With his track and field career winding down to its last breaths, Eastport-South Manor senior Jaiden Campbell gave himself new life.
Campbell won the first two individual county titles of his high school career, as he finished in 16.13 seconds to win the 110-meter hurdles and cleared a personal-record 6 feet, 5 inches to dominate the high jump at the Suffolk Class 3A championships on Friday at Kings Park High School.
Campbell won the high jump very early, with his closest competitors finishing at 5-10. He decided to keep jumping in an attempt to set a new personal record, which he did by two inches. His new highwater mark met NYSPHSAA's super qualifying standard for Class B athletes, guaranteeing him a spot in the state championships meet at Middletown High School on June 13 and 14.
"It blew my mind, because I was telling everybody how hard it was going to be to do," Campbell said. "But then I finally did it."
The feat prolonged his career by another week, as he intends on working after high school rather than playing the sport in college.
"It will help me sleep better to know that I'm ending it on a high note, but in a couple of days, I now have to raise my next goals," Campbell said. "I have to perform better at the state meet, too. I want to get better marks and move to the next level."
While he was competing against himself, all of his contemporaries from other schools gathered around to cheer him on, clapping rhythmically as he prepared to make his next move. The parents watched on from the outside of the track and did the same.
Once Campbell cleared the bar at 6-5, everyone erupted in celebration. He felt the full effects of everyone's support.
"It definitely motivated me," Campbell said. "It was crazy because I wasn't used to stuff like that, but now it's coming. It motivated me a lot. I felt like the man. It was crazy."
Campbell's performance was instrumental in ESM winning its third consecutive team outdoor county championship with 125 total points. Senior Jaden Flood made a big contribution to the team by scoring 2,967 points to win the pentathlon. Fellow senior Justin Albanese ran 9 minutes, 56.88 seconds to take the 3,200 meters. Classmate Paul Zorn ran a 1:57.01 to capture the county title in the 800.
Albanese was favored to win two events, but Comsewogue senior Thomas Autino prevented that when he beat him in the 1,600 with a 4:26.8. Autino also ran the third leg of Comsewogue's champion 4 x 800-meter relay team, following senior Anthony Soares and junior Andrew Lunarola before handing off to sophomore Kevin Nielsen. They finished in 8:23.37.
A pair of Islip seniors -- Josiah Patterson and Kaiden White -- each secured a pair of titles. Patterson, New York's top-ranked discus thrower won the discus with a top throw of 173-9. Later, he threw the shot 49-7 to win that, too.
It was his second consecutive county championship in the discus and his first in the shot put. He now leaves high school as the undisputed best thrower in his county's class.
"The fact that I was able to pull off both today was really nice," Patterson said. "In discus, it's been a season-long goal to replicate what happened last year. I've been putting in work for weeks now and doing all the types of training I can to succeed in my events. I like letting my throwing do my talking."
For White, his two titles were the first two of his outdoor track career, following his first championship in general, which came this past indoor season when he won the 300.
White has had an unlucky history of getting caught from behind by other great sprinters in his career, which has cost him in the gold medals department. He was also running injured last spring season, which hindered his chances at winning a county title.
How does it feel to finally be over the hump?
"It feels amazing, man," White said. "Coming out here, I wanted to show that I could perform at counties. I've been putting the work in, and everything I've been running is coming to life. Going out in my senior year with a bang -- words really can't explain how I'm feeling right now."
White is very close with Patterson, which made their collective accomplishments Friday all the more special to him.
"That's my best friend, so seeing him succeed makes me want to succeed even more," White said. "We really showed that Islip is good in both field and sprinting events."
Elsewhere, Half Hollow Hills West produced a pair of individual champions with junior David Collymore clearing 12-6 in the pole vault and senior Dylan Asuncion sprinting 11.58 in the 100. The program's 4 x 400 relay group of senior Xavier Anthony, freshman Dean Moustakas, junior Carlos Salazar and senior Marco D'Alessandro won in 3:24.93.
Hauppauge had a pair of runners win titles with senior Bryce Smith in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (10:31.5) and junior Jake Parrett in the 400 hurdles (58.51). Harborfields boasted two champions in the field, with senior Tristan Blake flying 46-¼ to win the triple jump and classmate Vance Sherman flying 21-½ to take the long jump.
The other champion relay team was East Islip's 4 x 100 crew, consisting of junior Aiden McConnell and seniors Chris Maynard, James Terhune and Kenshin Brown. They combined to sprint 44.16.