Hannon stars at Nassau state qualifier

The Nassau County track community has every reason to believe it will come home from next weekend's state championship with a lot of hardware. 

Several athletes stood out at Thursday's state qualifier at Westbury high school.

Elmont's Valencia Hannon was among the top performers as she won the 100-meter dash in a career-best time of 11.94 seconds. It is the fastest FAT time in the state this season. The junior followed that up with a first-place finish in the 200. Her time of 24.37 was also a personal best and one of the fastest FAT times in the state.

North Shore's Brianna Nerud won the 2,000-meter steeplechase in 6:41.33. Nerud set the Long Island record last week at the county championships (6:40.8). Nerud later teamed up with Emily Osman, Elizabeth Caldwell and Samantha Nadel to win the 4x800.

In boy's events, Baldwin's Ieshawn Johnson had a standout day, taking first in the shot put (50-9 1/2) and the discus (179-3). Westbury's Owen Skeete also qualified in two events, taking first in the 1,600 and 3,200-meter races.

Uniondale's Glen Forsythe won the triple jump (49-9 1/2) and finished second in the long jump (23-1 1/2), qualifying in both events.

For more coverage, please check Saturday's Newsday.