Mahoney, Johnson lead Baldwin track title

Being able to compete in multiple events has been a key to Baldwin's success.

Paced by first-place finishes in the 400 meters, the 400 hurdles, the discus and the 4 x 400 relay, the Bruins won the Nassau Class AAA title Wednesday night.

Justin Mahoney, who won the 400 (49.0 seconds) and was part of the Bruins' winning 4 x 400 team, had confidence his squad could get it done.

"Most teams have a reputation for being a distance team, sprint team or a field team," the Lehigh-bound senior said. "We have state-ranked people in the 400, high state-ranked people in the shot and discus and in the long and triple jumps."

Baldwin's Ieshawn Johnson continued his great season, winning the discus (167) and taking second in the shot put (49 feet, 11 inches). Teammate Jarrek Babb won the 400 hurdles (54.6).

"We have a lot of athleticism and everybody works hard in practice," Johnson said. "We worked all season for this."

Having multiple state qualifying athletes isn't out of the question for the Bruins.

SEE PHOTOS2011 Nassau spring track championships

"We could send up maybe six or seven to the states," Mahoney said.

Other Class AAA winners included East Meadow's Chris Garzia in the 110 hurdles (14.6), Long Beach's Josh Trone in the 100 (11.0) and Calhoun's Tim Campbell in the 1,600 (4:23.1).

MacArthur's Michael Camacho won the 200 (22.5) and Uniondale's Glen Forsythe took the triple jump (46-3 1/2) and the long jump (22 1/4).

Valley Stream North, which won cross country and indoor titles, completed the three-season sweep by taking the Class A championship with 123 points.

The Spartans were led by Steven Barbuto, who won the 400 hurdles (57.1), Thomas Bardabelias, winner in the 800 (1:58.6), and Kendel Levy, who won the discus (136-6) and shot put (49-7 3/4).

Other Class A standouts were Stephen Bourguet, who won the 3,000 steeplechase (10:17.0) for second-place Manhasset and Roosevelt's Donte Colter and Erin Parker, who won the 100 (10.9) and 200 (22.4). Colter and Parker were also part of Roosevelt's winning 4 x 100.

Seaford's Matthew Savino won the 3,200 (9:45.6) and teammate Joseph Miller took the 800 (2:05.0). Floral Park's Justin Miller won the high jump with a leap of 6-8.

Westbury continued its dominance by taking the Class AA title. Owen Skeete led the way, taking the 1,600 (4:25.9), 3,200 (9:36.1) and 800 (1:56.4).

The Green Dragons' Hugh O'Brien won the discus (144-2) and the shot put (49-2 3/4), and Jourmel Castma won the long jump (21-8).

Hewlett had a strong day as Lamar Letts won the 400 hurdles (57.8) and Kevin Dehaney the triple jump (42-10 1/2). Sewanhaka also had multiple winners as Isaiah Pollack took the high jump (6-2) and Brian Wint the 100 (11.0).