Glenn's Davin Li triples his chances at state title next week

In his final local track and field meet, Glenn senior Davin Li pulled off the hat trick.

A day after helping his 4 x 100-meter relay team clinch a berth to the state meet, Li won both the 100 and 200 in the Suffolk state qualifier meet at Comsewogue High School in Port Jefferson Station on Friday to triple his chances at a state title next week.

Li, who is a Class B runner by school population size, defeated the county’s whole field in both individual sprints, winning the 100 in 10.86 seconds and the 200 in 21.66.

Li was the only male athlete to win two individual events overall between the two days, let alone on Friday. On Thursday, during the preliminary races, he helped Glenn’s 4 x 100 squad finish in the top eight with a collective 43.2, which made them the only Class B team to qualify for the finals race on Friday. By being the only surviving Class B team, they automatically clinched a berth to the state championships.

“It’s pretty special,” Li said. “I’ve been working towards these goals and running fast times for the whole season, so it means a lot to come out here and defend them when it matters.”

Li, who already owned the state’s super qualifying standards for Class B in both events and ranks sixth in the state in the 200, is moving the goalposts for himself. Now that he is going to the state meet, he wants it all.

“That’s the new goal, for sure,” Li said. “Like I said, I’m still looking to run fast times, and hopefully I can pull it together for some more higher times and some more wins at states.”

Other sprinters who qualified for the state meet in the 100 on Friday were Bellport senior Raymond Kreamer and Connetquot junior Jayden McCabe. Kreamer was the top Class A finisher in 10.89, while McCabe already hit the state’s Class A super standard. Kreamer also qualified for the 200 for the same reason: being the top Class A finisher. Islip senior Kaiden White made the state meet in the 200, as well, on the back of his super standard hit earlier in the season, as did Amityville senior Amari Alcindor.

Rounding out the state-qualified sprinters from Day Two were West Babylon senior Josiah Price, East Islip senior Joe Norrby, Hauppauge senior Terrell Jeffrey and Half Hollow Hills West senior Marco D’Alessandro — all of which came from the 400. Price was the top finisher overall in 48.62, while Norrby hit the super standard, Jeffrey finished atop Class B in 49.01 and D’Alessandro already owned the state’s at-large qualifying standard for Class B runners.

Elsewhere on the track, Newfield senior Michael Ramos Cody won the 3,000-meter steeplechase for Middle Country School District’s shared team. It was a come-from-behind win, as he usurped Commack senior Dylan Manning halfway through the race and finished in 9 minutes, 47.71 seconds.

Ramos Cody has been running all three seasons (cross country, indoor track, outdoor track) for Middle Country since his freshman year and has always shown promise in distance events. However, he suffered stress fractures and stress reactions in his tibia during both his freshman and sophomore cross country seasons, which forced him to miss both respective winter seasons and halted his development.

He spent lots of hours as a young high school athlete going to physical therapy and watching other kids — many of whom he was faster than — continue to improve. He never got to have his moment, as he had never won a county championship or made it to the state meet.

“It really was detrimental,” Ramos Cody said. “I was looking on MileSplit and watching all of my peers get better and hit personal records. I just kept thinking to myself about how much better I’d be with those two extra years of training.”

Now, he has had his moment. When he crossed the finish line, his face lit up, with both eyes and his mouth wide open with excitement — and perhaps disbelief.

“This is really exciting for me; it’s my first time and I still can’t believe it,” Ramos Cody said. “I’m waiting for it to sink in. I’m a senior now, and this was always my goal. The goal was always states. I really wanted it. This was my last meet, all the pressure was on, I had nothing to lose. With three laps left to go, I just gave it everything I had.”

Other steeple runners who qualified for the state meet were Port Jefferson senior Sviatoslav Zalizniak, who was the top Class C finisher (9:50.33), and Bayport-Blue Point senior Luke Snyder, the top Class B finisher (10:22.84).

In the pentathlon, Connetquot senior Fernando Padilla had one of his best performances. He scored 3,558 points — the second-most in the state this year — and won four out of the five events, with his lone blemish coming in the 1,500. Even then, he placed second in 4:25.7. His best event was the long jump, in which flew a personal-record 22 feet, 2 inches. He also cleared 6-2 in the high jump, threw the shot 37-8 ¼ and ran a 15.91 in the 110-meter hurdles.

“It feels great, but I always had confidence in myself,” Padilla said. “I’ve worked my tail off all year, so I knew I deserved it. It’s crazy; it’s like a dream to me. I’ve worked for this for as long as I’ve been doing track. We have amazing athletes in Suffolk, and I’m proud to be one of the best.”

Other Class A pentathletes who qualified were Huntington sophomore Eric Heinz, who hit the Class A super standard, and Connetquot junior Devin Woodard, who already owned the same standard. Eastport-South Manor senior Jaden Flood was the top Class B finisher with 2,943 points to qualify for the state championships.

In the 1,600, Lindenhurst senior Jake Albert won it overall in 4:18.04. Eastport-South Manor senior Justin Albanese finished atop Class B (4:21.04), Port Jefferson sophomore Sean Grossman was the best Class C finisher (4:34) and Ward Melville senior Jon Seyfert already owned the super standard.

In the 110 hurdles, North Babylon junior Jordan Peck won the whole thing in 14.67, and also qualified for the state meet in the 400 hurdles because he owned the Class A super standard. Port Jefferson senior Evan Monaghan won Class C in both hurdles races (14.92 in 110, 56.84 in 400) to qualify. Copiague senior Nigel Harris also qualified in the 110 hurdles by finishing second in Class A with the at-large standard.

Other 400 hurdlers who qualified were Longwood junior Kaden Reid, who won it overall in 53.86, and Huntington senior Titan Elysee, who hit the Class A at-large standard with a 55.09. Hauppauge junior Jake Parrett won Class B in 57.31 to advance with them.

Shoreham-Wading River junior Logan Jung cleared 6-5 to take the high jump, while Riverhead junior Kobe Boyle was the top Class A finisher at 6 feet and Port Jefferson senior Kendry Rodriguez was the top Class C finisher at 5-10. Eastport-South Manor senior Jaiden Campbell qualified with a super standard that he set the week before.

In the triple jump, West Babylon junior Khadin Muhammad flew 47-2 to log the best overall distance, while Harborfields senior Tristan Blake (45-3) qualified from Class B and Mattituck senior Daniel Gamboa-Boutcher (42-4) qualified from Class C.

Rounding out the list of athletes moving on are the discus throwers, led by Islip senior Josiah Patterson, who threw the best distance at 173-1. Mount Sinai senior Tyler Zahra hit the state standard with a throw of 169-11. Whitman senior Justin Koegler won Class A with 160-3, while Patchogue-Medford junior Jeremiah Newsome hit the Class A at-large with a throw of 158-5. Southold/Greenport sophomore Emmett Tramontana threw 103-10 to win Class C’s berth.

Three other boys entered play with the super standard and qualified regardless of placement: Commack junior Anthony Pisciotta, West Babylon senior Jah’rece Matthews and Miller Place senior Olamide Dada.

By Mike Anderson

michael.anderson@newsday.com

Mike Anderson is a high school sports reporter who has covered 12 sports so far at Newsday. He was the sports editor of Stony Brook University's campus newspaper for two years.