Freeport's Jordon Quinn is state hurdles champion

The race was fast, but the wait was long. Almost too long, but it sure was worth it.  After running his best time of the season, Freeport hurdler Jordon Quinn stood watching the scoreboard at Ocean Breeze Track and Field Facility on Staten Island, waiting to see if what he thought was good enough truly was.

This is the postseason and, as many athletes will declare, time is nice but it doesn’t matter as much as place. And when the places finally flashed — with Quinn in the top position — a season of excellence was stamped into stone.

Quinn, a junior who spent his childhood in Massachusetts before moving to Long Island in middle school, won the 55-meter hurdles in 7.42 seconds at the indoor track and field state championships Saturday.

“I thought I got it, but I knew it was going to be close,” Quinn said. “I’m not going to lie, I was a little nervous at first.” 

The time was the fastest in the state and 10th in the country, according to milesplit.com.

“I got out really fast,” Quinn said. “In between the second and third hurdle, I was able to pick up my trail leg a little and push it down faster.”

In terms of pure stress at the line, Quinn’s performance in the trials was a lot breezier, running a 7.59, .08 seconds faster than the field.

“It was a really good confidence boost,” he said. “I knew how I could run, and I knew I could win.”

Since moving to Long Island, the Quinn family has emerged as one of the more decorated ones on Long Island. Jordon’s older brother, Christian, won the state indoor long jump championship in March 2020, less than a week before high school athletics were shuttered for the school year because of COVID.

Three years later, Quinn and his brother have one more thing in common: a state medal.

“It feels great,” Quinn said.

Elsewhere, Calhoun’s Logan Schaeffler won the 1,600 in 4:13.51, the fastest time in the state this season. Schaeffler came into the event just outside the state’s top 20, having maxed out at 4:22.29 this winter. The adrenaline of the day, plus the elite field pushed him to the massive personal best, he said.

“It’s a compete shock,” a downright giddy Schaeffler said. “I was really just trying to get [top six] at this point … I blew myself away.”

The adrenaline didn’t supplant any of the tactician that exists within Schaeffler. He battled down the stretch, both losing the lead and clawing back to reclaim it on the final lap. Baldwinsville’s Solomon Holden-Betts was second in 4:15.14 and Nyack’s Matthew Schutzbank was third in 4:15.79.

“It was a perfect race,” Schaeffler said.

 As usual, Long Island’s relay prowess was on full display. St. Anthony’s battled with cross-island foe Chaminade for most of the 4 x 800 until pulling away on Jack Ward’s 1:56.7 anchor leg. Ward, along with Jeremy Paredes, Collin McLaughlin and Sean Dearie, won in 7:52.67. Monroe–Woodbury was second (7:53.49) and Chaminade was third (7:54.84).

Those three programs entered the meet with the top three times in the state, with Chaminade first after running a 7:50.39 at the Millrose Games last month and St. Anthony’s third. But the five-second difference between previous times didn’t damper the Friars’ confidence.

“We knew we were in contention, so we did everything we could to get to that point,” Dearie said.

Huntington won the public school 4 x 400 championship, with Nikolai Seferian, Jahmar Francis, Matt Armstrong and Kender Edouazin running 3:24.68 in the finals. Bishop Loughlin ran 3:18.54 to win the Federation title.   

In the field, Manhasset’s Paul Park won the triple jump, flying 46 feet, 11 ¼ inches.