Section XI New York State Qualifiers Roundup
Local athletes competed in the New York State qualifiers Feb. 13 to 16 at Suffolk County Community College’s Brentwood campus. First- and second-place finishers punched their tickets to the state championship, which will be held March 2 at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island. A third-place finish could earn a spot in states if the individual met the state standard minimum.
Boys 600-Meter Run
Shoreham-Wading River’s Michael Huebner finished first and qualified for the state championships in the 600-meter run with a time of 1:22.37. Huebner has been dominating all year long and almost beat his personal record of 1:22.34, which he set at the North Shore High School Invitational in December.
Boys 4×800 Meter Relay
Shoreham-Wading River’s 4×800 meter relay team earned a spot in the state finals with a time of 8:15.17 — edging out Eastport-South Manor by mere milliseconds. The four relay team members were Jarrell Winston, Jake Smith, Noah Wyszomierski and Michael Huebner. The team also brought home the small-school Suffolk County championship on Feb. 3.
Girls High Jump
Riverhead’s Kayleanne Campbell finished in second place and qualified for the state finals with a jump of five feet, three inches. Olivia Misiukiewicz of Southold took the top spot with a jump of five feet, five inches. It wasn’t Campbell’s best jump of the season, which eclipsed five feet, four inches in the Suffolk County championships, but the jump was good enough to qualify for states.
Girls Shot Put
After besting the field in the Suffolk County championships, Ja’dah Williams Booker fell short of qualifying for the state championships after finishing third with a throw of 35-10.25 feet. Sarina Buono of Bay Shore posted a distance of 36-02 feet to earn second place. Williams Booker, whose best throw of the season was 37-02.5 feet in the Suffolk County championships, wasn’t able to top that in the state qualifiers. The New York state standard for this event was 37-03 feet. If Williams Booker hit that number, a third-place finish would have earned her a spot in states.
