singh ran the final 600 meters in 1:56.477.
“I was excited going into the race, so it felt really good,” Singh said. Jan. 14
Confident Jaheim Dotson knows what he wants – a state title: Longwood’s junior is the fastest hurdler on Long Island and won the 55 hurdles, 300 and long jump at the Suffolk I championships.
Lauterbach, Jordan. Newsday, Combined editions; Long Island, N.Y. [Long Island, N.Y]. 21 Jan 2018.
Jaheim Dotson is comfortable, and, that’s a good thing. Not everyone can handle the inherent pressure of being number one with the ease and joviality of the Longwood junior. But yet here Dotson is – the fastest hurdler on Long Island and one of the fastest in the state, according to milesplit.com.
And clearly, he’s just getting started.
“I am 100 percent thinking about a state championship,” a confident Dotson said, more than a month ahead of the final state competition.
That road toward that has already begun. Dotson won the 55-meter hurdles in 7.75 seconds, the 300 in 36.18, and flew 21 feet, 3 1/4 inches to win the long jump at the Suffolk I championships, held Saturday morning at Suffolk CCC-Brentwood. For those athletes, it was the opening of the Suffolk postseason.
Dotson ran 7.53 in the 55 hurdles at last weekend’s Molloy Stanner Games at the Armory in Manhattan, the top time on Long Island and third fastest in the state, entering Saturday’s action.
Although there’s not a lot of fault to find in Dotson’s hurdle form, something that carried him to fluid victories in both the trials (7.83) and the finals, he said that he is always striving for a smoother run through.
“I’m just making it better,” Dotson said of his form. “You can always improve . . . I like that it’s smooth and comfortable.”
Despite it being Dotson’s third event of the day, he looked energized coming down the straightaway of the 300, topping Floyd’s Zion Wellington by less than a second. Wellington finished in 37.14.
“My energy was still the same,” Dotson said. “It’s not going to deplete, because all you have to do is keep going and keep that same energy level throughout the whole race.”
Commack’s Brendon Zeng won the 1,000 meters in 2:41.94 and the 1,600 in 4:39.13. In the 1,600 Zeng sat on Patchogue-Medford’s Carlos Santos’ shoulder and allowed the cross country standout to set the pace. Zeng moved into the lead with 400 meters left and gradually built a bigger advantage on the final lap. Santos finished second in 4:40.46.
“After the 1,000, I was a little tired,” Zeng said. “So I just wanted to chill behind Carlos and the other guys. Once I saw Carlos start to breathe, I knew I could push the pace and outkick him.”
Late passing seemed to be the theme of the day. Ward Melville’s Danny Ryan passed two runners on the final straightaway to win the 600 in 1:24.97, fighting both a cold and a hamstring injury as he ran.
“With around 150 meters to go, I was a little disconnected,” Ryan said. “My coach yelled at me to open my hands and I ran all the way through . . . I still felt like I had a little bit left, but because I’m coming off an injury and I’ve been sick this week, I didn’t know what to expect.”
Brentwood won the League I team championship with 96 points. Commack and Longwood tied for second with 78 points. It is the Brentwood’s first league title in more than 20 years, coach Judy Daniels said. Brentwood’s Jelani Stoddard won the 55 in 6.56 seconds, Daouda Dansoko won the triple jump (41-6 3/4) and Deandre Smith won the high jump (6-2).
Hauppauge’s Nick Crociata razor sharp in bid for upcoming state 600 crown
Lauterbach, Jordan. Newsday, Combined editions; Long Island, N.Y. [Long Island, N.Y]. 13 Feb 2018
The time has come for Hauppauge’s Nick Crociata to start prepping for his state championship run. Of course, the goal is nothing new. As the fastest returner from last season’s state championship 600-meter race, taking home the title has been on his mind for almost a year. But, after officially qualifying for the state championship with a 1 minute, 22.39 second victory at the Suffolk state qualifier Monday night at Suffolk County Community College in Brentwood, Crociata’s dream is one step closer to reality.
He’s in. It’s real. The official countdown is on.
The state championships are scheduled for March 3 at Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex on Staten Island, and as the fastest 600 runner in the state, Crociata is the favorite to take home the gold. This doesn’t scare him off – not one bit. He relishes it.
“There’s definitely a target on my back and that’s what pushes me every meet,” said Crociata, who ran a 1:21.11 on Jan. 27, currently the top time in the state this season, according to milesplit.com. “I want to make sure no one gets that time before me and no one gets to that line before me.”
Crociata has never won an individual state title and with only a few weeks until his next opportunity, he cannot stop thinking about the possibility.
“Nothing would make me happier,” he said. “To bring it home for the county and the community, nothing would bring me more joy.”
Elsewhere, Longwood‘s Jaheim Dotson went toe-to-toe with Mount Sinai’s Kenneth Wei in the 55 hurdles and edged him by .02 seconds. Dotson pushed after the final hurdle to win in 7.56 seconds. Wei ran 7.58.
“After the final hurdle, I just had to reach and keep my stride going,” Dotson said.
The Longwood junior has been fairly dominant in Suffolk competition this year. As the large school champion, Dotson needed Wei, the small school champion, to give him his best race in weeks.
“I don’t really pay attention to my competition while I’m running,” Dotson said. “I just focus on me, my lane and race against time.”
Dotson also qualified for the state championships in the 300, running a 35.86 and placing second to Half Hollow Hills West’s Nicholas Duchatel, who won in 35.85.
Longwood’s Jaheim Dotson dominates hurdles in Suffolk
Jaheim Dotson of Longwood wins the 400-meter intermediate hurdles for Division I during the Suffolk boys track and field division championships at Hampton Bays on Thursday, May 24, 2018. Photo Credit: Daniel De Mato
By Jordan Lauterbach
[email protected] @jlauterbach1
May 24, 2018 9:25 PM
Longwood’s Jaheim Dotson’s usual dominance was on full display during the second and final day of the Suffolk Division Championships Thursday afternoon. To the untrained eye, he looked crisp, quick, and composed as he bounded over the hurdles with an effortless precision that has become his trademark.
Dotson won both his track events by a large margin, taking the Division I 400 meter hurdles in 55.03 seconds and the Division I 110 meter hurdles in 14.55 seconds at Hampton Bays High School. Dotson was second in the long jump, flying 21 feet, five inches.
But, Dotson knows he still has to get better. There’s more work to do if he wants to achieve perfection by the state championships, scheduled for June 8-9 in upstate Cicero.
Suffolk boys track division championships
“It’s all coming down to the beginning of my start,” Dotson said. “As I carry on through the race, after the fourth or fifth hurdle, I just pick it up and go faster.”
So, it’s the start that’s the issue. The solution, Dotson said, is getting less air on his opening jump. He’s costing himself precious time by not hitting the ground fast enough off the first hurdle.
“I have to work on snapping down my lead leg and moving faster,” Dotson said.
Elsewhere, Whitman’s Jack Poplawski showed that he’s geared up for a run at a pentathlon state title with a victory in the Division I version. Poplawski scored 1,337 points, culminating with a 4:36.24 victory in the 1,500.