Lubman leads Commack qualifiers for state meet

Commack senior Colby Lubman was all smiles after she took first in the 300 meters in 41.05 seconds and the 55 in 7.28 seconds at the Suffolk state qualifier at Suffolk CC-Brentwood last night.

But she wasn't just happy for herself. She was one of four Commack athletes to qualify for the state championships.

The other qualifiers were Allison Stapleton, who took third in the 1,000 in 3:00.06, Erin Neville, who ran fourth in the 1,500 in 4:55.36 and Sarah Bell, who was second in the 55 hurdles in 8.71.

It was quite different from last year when Commack had no indoor qualifiers. "We had a great meet," Lubman said. "All of us have grown so much."

Lubman, who was a state qualifier for Commack in the 300 in her sophomore season, lauded her coaching staff.

"Coach [Pat] Hoover really pushed us to do our best,'' Lubman said. "And we all came out here and did what we had to do.''

Other girls state qualifiers were Riverhead's Katie Skinner, who took first in the 3,200 in 10:24.05 ahead of West Islp's Ali Foote (10:25.58) and Brigid Brennan (10:26.86) of Northport.

SEE PHOTOSSuffolk indvidual championships / state qualifiers

In the 1,500, it was Ward Melville's Caroline O'Hea (4:50.26) followed by Melanie Notarstefano (4:54.33) of Sachem East, Skinner (4:56.27) and Neville. Miller Place's Casey Browne won the 55 hurdles in 8.67, followed by Bell.

North Babylon's Vanessa Stewart won the shot put (45-1¼), ahead of West Islip's Lindsay Aponte (38-9¾) and Imani White of Longwood (37-4). Northport won the 4 x 800 relay in 9:38.96 and Brentwood took the 4 x 400 in 4:12.93.

Kelly Santangelo of Sayville won the triple jump (36-5¾), followed by Bay Shore's Imani McGhee (36-41/2) and Sara Ronde (35-11) of Northport.

In boys events, North Babylon's Berfrantz Charles qualified in two individual events, taking first in the 55 (6.56) and the long jump (22-7). Walter Miles of Longwood was second in both events, qualifying in each.

SEE PHOTOSHigh school sports -- February

Hills West's Dave Friedman also qualified in the long jump, taking third with a leap of 22-4¼.

Longwood's Joe Fuller won the 600 in 1:26.48. West Babylon's Cody Amengual (1:26.9) was second and Angelo DePrimo of Connetquot third in 1:27.07 to qualify.

Connetquot had another qualifier in Tyler Murtha, who was second in the 3,200 in 9:44.07. Sachem East's Alex Saavedra won in 9:38.94. Whitman's Ben Windisch (9:52.37) was third and also qualified.

Bellport's Jaquan Holland dominated the 300 in 35.78, ahead of Southampton's Owen Laub (37.13) and Andre Doughty (37.31) of Hills East.