Valley Stream North junior Theresa Rush repeated in two events at Suffolk Community College, and Garden City freshman Charles White ran the fastest 1600 on record at the meet.
LONG ISLAND, N.Y. — Valley Stream North junior Theresa Rush defended her titles in the girls 1000 and 1500 meters at the Section VIII winter State Qualifier at Suffolk Community College, winning the 1000 in 3:02.1, the fastest time on record at the meet, by 3.4 seconds over JFK Bellmore junior Maegan Krifchin, and the 1500 in 5:04.8 by 4.5 seconds over Mepham freshman Courtney Kelly.
Garden City freshman Charles White won the boys 1600 meters in 4:32.8, a personal best and the fastest time on record at the meet, by 8.9 seconds over Calhoun senior Justin Appel for his eighth win of the season. The previous best was the 4:33.3 run by Valley Stream Central's Conor Lanz.
Three more girls set meet bests. Uniondale senior Nickesha Williams won the 55 meters in 7.1, 0.1 seconds ahead of Hempstead junior Fallon Wilks. Hempstead senior Jeavon Benjamin won the 600 meters in 1:38.6 by three seconds over Herricks senior Marie LaMaida, and Massapequa junior Jennifer Tinnelly won the 1500-meter racewalk in 7:40.7. Massapequa junior Shannon Rogers won the high jump at 5-02.0, also a best on record at the meet.
Freeport senior Charrelle Staton defended her 55-meter hurdles title in 8.5, by 0.4 seconds over South Side senior Lauren Koppel. Hempstead sophomore Rene Cousins won the 300 meters in 43.1, a personal best, and Oceanside sophomore Bari Melker won the 3000 meters in 10:52.1, also a personal best, by 5.1 seconds over Plainedge junior Rose Kennedy. Hempstead junior Racquel Anderson won the long jump and the triple jump, the latter with a personal best of 35-10.0. Farmingdale senior Kara Grech won the pole vault and Baldwin senior Ritshell Verdier the shot put.
On the boys side, Levittown junior Sean Babcock won the 1000 meters in 2:41.6, West Hempstead senior Elvis Lewis the 300 meters in 37.2, Lynbrook senior Jonathan Truitt the 3200 meters in 10:03.7 and Uniondale senior Jean Juste the 55-meter hurdles in 7.6.