It was hard to tell whether or not Manhasset won the Conference 5 title. There were no celebratory jogs around the 160m-gym floor track. There were no jubilant cries of victory, of relief that they had won, nor did they exult in their personal accomplishments, which were by no means seldom. Rather, they took on the character of their coach by simply acknowledging their victory, and walking out of the building with a sense of personal satisfaction. It was a prime example of a team shooting for bigger and better things.

Still, the Manhasset athletes performed at their highest level that Saturday night, as they routed their closest competitor, Valley Stream South, by the final score of 113 to 70. Manhasset went out in front for good when sophomore Erik Lawrence out kicked Valley Stream South's Dave Rotkowitz in the final lap of the 3200m, finishing first with a time of 10:25 minutes. Junior Tom Papain came in second for Manhasset and fourth overall with a time of 10:36, and junior Brendan McDonough came in 6th with a time of 11:24. It was evident by Manhasset's impressive scoring in the 3200m that it would be a long night for their opponents, and indeed it was.

For future reference, the scoring system in Indoor Track is as follows: 10 points for 1st, 8 points for 2nd, 6 points for 3rd, 4 points for 4th, 2 points for 5th, and 1 point for 6th. In the 1600m, Erik Lawrence missed first place by 5 tenths of a second, finishing 2nd with an impressive time of 5:00 minutes, coming off his 3200m.

Also coming off the 3200m was junior Tom Papain, who finished 6th with a time of 5:11. By the end of the meet, Erik and Tom had a combined score of 25 points, outscoring Clarke and Roosevelt High School, and tying West Hempstead.

Equally as important were the sprinters, which constituted an even larger portion of the points scored by Manhasset that day. Placing 3rd, 4th, and 5th in the 55-meter dash for Manhasset was senior David Young (6.8 seconds), junior Cary Choy (6.9), and senior Troy Williams (7.0). David Young and Cary Choy came back to run the 300m, placing 4th and 5th with times of 40.5 and 40.7, respectively.

In the 600m dash, senior Will Curry came in second with a time of 1:35, followed by Matt Sutherland, who came in 4th with a time of 1:36.3. Running in a separate heat but also placing in the top 6 was junior Yousuf Qureshi, who ran a sub 1:40 600m, good for 6th place. Manhasset placed in the top 4 for the three relays that were run that day, which were the 4x200, 4x400, and the 4x800. The 4x200, ran by Cary Choy, David Young (both had run two previous events), senior Brian Mullin, and junior Stanley Camilien, placed second with a time of 1:41.6, narrowly missing 1st by seven tenths of a second. In the 4x400, Manhasset's Will Curry, senior Brian Connors, junior Chris Filippelli, and sophomore Matt Sutherland ran 3:59.9, good for 1st place. Finally, in the 4x800, ran by junior Tom Papain, sophomore Erik Lawrence (both of whom had run two previous events), sophomore Matt Brennan, and senior Ryan Drago, Manhasset placed 4th with a time of 9:32.1.

Rounding out the scoring were the hurdlers and field athletes. Brian Connors, trying his hand at the 55 hurdles, an event that he seldom competes in, finished second with an impressive time of 9.5 seconds. Brian also high jumped to a height of 5 feet, earning him 6th place. Tied with Brian for 2nd in the 55m hurdles from Manhasset was sophomore Jon Chiou, who was followed by sophomore Victor Chan (10.2). In the shot put, senior Pat Hawkins placed second with a throw of 42 feet 9.5 inches. Junior Chris Peyser also competed in the shot put, placing 6th with a throw of 37 feet 1 inch.

The victory at Farmingdale that day was well earned, but in all respects it was expected of Manhasset, who won their Conference last year by a similar margin of points. More training is ahead for Manhasset, as they prepare themselves for tougher competition in the County meet, which is scheduled to be held on Feb. 7, at Suffolk County Community College.