Meet the girls state outdoor track champions for 2023
Holy Trinity’s Logan Daley wins the girls 200-meter dash in a time of 24.70 seconds at the CHSAA Intersectional track and field championship at Icahn Stadium in Manhattan on May 27. Credit: Patrick E. McCarthy
Logan Daley, Holy Trinity, 100 meters
The key to success in short sprints is a great start. It’s what Daley had been practicing in preparation for the state championships, and it paid off.
The junior won the Federation 100 in 11.73 seconds, setting a new personal best.
“Just a lot of reaction drills to keep me sharp for the start of my race,” Daley said on what she did to prepare. “And then rest, because rest is the best. I don’t want to do too much before a big track meet.”
Two weeks before the state championships, Daley won the 100 (12.18) and the 200 (24.70) at the CHSAA Intersectional Championships.
Ashley Fulton, Elmont, 100 and 200 meters
Ashley Fulton of Elmont wins the Division I 200-meter dash during the Nassau track and field state qualifier on June 2 in Glen Head. Credit: Dawn McCormick
Measuring progress can be somewhat challenging for someone at Fulton's level. As a sophomore, she was a multi-state champion. There isn’t much higher, at least from a "title" standpoint. So, where was Fulton better in her junior year?
“I’m more confident than I was last year. Definitely speed-wise, I’m faster. I feel like I’ve improved a lot in the way I run, how I start,” Fulton said. “I’m just a better athlete.”
It added up to more championships. Fulton won the Division I 100 in 11.88 seconds and the Federation 200 in 24.05. She also won the Division I 200 in 24.26.
Fulton took second in the Federation 100 in 11.83, but had no time to wallow. She got right back on the line and won the highest classification in the 200.
“I got a good blocks start, I got out, I used the turn and being on the inside to my advantage,” Fulton said. “When I got to the turn, I just shot off.”
Alexa Jacobs, Port Jefferson, 100 meters
Port Jefferson’s Alexa Jacobs gets past Center Moriches' Lalia Cole and Southampton’s Kyla Cerullo and wins the 100-meter dash during the Suffolk Class C track and field championships on May 21 at Mt. Sinai. Credit: Bob Sorensen
Jacobs walked back to the awards tent not knowing what was about to happen.
The freshman thought she had finished second among public schools runners — the only ones eligible to win in Division II. Turns out, she was first.
Generally, private schools are not eligible to win a divisional state championship. They run in the races because they also serve as trials for the Federation races, which encompasses everyone. But, these runners cannot go home with a divisional crown. Those are reserved for the top public school performers.
What Jacobs didn’t realize, however, was that both the winner and the second-place finisher were from private schools. So, although she was third overall in the race — at 12.36 seconds — Jacobs had just won her first state title.
"It was crazy,” Jacobs said of finding out at the podium. “It was so fun to see everyone’s reaction.”
Jacobs edged out two other runners who also ran 12.36 — Juliette Sullivan of Valhalla and Gabriela Almonte of Homestead Collaborative College High School in upstate Hurleyville. But, it was Jacobs, at 12.351 seconds, that earned the miniscule edge.
Anissa Moore, Hempstead, 400 meters
Hempstead's Anissa Moore competes in the girls Division I 400-meter dash during the NYSPHSAA track and field championships at Faller Field in Middletown, N.Y., on June 9. Credit: /Kelly Marsh
Winning a state championship is impressive. Winning in back-to-back years at two different schools? Even more so. Throw in that Moore’s a PSAL and Nassau 600 meters champion in the winter season, and you have an almost unheard of accomplishment.
But, alas, that is the resume Moore has. The Hempstead senior won the Federation 400 in 55.09, the best time in the state this season, according to MileSplit.com. Moore, who won the 600 state title this winter, ran for Brooklyn’s Paul Robeson High School before moving to Hempstead last summer with her family.
“I’m very grateful for everything that I’ve been through,” Moore said. “Wins or losses, they still make who you are as an athlete. I think using that [mindset] every time you go on the track to get your mind [thinking, ’Hey I have to go out here and work today’ [is helpful]. I have to go and chase that time, no matter what might be going on that day."
She’ll run at Vanderbilt in the fall.
Victoria Guerrier, West Hempstead, 400 meters
West Hempstead's Victoria Guerrier, center, competes in the girls 400-meter dash during the NYSPHSAA track and field championships at Faller Field in Middletown, N.Y., on June 9. Credit: /Kelly Marsh
Guerrier cherished the last time she donned her West Hempstead track uniform at the state championships.
“It’s been four years,” the Yale-bound Guerrier said. “It wasn’t really a terrible goodbye. It was more of a farewell thing.”
