Valley Stream South's Tori Daniels uses her 'power reserves' to take home Nassau Class C 300

Tori Daniels calls them ‘the power reserves.’

That’s the energy source that Valley Stream South junior sprinter taps into before kicking her legs into high gear and taking a race home. When that happens, not many can catch her.

Monday night, the reserves were activated with 150 meters left in the 300 at the Nassau Class C indoor track and field championships at St. Anthony’s. Daniels won in 40.47 seconds, edging out Malverne’s Nicea Jones, who was second in 40.73.

"I definitely wanted a stronger start, but I’ve always been a strong finisher," Daniels said. "So, I knew those last 150 meters, I had to lock in. That last 100 meters, it was neck-and-neck. I just had to go to those power reserves ... It’s all about form, getting those knees up and those arms driving. You’re going to be tired, but you have to be able to keep that technique, so you could move those legs and get the win."

With her reputation as a closer firmly intact, Daniels called her start in the 300 ‘a work in progress.’

"I came out hard, but it’s definitely something I have to work on in the future," she said.

Daniels is the best 300 runner in Nassau. She ran 40.17 seconds in December at The Armory in Manhattan, still the fourth-best time in the state, as of Monday night, according to milesplit.com.

SEE PHOTOSPhotos: Nassau Class C indoor track championships

"I just take it week-by-week, performance-by-performance," she said. "Obviously, it’s always great to be a county champion. Next week, we have state qualifiers and that’s what I’m focused on right now."

Daniels was also on the 4 x 400-meter relay that, along with Gabriella Bury, Melissa Gueye, and Nia Anjou won in 4:21.65.

Friends Academy won the girls team championship with 80 points. Aislinn Frazer won the 3,000 in 11:16.98. Olivia Carden won the 55-meter hurdles in 9.55 seconds. Frazer, along with her sister Abby, Carden, and Liv Como, won the 4 x 800 relay in 10:38.44.

Elsewhere, Wheatley’s Julia Schriefer won the 1,000 in 2:56.77 and the 1,500 in 5:02.16. Schriefer was all alone in the 1,000, but needed to hold off Aislinn Frazer in the 1,500. Frazer was second in 5:02.99.

"In the end, I could hear [Frazer] behind me, so that definitely made me push it and lengthen my stride," Schriefer said. "Having her behind me helped."

Schriefer barely missed matching her personal-best in the 1,000, turning in an impressive time with little competition on a flat track. She ran 2:56.3 on a banked track in December.

"I’ll take it," she said. "I wanted to dip lower into the 2:50s, but I still have time this season, so it’s ok."

On the boys side, Clarke (119 points) won their first county title in program history, coach Brian Doxey said. Their 4 x 800 relay team, composed of Jayson Emile, Kenny He, Said Reyes, and Andres Ventura, won in 9:14.96.

Clarke dominated the field en route to the historic championship. Alex Pereira won the long jump (19 feet, ½ inches), Justin Uralil won the high jump (4-10), Nikhil Panickssery won the pole vault (8-6), and Liam Farrell won shot put (42-8.75) and the weight throw (50-6.5), which was competed last week.

Seaford’s Anthony Munro won the 55 hurdles (8.02) and the triple jump (39-8).

Wheatley’s Scott Schmuck won the 1,600 in 4:47.12. The slow pace of the opening laps caused Schmuck to toss his initial race plan aside, but he was still able to lose North Shore’s Sam Sturge on the final lap. Sturge was second in 4:51.23.

"I wasn’t on pace for the race plan, so [my coach] said ‘just ditch the race plan and win,’" Schmuck said. "I just went back to the basics of what I know, what my coaches have taught me, and I just decided to progressively get faster each lap, and the last 400 [meters], just go for it."