Westbury's Mickens, Skeete lead Nassau contingent in qualifying for states

Things couldn't have gone much better for Westbury, the host team for Nassau's state track and field qualifier.

Sparked by strong efforts from sprinter Darnelle Mickens and long-distance specialist Owen Skeete, Westbury's versatility was on display for all to see as the Green Dragons had four athletes qualify for states in six individual events.

The state track and field championships begin June 11 in Vestal, outside Binghamton.

Westbury made its presence felt in the relays, too, as their 4 x 400-meter team of Jair Edwards, Rami Nimblette, Wayne Stewart and Romain Saint-Germain took second, but met the qualifying standard with a time of 3 minutes, 20.24 seconds.

"We have a lot of good people. And they all can do anything from the 100 meters to the 800," Mickens said. "Everyone has stepped up and I'm really excited for us."

Mickens took first in the 100 in 10.83 and the 200 in a personal best 21.57.

Skeete won the 1,600 (4:19.56) and took third in the 3,200, but in the latter, his time of 9:35.03 met the state qualifying standard. Mickens and Skeete had company in the winner's circle when Stewart took the 110 hurdles in 14.83 and Edwards won the triple jump in 45 feet, 11¼ inches.

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Stewart needed every ounce of strength in the hurdles race to hold off Baldwin's James Lowe (14.84) and East Meadow's Baffour Obiem (14.85).

"My start was great and I felt I had a good kick in the middle of the race and that was the key," Stewart said.

Baldwin also had multiple individual qualifiers. In addition to Lowe, who met the qualifying standard in the 110 hurdles, Karl Desil won the 400 (55.89), and Justin Mahoney took second in that race with a qualifying time of 49.97. Ieshawn Johnson finished second in the discus (156-1).

Mineola had several qualifiers, led by Marco Oliveira (100 and 200), Derek Cole (high jump and long jump) and Jobin Abraham (long jump and pole vault).

Joseph Lasher led Seaford, qualifying in the 1,600 and 3,200, and Wheatley's Josh Haghighi qualified in the shot put and discus.

Oyster Bay's Chris Murdock (800), Brian Dillman (pentathlon), Joe LaCorte (3,000 steeplechase) and Shane Giannetti (steeplechase) also qualified.

For the girls, Valley Stream Central's Joanne Imbert narrowly missed clearing a personal-best height of 5-10 in the high jump. But she still easily qualified for the state meet by clearing 5-9.

"I feel great because this is a personal record for this season. I've only jumped 5-6 this season," said Imbert, whose career-best jump is 5-9¼. "I had someone behind me telling me to run faster. So I ran faster and cleared it."

Garden City kept rolling along as its 4 x 800 team of Emily Menges, Emma Gallagher, Jenna DeAngelo and Katie O'Neill took first in 8:58.08, the fastest time in the state this season.

Garden City's team of Taylor Hennig, Michelle Rotondo, Catherine Cafaro and Menges won the 4 x 400 (3:50.92).

The Trojans were well represented in individual events, also. Menges and Gallagher qualified in the 800 and Rotondo took first in the 400 hurdles.

Elmont's Valencia Hannon was also a multiple-event qualifier as she took first in the 100 (12.16) and was part of the winning 4 x 100 team (with Ashley McCarthy, Cherrelle King, Deon Phillips), which took first in 47.9.

Westbury's Marlene Ricketts (37-51/4) and Tiara Mitchell (35-61/4) took first and second in the triple jump.

Other qualifiers include Seaford's Stephanie Meyer, who took first in the pentathlon (2,695 points) and Baldwin's Regine Lazard in the 400 hurdles and 100 hurdles.

Jasmine Blocker (Manhasset) qualified in the 100 and 400, along with Roslyn's Emily Lipari in the 1,500 and 3,000 and Kira Garry of Friends Academy in the 3,000 and the 2,000-meter steeplechase.