Aidan Caggiano double-winner in Nassau ‘A’ Championships
Aidan Caggiano leads in the bell lap of the boys 3200m run during the Nassau Class A track and field championships on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018 at St. Anthony's High School. Credit: Joseph D. Sullivan
Manhasset’s Aidan Caggiano knows what he’s capable of doing. Thanks to a dominant cross-country season, so does the rest of Nassau County. Caggiano is among the top distance runners, and perhaps the best in the county, and he proved it again Tuesday night.
Caggiano sprinted with 600 meters left to break away from a tightly packed field, coasted the rest of the way and won the 3,200 meters in 10 minutes, 3.3 seconds at the Nassau Class A Championships at St. Anthony’s High School. He also won the 1,600 in 4:34.48.
Caggiano was confident about his prospects in both races. So, even when he found himself toward the back of the pack in the 3,200, not a speck of worry appeared on his face.
“I knew if I let them take it out that I’d have enough of a kick at the end,” Caggiano said.
A slow pace at the beginning of the 3,200 helped Caggiano conserve energy for the 1,600. The field went through the first 1,000 meters in 3:13 and the first 2,000 in 6:29.
“That’s relatively slow,” Caggiano said. “As of now, my [personal best] is around a 9:20, so jogging at that pace felt very easy. I knew at the end that I would be able to push through.”
As important as the county championships are, Caggiano has bigger plans. He is looking at the state qualifiers and beyond.
“This isn’t really the goal right now,” he said after the 3,200. “Me and my coach are focusing on states.”
Caggiano’s Manhasset teammate, John Cyprus, held off Syosset’s Andrew Lafferty in the 1,000. Cyprus ran 2:41.07 and Lafferty was right behind him in 2:41.80.
“I was just trying to close,” Cyprus said of the final 60 meters. “I was running with the fast seeds, so I knew I had the kick and the strength for it. I just went out there and raced.”
In the field, Massapequa’s Kevin Cetin cracked the 50-foot barrier in the shot put for the first time, notching the victory with a 50 foot, 7 inch toss.
“50 feet has always been this magical number that shot putters want to reach before they keep moving on. It felt pretty good,” Cetin said.
Oceanside’s Anthony Romeo won the 55-meter hurdles in 7.47 seconds, currently the fastest time in the state, according to milesplit.com.
On the girls side, Syosset’s Reilly Siebert won the 3,000 in 10:26.44. Siebert spent most of the race locked in a battle with Oceanside’s Andria Scaglione and South Side’s Carly Woelfel. With 150 meters left, Siebert, done with leaving things to chance, decided to sprint the rest of the way. Scaglione was second in 10:29.44 and Woelfel was third in 10:39.26.
“I wanted to make sure I wasn’t going too out of control at the end,” Siebert said. “I wanted to [increase] the distance, so I could just focus on my form in the last few meters.”
Uniondale’s Zaria Fuller won the 55-meter hurdles in 8.52 seconds and the 300 in 41.60 seconds. Brianna McGregor won the long jump, flying 17 feet, 1 3/4 inches.