Guerrier won the Division II 400 state title in 55.65 seconds, but her most proud moment came earlier in the season in the Bahamas. She earned a bronze medal in the 800 at the CARIFTA Games, representing Haiti – her parents’ native country. She was the country’s first female athlete and second athlete ever to medal at the event, she said. Guerrier finished that race in 2:11.99.
“I was actually able to make history for Haiti,” Guerrier said. “[To] see the reaction from my mom and everything, it made my day. It made my entire year.”
With high school track behind her, she hopes that she can be remembered as a great student and athlete.
"[There is] kind of a stigma that you can only be either an athlete or a student,” said Guerrier, the school's salutatorian. “But I think I’ve successfully shown that you can be both. So, I want a legacy of being the best student and the best athlete that I can be.”
Gloria Guerrier, West Hempstead, 400 hurdles
West Hempstead's Gloria Guerrier competes in the girls 400-meter hurdles during the NYSPHSAA track and field championships at Faller Field in Middletown, N.Y., on June 9. Credit: Kelly Marsh
Guerrier hurdled physical and mental obstacles this season. The West Hempstead senior took home the Federation 400 hurdles in 59.76, while mentally preparing for the end of her high school career.
“I’m most proud of my improvement in the hurdle race,” Guerrier said. “Apart from improving my time dramatically, I think the mental aspect also improved. It really taught me a lot of lessons to take with me for my future lessons at Yale University.”
Guerrier, the school's valedictorian, is both excited and terrified of the next step. She’s aware of the challenges that come with joining a Division I program.
“But it’s also exciting because it’s a new experience,” she said. “I will be racing others that I’ve looked up to.”
Sophia McInnes, Bayport-Blue Point, 1,500 and 3,000 meters
Bayport-Blue Point's Sophia McInnes wins the 3,000-meter run during the Suffolk Class C track and field championships on May 21 at Mt. Sinai. Credit: Bob Sorensen
Soccer was McInnes’ main sport. Until this year, when as a sophomore, she switched to cross country and has yet to look back.
McInnes solidified herself as a top distance runner in the state when she won Division II titles in the 1,500 (4:25.95) and 3,000 (9:43.85). And she’s done it against some of the best competition in New York.
“It’s fun to race people that I know and that I’ve raced against before,” McInnes said. “Knowing that I have ran with them [and have] done well, it gives me more confidence to just do what I can do.”
Still, she knows she can improve.
“This just means that I know that I can do better,” McInnes said. “I know that this is one step higher, and there are multiple more steps to go just to be the best that I can be.”
Julie Thomas, Commack, Shot Put
Commack's Julie Thomas competes in the girls shot put during the NYSPHSAA track and field championships at Faller Field in Middletown, N.Y., on June 9. Credit: Kelly Marsh
When Thomas left Commack’s softball team prior to her sophomore season, she knew it was a risk. Not only was she in love with the sport, but she was clearly good at it. She was the only freshman on the varsity team.
But Thomas is a bit of a risk taker. It’s why she decided to dedicate herself to throwing in both the winter and spring, and it’s why she felt comfortable enough changing the technique that won her an indoor shot put state title as a junior.
It paid off in both instances. Thomas won both the indoor and outdoor state shot put championship as a senior, a 44 foot, 1 1/4-inch toss winning her the outdoor Federation title. She also won the Division I shot put championship (43-2 3/4). Overall, she’s won three state championships at the highest classification in two years.
As for the decision to leave softball, Thomas has no regrets.
“It was a bit of a gamble to leave softball, which was basically everything I ever knew” said Thomas, who will throw at Monmouth next year. “I really bet right. I don’t know if I would have ever accomplished everything I did as a track athlete as a softball athlete.”
North Babylon’s 4x100 meter relay team: Djoonicka Buissereth, Mackayla Nerjuste, Shavanna Richards, Samara Lawrence
North Babylon wins the 4x100-meter relay championship at the New York State track and field championships in Middletown, N.Y., on June 10. Credit: Michaela Cirkviva
The baton passes were not crisp that Friday afternoon, but North Babylon wasn’t tremendously worried. There was, without a whiff of overconfidence, a knowledge that if they ran like they knew they could, they would win. All they had to do was fix one small thing.
They did.
With North Babylon not happy with the way the baton made its way around the oval, they still were able to win the Division I championship in 48.16 seconds.
“We addressed the problems and saw what we did wrong” Nerjuste said. “Those were the shakiest handoffs that we had all season. We just assessed, made time to practice [Saturday], and did it on the track.”
The difference of a day was huge, and the foursome took home the Federation championship in 47.57 seconds. When Nerjuste got the first handoff in the Federation race, she knew the problems were fixed.
“It felt like time stopped,” she said. “[I thought] ‘we could really do this.’ We locked in and the pieces all fell together.”
Lawrence, who ran anchor, said she thought the Federation race was the team’s best of the season.
“The handoffs were amazing,” she said.