Samara Lawrence finishes first in three events, lifts North Babylon to Suffolk indoor girls track and field title

Samara Lawrence did it all for North Babylon.

The senior won both the 55 meter dash and the 300 and closed out the Bulldogs’ 4 x 200 relay first-place finish to clinch the team title at the Suffolk Large School girls indoor track and field championships at Suffolk County Community College in Brentwood on Sunday.

Sachem East had a notable lead entering the final leg of the relay, but Lawrence wasted no time making up ground and taking a large lead of her own. Joined by Marguel Allen, Sukara Richards and Gabrielle Padmore, Lawrence anchored North Babylon’s win in 1 minute, 48.47 seconds, which beat Sachem East by 3.08 seconds.

North Babylon finished with 69 points and Sachem East came in second in the team competition with 65 points.

“Samara is a soft-spoken girl," North Babylon coach Sarah Lambert said. "She’s not the one that’s riling the team up and giving big speeches, but she’s the one we count on when it comes to points. A lot of people asked me today, ‘How do you feel about the 4 x 200?’ I said, ‘All my eggs are in Samara Lawrence’s basket.’ ”

Lawrence won the 55 in 7.20 seconds and finished the 300 in 42.38 seconds. The team of Kassidy Volny, Alicia DeFilippis, Amaya Carson and Shavanna Richards won the 4 x 400 in 4:12.23 for the Bulldogs.

“My plan is always to get out of the blocks fast and just keep going,” Lawrence said. “We all put in what we had to do to win and I’m proud of all of us.”

In the field, Riverhead’s Kayleanne Campbell won the high jump (5-4) and her teammate, Ja’dah Williams Booker took first in the shot put (37-2 1/2).

Commack’s Kathryn Vidulich won the triple jump (36-6 1/4) and took second in the long jump (17-5 1/2) behind her teammate Sofia Toepfer (17-7 3/4).

“We always do our jumping training together and we prepare together before every meet,” Toepfer said of Vidulich. “It’s great to have someone on my team who is there to pick me up if I’m not having the best day and get us the points we need.”

In the Small Schools championships, Alexa Jacobs ran like she had something to prove.

Heading down the final stretch of the 300, the Port Jefferson sophomore was inches behind Islip’s Imani Hood. But Jacobs had one last burst to take first place in 41.19 seconds, just in front of Hood (41.37).

“I wanted to have [Hood] in front of me because she’s such a great racer,” Jacobs said. “I knew we were going to be really close, so I just wanted to make as big of a gap as possible. I was pumping my arms as hard as I could.”

Jacobs also won the 55 in 7.10 seconds, a new personal record.

“Last year, I didn’t do that great here, so I wanted to come back and prove myself,” Jacobs said. “It gives me more confidence going into state qualifiers. I’ll be less stressed before my races now because I know I can do it.”

Westhampton junior Lily Strebel took a sizable lead in the penultimate lap of the 1,500 and was able to finish strong to take first place in 4:43.51. She was followed by Bayport Blue-Point’s Sophia McInnes (4:44.70).

Earlier in the day, Strebel tried to close the gap between her and McInnes, but it was McInnes who won the 1,000 in 2:52.85.

“Sophia is an amazing runner and in the 1,000, I knew that she had the speed advantage,” Strebel said. “In the 1,500, we both were tired but after taking second to her, I felt motivated to kick more in the last 300.”

East Islip had winners in five events and claimed the title with 69 points. Danielle Simonetti won the 600 (1:38.04), Chloe Garatina won the long jump (17-1/4) and Grace Micali took first in the triple jump (36-1). Brianna Tucci won the 1,500 race walk (7:49.59) and the team of Danika Tidridge, Micali, Danielle Birner and Simonetti won the 4 x 400 relay in 4:04.64.