Great Neck North’s Samantha Law wins Nassau Div. I 3,000 meters
Great Neck North's Samantha Law finishes first in the girls 1,500-meter run in 4:43.33 during the Nassau Class AA track championships at Glen Cove on Tuesday, May 23, 2017. Credit: Patrick E. McCarthy
Great Neck North’s Samantha Law decided to forget about it. After falling short in the Division I 800 meters, a loss she called the most “upsetting of her entire running career,” the junior took out her frustrations on the track and left the field far behind in the Division I 3,000 meters, winning in 10 minutes, 16.28 seconds on the first day of the Nassau State Qualifier at North Shore High School Wednesday.
The victory qualified Law for the state championships, scheduled for June 9-10 at Union-Edicott High School.
“I was more than upset,” Law said of finishing third in the 800. “My coach finally asked if I wanted to run the 3K or scratch. I thought ‘I have to run the 3K. That’s my best shot. I’m the number one seed in Division I and I have to go after it.’”
Law learned from a perceived mistake in the 800 and went out with blazing speed in the 3,000. Anyone who could join her was welcome to do so. No one could.
“That’s something I really regretted not doing in the 800,” Law said. “I know that we did go out hard, but I didn’t anticipate the race to play out the way it did. So, in the 3K, I knew that I could not leave any chance for a mistake. I had to go out at the gun, build a lead, and pray that no one could catch me.”
Law was still in disbelief after the race, having only run the 3,000 once this season.
“This is the strangest event for me to make states in,” Law said. “I ran this once before, after an SAT where I hadn’t eaten or drank anything for 12 hours. It wasn’t ideal conditions. I would like to think today was much better.”
Cold Spring Harbor’s Fiona Haegeland won the Division II 3,000 in 11:07.07.
Syosset’s Reilly Siebert won the Division I 800 in 2:11.60, outpacing Valley Stream South’s DeAnna Martin and Law in the final 200 meters.
“On the first lap, I knew I didn’t have to push the pace because I could feel that Law was taking it out at an honest pace,” Siebert said. “I decided to stay right next to her and let her do some of the work before I started to go at about the 300 mark.”
In the field, Farmingdale’s Amanda Belgrave won the Division I triple jump, flying 36 feet, 8 1⁄4 inches.
