Confident Jaheim Dotson knows what he wants — a state title

Jaheim Dotson is comfortable, and, that’s a good thing. Not everyone can handle the inherent pressure of being number one with the ease and joviality of the Longwood junior. But yet here Dotson is — the fastest hurdler on Long Island and one of the fastest in the state, according to milesplit.com.

And clearly, he’s just getting started.

“I am 100 percent thinking about a state championship,” a confident Dotson said, more than a month ahead of the final state competition.

That road toward that has already begun. Dotson won the 55-meter hurdles in 7.75 seconds, the 300 in 36.18, and flew 21 feet, 3 1⁄4 inches to win the long jump at the Suffolk I championships, held Saturday morning at Suffolk CCC-Brentwood. For those athletes, it was the opening of the Suffolk postseason.

Dotson ran 7.53 in the 55 hurdles at last weekend’s Molloy Stanner Games at the Armory in Manhattan, the top time on Long Island and third fastest in the state, entering Saturday’s action.

Although there’s not a lot of fault to find in Dotson’s hurdle form, something that carried him to fluid victories in both the trials (7.83) and the finals, he said that he is always striving for a smoother run through.

“I’m just making it better,” Dotson said of his form. “You can always improve . . . I like that it’s smooth and comfortable.”

Despite it being Dotson’s third event of the day, he looked energized coming down the straightaway of the 300, topping Floyd’s Zion Wellington by less than a second. Wellington finished in 37.14.

“My energy was still the same,” Dotson said. “It’s not going to deplete, because all you have to do is keep going and keep that same energy level throughout the whole race.”

Commack’s Brendon Zeng won the 1,000 meters in 2:41.94 and the 1,600 in 4:39.13. In the 1,600 Zeng sat on Patchogue-Medford’s Carlos Santos’ shoulder and allowed the cross country standout to set the pace. Zeng moved into the lead with 400 meters left and gradually built a bigger advantage on the final lap. Santos finished second in 4:40.46.

“After the 1,000, I was a little tired,” Zeng said. “So I just wanted to chill behind Carlos [Santos] and the other guys. Once I saw Carlos start to breathe, I knew I could push the pace and outkick him.”

Late passing seemed to be the theme of the day. Ward Melville’s Danny Ryan passed two runners on the final straightaway to win the 600 in 1:24.97, fighting both a cold and a hamstring injury as he ran.

“With around 150 meters to go, I was a little disconnected,” Ryan said. “My coach yelled at me to open my hands and I ran all the way through . . . I still felt like I had a little bit left, but because I’m coming off an injury and I’ve been sick this week, I didn’t know what to expect.”

Brentwood won the League I team championship with 96 points. Commack and Longwood tied for second with 78 points. It is the Brentwood’s first league title in more than 20 years, coach Judy Daniels said. Brentwood’s Jelani Stoddard won the 55 in 6.56 seconds, Daouda Dansoko won the triple jump (41-6 3⁄4) and Deandre Smith won the high jump (6-2).