Angeline Caamano of Manhasset wins 800 at Nassau sectional track and field championships

Angeline Caamano likes to know where she’s going.

Perhaps that’s why the Manhasset senior took a trip to Bellmore JFK high school last weekend to get the lay of the land at the host site of the Nassau sectional track and field championships on Thursday and Friday.

That’s a common practice during cross country season, when courses consist of so many variables that no two are the same.

A track is more uniform, of course, but Caamano still sees the value in test runs.

"I like to be familiar with the tracks," said Caamano, who will run at Georgetown next school year. "I did the same thing with Mitchel Field [site of the class county championships two weeks ago]. [Bellmore JFK] was really different from Mitchel Field. It had really long straightaways, and since it’s a south shore track, we thought that there might be a lot of wind."

Caamano added: "I like to be familiar so I’m not stressing out worrying about where the bathroom is, where there’s shade, or anything like that."

Caamano won the 800 meters in 2 minutes, 16.27 seconds at the championships on Thursday, beating out Wheatley’s Julia Schriefer, who was second in 2:21.28.

"The Saturday before, I was doing 250 meter [runs], so with 250 meters to go, I thought, ‘Oh, this is just like the workout,' " Caamano said. " … With 200 I decided to make my move [past Schriefer]. I wasn’t sure if I was going to hold it, but I just went from there and didn’t look back."

Elsewhere, Mepham’s Camylin Blake won the 100 in 13.10 seconds, the 100 hurdles in 15.41, and was on the 4x100 meter relay team that won in 51.62. Blake, who suffered a knee injury towards the end of winter season and a slightly strained Achilles tendon last month, said she wasn’t even sure she’d finish the season, much less win three times at the county’s final meet.

"I kind of lost hope for my spring season when [the Achilles injury] happened," Blake said. "… [Winning] is very satisfying. I feel very blessed to be able to run and do what I love."

In the field, Plainedge’s Kayla Esposito won the triple jump, going 34 feet, five inches. The mark was special for two reasons. It shattered Plainedge’s school record of 33 feet, four inches and 345 is Esposito's lucky number since she was born on March 4, 2005.

The big jump came on her fourth and final attempt.

"I used more power with my sprint," said Esposito, who began triple jumping this year. "With my second jump, I really got a long stride, which prepared me to get really far out in the sand."