Gerland wins 3,000 meters for Garden City

Quality and depth are rarely found together on the same track roster. Garden City has both, and it has them in abundance.

Garden City won six of 16 events to win the Nassau Class A championship with 122 points Wednesday night at St. Anthony's. Uniondale was second with 91 points.

Garden City started the meet on the right foot in the first race as eighth-grader Stephanie Gerland led from start to finish in winning the 3,000. Gerland won in 10:31.45, more than four seconds ahead of Massapequa's Catherine Young (10:35.50).

"I just ran my own race," she said. "I just wanted to keep pushing myself on every lap."

Garden City has now won six straight county championships. The Trojans have won the last five Class A championships and took the Class B title in the 2006-2007 season.

"It's good to know that our team is always solid and will remain solid," said Emma Gallagher, who won the 600 (1:37.55) and the 300 (41.04) and anchored the Trojans' 4 x 800 team to a championship-clinching win. "We've got depth, and a lot of us are young."

Taylor Hennig took second in the 600 (1:39.42), and Laura Jaeger was second in the 300 (41.74). Katie O'Neill won the 1,000 in 3:00.74, and senior Molly Josephs won the racewalk (7:04.08) for the fifth straight year. The Trojans also won the 4 x 800 and the 4 x 200-meter relays.

SEE PHOTOSNassau Class A boys and girls track finals

"We train our runners to be able to do all different events," coach Erica Fregosi said. "They're developed in more than one event, so they can help us out across the board."