Long Island brought the heat last night, in the annual running of the Long Island Elite Meet. Previous NY #3 in the 55m Andre Leslie (Farmingdale) scorched the track to take the finals of the 55m, also running through to the 60m line, where another FAT camera was set up to capture New Balance National qualifying marks.
Leslie came through in 6.30 for the 55m, and 6.77 for the 60m. Both stand as new State Records. The 55m mark break the former Junior Class State Record of 6.31, set by Jermaine Brown (Medgar Evers) in 2009 at the Eastern State Championships. That 55m mark is also NY #2 All-Time, only surpassed by Carlon Hosten (Taft), who ran 6.28 back in 2018.
Even more impressively, Leslie set the Overall 60m State Record as well. The previous record was held by Jermaine Brown as well, this time being achieved in the semi-finals at what was then the NSIC National Champs. The mark also counts as the Junior Class Record to boot. What's even more impressive, is that Leslie shuts it down and starts looking around before the line, indicating there is plenty more in the tank.
To many, Leslie may be an unknown name. But his talent had been apparent to those in the know for a while. He ran 6.45 at the State Qualifier, despite having a rocky start out of the blocks. But his track lineage goes back before this year, albeit 2020 being a breakout season for Leslie, in the States. He first joined Farmingdale as a Sophomore in 2019, only running two individual races. Before that, he was a youth standout for Calabar High School, one of the major running programs in Jamaica. He placed third in his age division at Champs (The Jamaican HS National Championships) in the 400H, running 52.90 as a Freshman in 2018. Expect him to make an impact to the event Outdoors if he chooses to run, although he didn't compete Outdoors in 2019.