Middle Country's Sarah Williams makes state meet with last-chance effort

There is no feeling quite like getting it done at the last possible second.

Ever since her freshman year, Centereach senior Sarah Williams, who has run for Middle Country School District’s shared cross country and track and field teams all throughout high school, had long dreamt of qualifying for a state championships meet. By the second day of the Suffolk track and field state qualifier meet on Friday at Comsewogue High School, that box still remained unchecked on her bucket list.

Not anymore.

On the home straightaway of the final lap in the 2,000-meter steeplechase, Williams came all the way back to win it in 7 minutes, 18.32 seconds and punch her ticket to the state meet, scheduled for June 13-14 at Middletown High School.

“I’ve looked up to these girls for so long,” Williams said. “I love talking to them and seeing their outlooks on everything and how positive their mindsets are. It’s really cool to be up there with them. It feels absolutely amazing.”

Williams, like a student doing her homework while the teacher is coming around to check it, made it as last-minute as possible. She did not own the state’s super qualifying standard for NYSPHSAA Class A runners, nor had she hit the at-large qualifying standard for her class at any point in the season. She was going to have to finish first at the qualifier meet amongst Class A runners, or run fast enough to hit one of the two qualifying standards in order to achieve that goal she had so long been chasing.

Once the race was in full swing, she was not running fast enough splits to help herself hit either standard, narrowing her options down to one: win. To make the odds longer, she trailed Comsewogue sophomore Lexie Cole by a wide margin.

However, once the bell rang to sound the final lap, Williams amped it up. She still trailed significantly entering the home straightaway, but with fewer than 10 meters to go, Cole stumbled down with an injury. As Cole crawled toward the finish line, Williams made a last-ditch effort to win it. 

“I literally told my coaches that I’m either winning this race or passing out,” Williams said. “My coaches’ and teammates’ support helped me finish. I had alumni come back, my friend Grace Boland helped me out; I heard her yelling at me. I heard Coach [Kristen] Heuschneider yelling at me. She had to be late to her best friend’s wedding late tonight just to make it to my race, so I was like, ‘I’m winning this, I don’t care.’ I did it for them.”

After some concern and medical attention, Cole was able to walk off on her own power. She still managed to tough out a second-place finish by crawling.

Other steeple runners who qualified were Shoreham-Wading River sophomore Ellie Connell, who finished first in Class B in 7:23.35, and Port Jefferson senior Gwen Connelly, who topped Class C with an 8:09.26.

Islip freshman Wilorda Frenel was another winner in upset fashion, as she won the 400 in 57.49, beating Mount Sinai senior Cameron Campo by three hundredths of a second. Frenel, who ran in the sixth lane, had to deal with the challenging bends of the track to pull off the upset.

“It felt surreal,” Frenel said. “I really didn’t think I was going to get first place. I had a really bad lane. The curves are difficult, because once you come to the second curve, everyone starts merging into the same levels, and you have to start really trying because that’s when everyone is going to start passing you. I thought the other girl beat me, so I couldn’t even react, but now that I've cooled down, it feels really amazing.”

Though Campo placed second, she hit the super standard to advance to the state meet. After her, Comsewogue senior Madelyn Serxner ran a 57.68 to become the top Class A finisher, clinching herself a berth in the state meet.

The only girl to win multiple events on Day Two was Port Jefferson senior Alexa Jacobs, who won the 100 in 12.11 and the 200 in 24.63. She did not have to win anything, as she was already super qualified in both events, but letting her foot off the gas is not part of her game.

“I think it’s just an inner drive,” Jacobs said. “I’ve worked so hard to get to this point, so obviously any chance I get to showcase that, I want to showcase it. I want people to see what I’ve been working for the whole season.”

Other qualifiers in the 100 were Northport senior Madison Duffy as the Class A winner (12.38), Center Moriches junior Laila Cole as the Class B winner (12.52) and Hauppauge junior Rachel Budke with the Class B at-large standard. In the 200, Duffy (25.15) and Cole (25.34) won in Class A and B again, respectively, to clinch state championship berths.

Much like the 3,000 from the day before, the 1,500 was won overall by Floyd senior Zariel Macchia and produced six state-qualified athletes. Bayport-Blue Point senior Sophia McInnes was the top B finisher (4:27.52), while Mattituck eighth-grader Rachel Kubetz was the top C finisher (5:12.26). Bay Shore junior Maggie McCormick, Harborfields sophomore Sayla Fives and Westhampton senior Lily Strebel each owned the super standards entering the race, while Mount Sinai freshman Cali Gabrielson hit the Class B super standard during the race with a 4:37.78.

In the girls 100-meter hurdles, Longwood junior Victoria Paris won it all in 14.26. Behind her, Smithtown East sophomore Rayshelle Brown and Brentwood junior Gabriella Asare already owned the super standards and advanced, too. In the 400 hurdles, Mount Sinai senior Kelly Hughes from Class B won the whole thing in 1:02.56. Sachem East sophomore Bella Galeas won Class A in 1:02.73.

In the shot put, Miller Place senior Jillian Scully won Class B and the overall event with a top throw of 45 feet, 8 ¾ inches. Longwood senior Imani Smith qualified by winning Class A with a throw of 37-5 ½ and Port Jefferson junior Megana Levy qualified out of Class C with a throw of 31-1 ¾.

In the triple jump, Longwood freshman Zoe Jackson flew 38-¼ to win it all. Kings Park senior Mia Staiano won Class B with a jump of 36-5 ¼, and Port Jefferson junior Mari Fukuto took the Class C bid with a leap of 34-2. In the high jump, Half Hollow Hills West junior Suki Dong of Class B and Riverhead senior Kayleanne Campbell of Class A each cleared 5-3, while Port Jefferson junior Isabela Thomsen reached 4-6 to top Class C.

Commack junior Kenzie Albano cleared 11-3 to win the pole vault out of Class A, while Rocky Point junior won Class B with a successful attempt of 10-9. Mattituck senior Haley Lake qualified out of Class C with a jump of 8-0. Dong also qualified, as she entered the night with the super standard.

From the pentathlon, Comsewogue senior Sophia Deja was the best overall with 3,081 points, Mount Sinai senior Hannah Strom secured the berth from Class B with 2,288 and Mattituck sophomore Ever Meyer took the Class C qualification with 2,327.