Elmont's Hannon, Smith sprint to victory in Nassau Class A track meet

Elmont's duo of Jaquan Smith and Valencia Hannon made quite a splash Friday night at the Nassau Class A track and field championships at Suffolk CC-Brentwood.

Smith took first in the boys 55-meter dash in 6.70 seconds and Hannon won the girls 55 in 7.27.

For Hannon, who won the Nassau Class A 55 title for the second year in a row, it was just another day at the office. It wasn't for Smith, a junior who is in the midst of his first season on the track team.

"I was shocked when he told me he was going out for the team. I didn't think he'd do it," Hannon said of Smith, who also plays football for the Spartans. "It's really going to help him for football. A lot of pro football athletes have run track."

Smith attributed his quick success to his sophomore training partner. "She laughed when I told her I was coming out," Smith said. "But I told her I'll see you at practice."

Hannon's and Smith's friendship extends beyond the track. The two live on the same block and grew up together. "She helped me with my form and my starts," Smith said. "If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be here."

Elmont's success didn't stop with Hannon and Smith, as Angelo Melendez won the 1,000. Port Washington's Jacob Levine was second, followed by Tim Campbell of Calhoun.

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The Garden City girls team won the team title, led by its senior duo of Emily Menges and Catherine Cafaro, and junior Michelle Rotondo. The Trojans had a clean sweep in the 1,000 with Menges taking first, followed by Emma Gallagher and Rotondo.

The Trojans also swept the top three spots in the 600, with Taylor Hennig (1:39.35), Jenna DeAngelo (1:39.37) and Katie O'Neill (1:42.28).

"Everyone came back from last season," Cafaro said in reference to Garden City's depth. "We have some new athletes and it's been working well."

The 300 also belonged to Garden City as Cafaro (42.82) took first ahead of Menges (43.17).

In other girls races, MacArthur's Lucia Montefusco kicked it into gear on the last lap to capture the 3,000 in 10:39.6, beating out Massapequa's Emily Marchini (10:41.1) and Jennifer Gerland (10:44.7) of Garden City. Other individual winners were Baldwin's Regine Lazard in the 55 hurdles (8.9) and Syosset's Rachel Ngu in the 1,500 (4:52.46).

In girls field events, Valley Stream Central's Joanne Imbert easily won the high jump with a leap of 5 feet, 7 inches. East Meadow's Tiffany Goodwin took first in the shot put (34-6½) and Massapequa's Heather Sweeney won the long jump (16-61/2).

Melissa Barrett won the pole vault (8-0) for Farmingdale.

In boys races, MacArthur's Matthew Granata was a double winner, taking first in the 600 (1:24.32) ahead of Freeport's David Lewis (1:24.94) and Ryan Healy (1:25.15) from Syosset. Granata also won the 300 in 36.95.

Calhoun's Kevin Harvey was a double winner, as well. He took the 3,200 (9:44.74) and the 1,600 (4:36.31). Calhoun also won the boys championship.

East Meadow's Baffour Obiem won the 55 hurdles in 7.94. Syosset's Brandon Locke won the pole vault (12-0), Oceanside's Greg Gromling took the shot put (48-4¾) and Massapequa's Joe Caraciolo captured the long jump (21-1½).