Both the Hampton Bays boys and girls track teams had athletes crowned as county champions at the Suffolk County Class C Championships at Mount Sinai High School on Monday.
Matthew Papajohn, a junior, won a county title in the 400-meter dash, crossing the finish line in 50.28 seconds, and he was also the anchor leg of the 4x400-meter relay team that won in 3:34.82. He was joined on that team by Charlie Garcia, Liam Sutton and Eddy Benenaula. Sutton, a senior, won the 400-meter hurdles in 57.78 seconds. Garcia won the 200-meter dash in 22.58 seconds, and Papajohn followed right behind him in 22.91 seconds. Along with Eli Amos, who placed fifth in 23.19 seconds, three of the top five spots in the 200 went to the Baymen. Garcia and Amos also went two-three in the 100-meter dash. Garcia crossed in 11.29 seconds while Amos crossed in 11.41 seconds.
The boys finished fourth out of 12 teams with 63.5 points. Mount Sinai won the meet handily with 137 points.
Maizie Poulakis, making her case to return to the New York State Track and Field Championships, won the girls pole vault after clearing 9 feet 6 inches. She was the only county champion for the Hampton Bays girls, but a number of them were very close to winning their respective events.
Emma Halsey, a junior, placed second in the 100-meter hurdles in 16.77 seconds, while sophomore Asha Pensa-Johnson placed second in the discus with a throw of 114 feet 1 inch. Allie O’Brien, a junior, finished third in the pentathlon, which was postponed from Saturday to Sunday due to rain and held separately at Ward Melville High School. O’Brien finished with 1,986 points. She placed second in the high jump (1.37 meters), fifth in the shot put (6.12 meters), second in the long jump (4.31 meters), fourth in the 100-meter hurdles (20.60 seconds) and second in the 800-meter run (2:38.44).
The Baymen girls tied with Babylon for seventh place in the county with 35 points apiece. Mount Sinai girls topped the field with 115 points, seven ahead of Bayport-Blue Point.
Hampton Bays boys and girls should have a good presence at the state qualifier, which is June 1-2 at Comsewogue High School. States are the following weekend, June 9-10, at Middletown High School.