Ahn and Signoretti cruise
By Christopher Hunt
PORT JEFFERSON – Suejin Ahn didn’t need to make any statements. The Section 11 state qualifier is just the ticket. The state meet is the show.
So for the Ward Melville senior, the 3,000 meters at the state qualifier at Earl L. Vandermeulen High School was not as much about her own qualifying – that was a nearly a given – it was about her teammate. Ahn wanted to give Caroline O’Hea, an eighth-grader, a chance at making the state meet.
Ahn gave O’Hea a target to chase but mostly Ahn ran alone, the way she has most of the season. She won the 3,000 in 10:05.30, her best time of the season. O’Hea finished second in 10:14.74, a personal best.
“I just wanted to put myself out there,” Ahn said. “I felt good.”
Ahn is accustomed to racing alone by now but knows that the state meet June 13-14 at the University at Buffalo will be quite different. There seven runners in New York under 10:00, two, Hannah Davidson of Saratoga Springs and Sam Roecker of Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake, qualified Thursday at the Section 2 qualifier.
“I’m just going to get in the pack and see what happens,” Ahn said. “Hopefully I can get a fast time.”
Smithtown’s Giovanni Signoretti just as easily qualified in the boys 3,200. The senior sat in the pack for the first mile of the race then surged to the front, shadowed by Barry Franklin of Longwood.
Signoretti gradually accelerated and Franklin followed while they gapped the field. With 300 left, Franklin challenged for the lead on the back straightaway. That gave Signoretti the shot he needed. Signoretti surged again and kept Franklin on his hip until he pulled away in the home stretch.
Signoretti said he would also run the 3,000 steeplechase Saturday but in the event he qualifies in both events, which is likely, he will
concentrate on the 3,200 at the state meet.
“Then the steeple will just be more for fun,” he said.
Smithtown’s star will have to face Pawling’s Colby DelBene and Pat DuPont of Fairport at the state meet. He said the race presents the opportunity for him to break 9 minutes if it doesn’t turn into a kicker’s race. In the event, the pace slows, Signoretti said he would push the pace.
“That’s the dirty work though,” he said. “I don’t want to do that.”
North Babylon’s Charles Berfrantz won the long jump in 21 feet, 7 1/2 inches. Amityville’s Craig Slaughter produced the fastest-time for Saturday’s 200-meter final, finishing in 22.08. Teammate Rashim Gaines did the same in the 400 hurdles in 55.99. Middle Country ran the fastest qualifying time in the 4x100 in 42.60. Essence Felder won the long jump for Brentwood, leaping 18-1.
Reach Christopher Hunt at chunt@armorytrack.com.