Mount Sinai's George Franks wins two events at indoor championhips

George Franks doesn’t mind being comfortable, just as long as he’s not racing. So, when the Mount Sinai sprinter felt that easy feeling during the 300 meters Saturday, he knew something was amiss.

"I ran the first 150 [meters] pretty good, but then I started to settle in a little," Franks said. "The kids next to me were catching up, so I felt I needed to push a little more."

Thankfully for Franks, he’s more than fast enough to make up for it. The senior kicked back into gear at just the right time and rolled towards his second individual county championship of the afternoon, winning in 35.53 seconds at the Suffolk Small Schools indoor track and field championships at Suffolk County Community College in Brentwood.

"I knew I had more in me," Franks said. "It wasn’t too hard to push it. I just should have pushed earlier."

Franks won the 55 meters earlier in the meet, overcoming a stumble out of the blocks to put down a 6.53. Mount Sinai won the team championship with 72.5 points.

"There’s not much time to think in the 55," Franks said. "You have to just keep running….I wish I had gotten a better start, but I took it home and I’m glad."

Franks also took second in the triple jump, flying 43 feet, ¼ of an inch. Center Moriches’ William Hawthorn won (43-2 ¼).

SEE PHOTOSPhotos: Suffolk boys large and small school track championships

Franks’ teammate, Zekey Huang, won the 55-meter hurdles in 8.24 seconds, topping Port Jefferson’s Hugo Onghai, who was second in 8.25. Huang hit the final hurdle, slowing him for a moment, but was able to refocus quickly.

"It was all about recovering from that hurdle," Huang said. "I dipped forward, was focusing on my own race, and I had it…In practice, that happens quite often. Knocking it over is not ideal, but I get used to it. You just have to stay upright."

Elsewhere, Deer Park’s Aidan Neilson won the 1,600 in a commanding 4:25.99. As one of the top distance runners in Suffolk, Neilson didn’t have to do a lot to secure the victory. The event quickly disolved into a race against himself. He won by 4.97 seconds – a track and field lifetime.

"I just made sure that I had a good gap on [the field] and my coach kept telling me to surge on the turns," Neilson said. "Eventually, I kept surging and they died out. That was the plan, and it worked."

But Neilson wasn’t done. He anchored both the winning 4X400 and 4X800 meter relay teams, a difficult and rarely done feat. The 4X4, which also included Joe Sciurca, Lutherson Chauvette, and Daniel Thomas, finished in 3:41.11 and the 4X8, which included Thomas, Dorian Pino, and Michael Leon, won in 8:33.24.

Thomas also won the 1,000 in 2:41.84.