Aislinn Frazer remembers her first Nassau County track and field championship. She was in ninth grade, and it was the winter indoor meet. The Friends Academy senior was a rookie on the 4 x 800 team, and she remembers the thrill of being on the podium with a medal around her neck.
“My sister was on the team, a bunch of the girls were good friends of mine, and it was just a really cool feeling,” Frazer recalled this week.
So, yeah, definitely the first one was memorable. It’s just that Frazer has done so much winning since, she can’t possibly remember each one.
After dominating yet another Class AA county meet on May 19, Frazer now has an unfathomable 21 county running titles.
That’s right, a full blackjack at the casino of them, spanning cross country season, indoor track, and now outdoor season.
Without running anywhere near her best, Frazer won the 1,600 and 3,000-meter runs and helped the Friends Academy 4×400 relay team finish second, losing by only nine milliseconds, 4:06.87 to 4:06.96.
With state qualifiers and the state meet still ahead of her, Frazer, headed to West Virginia on scholarship in a few months, isn’t done yet.
But her county feats are worth celebrating now.
“The county meet is just always so exciting, because you’re seeing everyone you’ve competed against, all in one place,” Frazer said. “And this one was bittersweet, because it didn’t really set in that it was my last one until I was waiting for the baton during the relay. My friend Will Davis comes over to me and is like ‘Better run fast Aislinn, this is your last one!’”
Frazer’s career-capping performance was one of many terrific efforts by local athletes in the Class AA meet, at Hewlett High School.
Staying on the girls side, Manhasset’s Anna Paloubis captured first place in the 2,000 steeplechase, setting a school record in the process (7:24.88) and then helped Set’s 4 x 800 relay team win the title as well. Paloubis anchored a squad that also contained Emma Motroni, Gianna Sforza and Katherine Garvin.
“I was really nervous but really confident at the same time,” Paloubis said. “For the relay, my legs were really tired from the other two (individual events), but everyone was screaming at me that the girl (from Division Avenue High School) was right behind me, so that motivated me to keep going fast!”
Other great individual performances included Manhasset’s Kate Voelker, winning high jump in 5 feet, 6 inches, and Roslyn’s Diana Santos capturing the shot put with a toss of 34 feet, 7.5 inches.
On the boys’ side, it was another magnificent performance from Manhasset, as it won its sixth straight county conference title in two years. Set easily outdistanced second-place Garden City, 129-65.
Head coach Steve Steiner believes that’s the first time any county school has done that, further proof of Manhasset’s depth.
“Each season is a different animal, requiring different skills, so I’m so proud of our guys for adapting to each season and doing their best,” Steiner said.
For Manhasset, junior Blake Sealy won the 3,200 in 9:43.9 and sophomore Nic Katsoulis took home the 1,600 title in 4:32.03. Senior John Hogan, freshman Max Tobar, senior Matthew Milewski and sophomore Cole Miller combined to run 8:22.65 and win the 4×800.
Great Neck North’s Jonah Berkowitz won his first county title, grabbing the 3,000-meter steeplechase and celebrating with his family nearby.
“I was so excited and heard them cheering and just kept running,” said Berkowitz, a senior at Great Neck North. “I felt like, this is my last shot to win a county championship, so I better go for it.”
Also shining on the boys side was Glen Cove’s Josiah Mingo Cooper, a standout on the football team, who won the shotput with a throw of 46-11.
“I thought I had a good chance, because the Friday before the meet in practice, I PR’ed like crazy,” Cooper said. “And then I got out there (Monday), and on my first throw of the meet, I got my farthest distance. So then it was just waiting to see if anybody beat it.”
The state qualifiers meet for all county runners and field athletes is June 5.
