The Manhasset Outdoor Track team placed third at the Nassau County track championships at Mitchel Field, from May 17 to 18. Competing against arch division rivals and other schools of equal caliber, Manhasset placed a competitive third, behind Roosevelt and Oyster Bay, in what turned out to be a day of excellent performances.

Injuries to top athletes such as senior Leonard Arrington, a triple jumper who was expected to win the county triple jumping title this year; Erik Lawrence, a junior who made it to states in the 3200 as a sophomore last year; and senior Cary Choy, a 100 and 200 sprinter who was the anchor of the 4x100 relay, have slowed down the track team considerably this year. However, head coach Don Scott and assistant coach Fried have led the team to an impressive 11-2 record, by maximizing the potential of every athlete, and having them excel in events they never knew they were good at.

Manhasset produced two county champions: seniors Amrit Das (discus) and Tom Papain (3200m). Amrit Das, the underdog, expected to finish no better than sixth going into the county meet, threw his best throw at 130 feet 2 inches, defeating Alex Rubino of Carle Place by one foot and scoring 10 points for Manhasset. Amrit improved his throw by 20 feet over the course of the outdoor track season. Senior Tom Papain, ranked second behind Corey Squire of Wheatley, had never beaten Corey in a track race in the six years they have been competing against each other, but managed to come out on top with a personal best of 9:59.2.

Sophomore Shannon Mason led the Manhasset sprinters in the 100- meter dash placing sixth overall and running 11.7 for the day. Shannon came back the next day to run a personal best 23.3 for the 200, placing fourth and missing second by less than a tenth of a second. Junior Victor Chan, sophomores Carlton McCrimmon and Shannon Mason, and freshman Kadeem Howell placed fifth in the 4x100m relay with a time of 47.7 seconds.

Juniors Victor Chan and Jon Chiou ran the 100 high hurdles and 400 intermediate hurdles, respectively. Victor placed sixth in the 100 high hurdles with a time of 17.3, while Jon placed fifth with a personal best of 62.3. In the 3000m steeplechase, also a hurdling event, Brendan McDonough kicked in to placed fourth with a time of 11:29, gaining ground on third place throughout the second half of the race.

In the high jump, Carlton McCrimmon jumped 5 feet 8 inches, good for fourth place, and less than an inch away from third. In the triple jump, Kadeem Howell place fourth with a jump of 37 feet 11 inches.

The Manhasset boys track team will be sending some of its athletes to the state qualifying meet, which was held on May 24-25 at Mitchel Field.