VS North's Kevin Beltran looks for a win in 1,000, finds it
Kevin Beltran got his win.
The Valley Stream North junior ran two personal-best times at last week’s Nassau Class B championships, but victory eluded him. At the Nassau indoor track and field state qualifier Tuesday night, Beltran changed that narrative, winning the 1,000 meters in 2 minutes, 35.34 seconds and outpacing Freeport’s Danzil Monk Jr, who was second in 2:35.82, at St. Anthony’s High School in South Huntington.
“The county meet wasn’t really what I wanted,” said Beltran, who took second in both the 1,000 and 1,600 last week. “Winning is always the main goal. Going into the state qualifying meet, I had that bitterness and that drive to say ‘you know what? Today we’re going to win.’”
Beltran continued: “I didn’t worry about the time. I didn’t worry about the pacing. All I was worried about was winning.”
That win earned Beltran a berth in the state championships, scheduled for March 4 at Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex on Staten Island.
Beltran said he made his move with 400 meters left, and held on just enough to outpace Monk Jr.
“Final lap, I kicked and the race was just there for me,” Beltran said. “It was really more of a ‘sit-and-kick’ race until the 400 meters….Once I heard that bell [indicating the final lap], that was my signal to just go. I pumped those arms and gutted it out.”
Elsewhere, Freeport’s Jordon Quinn won the 55-meter hurdles in 7.53 seconds. The time matched his state-leading mark, run at the Nassau Conference I Championships in early January.
“It was really reassuring knowing that I can still be consistent throughout my races,” Quinn said. “So, I’m pretty confident for states…The goal is to [run a personal best]. With that, hopefully, comes a win.”
Quinn said that none of the small trail-leg issues that plagued him on the way to victory in last week’s Nassau Class A championships popped up Tuesday night. No race is perfect, but the junior was quite pleased with his latest output.
“The race was way better [than last week],” Quinn said. “Massapequa’s [Christian Primavera] was really on my tail this time. He’s getting really fast. He really had me at the start, but I was able to pick it up toward the end.”
Primavera was second in 7.60.
Elsewhere, Garden City’s Alex Colletti won the 600 in 1:24.58 and Elmont’s Kimani Lewis won the 300 in 36.21 seconds.
In the field, West Hempstead’s Jurrel Hall won the triple jump, flying 46 feet, ½ of an inch and the high jump (6-0). Manhasset’s Paul Park went 21-9 ¾ to win the long jump.
