Sachem East's Lauren Trejo and Ward Melville's Briana Grant trade victories in distance runs at Suffolk League I championships

Call it an individual draw between Sachem East’s Lauren Trejo and Ward Melville’s Briana Grant in the Suffolk girls track and field post-season, so far. ‘So far’ being the operative phrase there, of course.

While the two distance combatants will surely find themselves side-by-side again soon, the first round was as even as could be at the League I championships Saturday afternoon at Suffolk County Community College in Brentwood.

Trejo opened the battle with a three minute, 0.36 second victory in the 1,000 meters, separating with 150 left and holding off Grant in the final moments.

“I knew going into the race that (Grant) was going to be my top competitor,” Trejo said. “I just wanted to stay with her and hang on to her for dear life until the last lap.”

Trejo said she used an early kick to create as much separation as possible before the final pair of turns.

“She has a fast kick,” Trejo said. “I thought ‘might as well try to get it now, so if she kicks, I still have space and she won’t catch up to me’.”

Grant, who was second in 3:01.65, came up lame after crossing the finish line in the 1,000, aggravating a left calf injury that she said had bothered her this week. Despite the pain, Grant said she never considered dropping out of the 1,500, which she won in 4:59.92, topping Trejo by 0.02 seconds.

SEE PHOTOSPhotos: Suffolk girls track league championships

“Absolutely not,” Grant said. “I wasn’t going to give up a race like that just because of an injury. I figured I’d get through the day. I would have pulled out if it was a really, really bad injury, but I knew I could get through it. I didn’t think once about stepping out.”

Grant sprinted past Trejo, who had taken a lead early in the final lap, to catch her at the line.

“That last lap in the mile, I started to feel the pain a little bit,” Grant said. “But, then I saw she started to pull away a little bit. From racing her, I’ve kind of noticed that at the end, when she knows she’s caught me and gets a good distance away from me, she kind of slows down and doesn’t really pick up anymore. I noticed she was doing that and I thought ‘I can catch her.’”

Grant thought of her earlier loss in the 1,000 and couldn’t bear the thought of repeat rejection.

“I wanted it really bad,” she said. “I did not want her to beat me again. I wouldn’t let it happen.”

Later in the meet, Grant ran anchor on the winning 4X400 meter relay team. The junior, along with teammates Caroline Regan, Emma Rathburn and Elizabeth Radke, ran a 4:13.46. Trejo ran on the Sachem East team, which was second in 4:16.96.

Ward Melville won the team competition, scoring 115 points. Megan Wood won the shot put, throwing 39 feet, four inches. Allison D’Angio cleared four feet, 10 inches to win the high jump

The Patriots’ 4X800 meter team, composed of Katelyn Giordano, Victoria Laguerre, and twins Alexis and Julia Bell, won in 10:05.54.

Commack’s Alissa Braxton, who is the defending state triple jump champion and is committed to Florida, won the triple jump, flying 40 feet, one inch and the long jump, going 18 feet, 10 inches.