Huntington’s 4 x 400 relay team breaks record at qualifying meet

The Huntington 4 x 400 meter relay team left its mark on Suffolk County by doing something extraordinary. The team, which already has an indoor state and national championship to its name, won in three minutes, 15.48 seconds yesterday afternoon at the Suffolk State Qualifier at Port Jefferson High School.

The time, run by Kyree Johnson, Shane McGuire, Lawrence Leake, and Infinite Tucker, broke the Suffolk record of 3:16.66 set by Amityville in 2002, according to tullyrunners.com.

“It’s always something in the back of our mind,” Johnson said. “We’re always thinking about trying to set new records and ultimately be the best.”

Huntington is certainly the best, both together and alone. In addition to its relay title, there were individual titles to speak of. McGuire won the 800 meters, Tucker won the long jump (23-feet, 4 3⁄4 inches), the 400 hurdles (51.23 seconds), and the 110 hurdles (14.27 seconds). Johnson won the 400 in 47.78 seconds.

Tucker’s 400 hurdle time broke Bay Shore’s Kadesh Robert’s Suffolk State Qualifier record of 52 flat, set in 2012. Johnson’s 400 time broke Half Hollow Hills West’s Kory Fitzgerald 2015 meet record of 48.35, according to suffolkxctf.com.

The victories qualified Huntington, both as a relay and individuals, for the state championships, scheduled for Friday and Saturday at Cicero-North Syracuse High School.

“That was my main goal from the beginning of the season,” Johnson said of his 400 time. “Now, my main goal is to better my time at states.”

SEE PHOTOSSuffolk state track qualifier

Elsewhere on the boys side, Sachem North’s Jonathan Lauer battled it out with Smithtown West’s Michael Grabowski in the 3,000 meter steeplechase. Neck and neck for the first part of the race, Lauer separated with 1,200 meters left and won in 9:34.72. Grabowski was second in 9:44.54.

On the girls side, Bay Shore’s Aviana Goode won the 100 meter hurdles in 14.16 seconds. The time broke her own meet record of 14.29, set last year. Goode also won the long jump (18-2 1⁄2) on Friday.

“I got out to the first hurdle first and drove my trail leg,” Goode said. “This year, the hurdles were stacked. We’re all top athletes. It was much harder [to win] than it was in the past.”

Whitman’s Alexandra Greaves won the 100 in 12.36 seconds. Half Hollow Hills East’s Mary Chimezie won the 400 in 57.14 seconds. West Babylon’s Brittany Korsah won the 200 in 24.46 seconds. Connetquot’s Kelly Iocca won the 2,000-meter steeplechase in 7:09.34.