Great Neck South Senior Claudine Compas qualified for the NY State Indoor Track Championships held at Syracuse March 9. Compas placed third in the 55M dash at the state qualifiers, held at SUNY Farmingdale, Feb. 8. Her time was clocked at 7.2, the same time as the second place finisher. Compas was making her first trip to the indoor states.

Compas was not finished. She competed in the 300 meter dash. She won her heat in the trial round with time of 43.4, but had to come back in the finals 30 minutes later. In the finals Compas placed fourth clocking 44.7. She also competed in the 4X200 relay with freshman Deena Smith and Rachel Supris, and sophomore Sara Brown. The foursome placed fifth in a time of 1:57.4. Compas ran in five races.

At the state championships, 33 athletes competed in the 55 meter dash. Compas placed fourth in her heat with a time of 7.49, advancing on to the semifinals. In the semifinals, Compas placed sixth in her heat of eight with a time of 7.44 missing the finals by 3 100ths of a second. "I was a little disappointed in not making the finals, especially with how close the race was," stated Claudine.

"In the outdoor season there is more time with the longer 100 meter dash," stated Coach McKenzie. Claudine qualified for the States last spring season in both the 100 and 200 meter dashes. Coach McKenzie was pleased with Claudine's performance as well as her work ethic and general positive attitude.