Islip track and field's Kaiden White successfully defends 300-meter dash title at Stanner Games
Kaiden White of Islip during the 300 meter race at Stanner Games Invitational indoor track and field high school meet at the Armory, Sunday, Jan.12, 2025 in New York. Credit: Noah K. Murray
Don't tell Islip's Kaiden White that track and field is just a game.
What the senior accomplished on Sunday at the Molloy Stanner Games in Manhattan meant everything to him.
White, who ran in the invitational’s 300-meter dash, trailed for the first half of the race. However, the strong kick of his long legs proved to be a mismatch for everyone else on the track.
White crossed the finish line in 33.89 seconds to successfully defend his Stanner Games title, setting a new personal record in the process.
What followed next was pure ecstasy for both him and his family. After crossing the finish line and realizing his accomplishment, White turned towards the infield and pounded his chest in excitement. He then made a beeline toward the hallway, where everyone close to him was waiting to smother him with love and affection.
“This is definitely the number one moment for me,” White said. “My PR was 34.5, and this season, I was running 34.9 a lot, so I was kind of skeptical of how I was doing.
"Running 33 and trusting my coaches and the process just makes me so excited. I didn’t come out here and work this hard just to lose.”
After he arrived in the hallway, cheers from the White family and his close friends could be heard from across the arena. Once he got all the hugs, kisses and congratulations out of the way, he made sure to FaceTime his club coach and tell him the good news.
“I told him that we finally did it, because we’ve been working like crazy,” White said. “Technically, this was my end goal for the season, so running it in January was a big, big thing for me.”
Elsewhere, Long Island got good representation from Longwood senior Jordan Gibbs, Chaminade junior Jonathan Szymanski, West Babylon junior Khadin Muhammad, St. John the Baptist senior Shamir Lisbon and Lindenhurst senior Jake Albert.
Gibbs won the 55 dash by 0.01 seconds, narrowly edging out Holy Trinity junior Jalen Josey for the victory. Szymanski won the shot put with a 56-foot, 9-inch throw. Muhammad cleared 44 feet, 9 ½ inches to win the triple jump. Lisbon cleared 21 feet, 11 ½ inches to win the long jump
Albert, Newsday’s Cross Country Runner of the Year, beat out Farmingdale senior George Thomatos in the 3,200 by just 0.62 seconds, finshing with a time of 9:18.68. It was Thomatos’ pressure applied that pushed Albert to win it.
“I felt really comfortable by the first mile and then I was kind of dying a little, but I was able to hold onto the lead even though George was chasing me the whole time,” Albert said. “I definitely heard him behind me. He tried to make a move on me with three laps left, so I started sprinting.”
In the relays, the Connetquot’s 4x400 team of seniors Ethan Widing, Leonardo Anglin, Julian Bolton and Dylan Cerone ran 3:29.29. Cerone’s strong performance as the anchor leg helped Connetquot fend off Garden City by 0.71 seconds in the first heat. In the second heat, Bishop Loughlin of Brooklyn ran 3:29.35, giving Connetquot the overall edge by just 0.06 seconds.
