Elmont's Aidan Peterkin wins state and Federation 400-meter dash, plus two other Class B titles
Aidan Peterkin of Elmont wins the boys Federation 400-meter dash at the satte outdoor track and field championships at Webster Schroeder High School in Webster, N.Y. on Sunday. Credit: Ben Cleeton
It doesn’t get much more dominant than what Aidan Peterkin did this weekend.
The Elmont senior turned in a standout performance at the two-day state and Federation outdoor track and field championships at Webster Schroeder High School in Webster. He became Long Island’s first winner when he won the Class B 400 meters in 46.99 seconds on Saturday.
But that was just the start of it. Peterkin’s magnificence carried into Sunday, as he ran a 46.93-second anchor leg for the Spartans’ 4 x 400-meter relay team, who won the Class B title in 3 minutes, 16.2 seconds. Later, he won the Class B 200 in 21.42.
After winning three class championships, Peterkin kept the gold medals coming. He won the Federation 400 in 47.36, making him the event’s undisputed champion.
“This feels amazing,” Peterkin said. “I put in a lot of hard work and countless hours of training to get to where I needed to be and I’m glad it paid off . . . I knew if I honed in on my race plan and focused on executing, I can make it happen for myself.”
The only other Long Island boy to win a state title on Day 1 was Patchogue-Medford senior Evan Fraser, who won the Class A 400 championship in 47.66.
Many other Long Islanders followed Peterkin’s lead on Day 2. It started with Manhasset senior Braeden Jackelow, who won the Class B championship in the 3,000 steeplechase in 9:23.51. Later, Jackelow ran the second leg of his team’s 4 x 800 relay that won both the Class B and Federation titles in 7:44.77. It was the squad’s second straight outdoor title.
“My whole career, I’ve worked toward this goal, and to see it accomplished is wonderful,” Jackelow said. “To see my teammates succeed beside me in a team environment, like the relay, it makes me so much happier.”
The hurdles were a revolving door of Long Islanders. It started with Baldwin senior Brandon Thweatt winning the Class A 110 hurdles in 13.98, just ahead of Copiague senior Nigel Harris (14.01) and North Babylon senior Jordan Peck (14.05). Later on, Harris won the Federation 110 hurdles in 14.08, just ahead of Peck (14.26).
Peck finally got his due in the Federation 400 hurdles, as he won it for the second consecutive year in 52.98. He placed second in the Class A 400 hurdles the day before in 53.84 behind Liverpool senior Brayden Smith (53.48).
“Racing Nigel and Brandon force you to be a better hurdler,” Peck said. “They make me grateful to be in the place I’m in, and it’s amazing to do this my senior year.”
In the field, Commack senior Anthony Pisciotta threw the disc 171 feet, 2 inches to win both the Class A and Federation championships. Connetquot senior Alex Molter won the Class A and Federation pole vault titles by clearing 16-3, breaking his own Suffolk record for the third straight week. Valley Stream North senior Michael Muoio won the Class B pole vault at 14-6.
Mike Anderson is a high school sports reporter who has covered 12 sports so far at Newsday. He was the sports editor of Stony Brook University's campus newspaper for two years.
