Tuesday, June 17, 2025
A year after winning its first county title since 2011 by just four points, the Baldwin boys’ track and field team left no doubt on the championship stage.
Baldwin ran away from the competition at the Nassau Class AAA track & field championships May 28 with 101 points, 33 ahead of second place Syosset.
Bruins head coach Mike Higgins said the repeat title was achieved differently with the 2024 squad stronger in field, middle distance and hurdles and this year’s group shining more in the sprint events. “The formula to win last year was different,” Higgins said. “It was a different combination this year, which speaks to the talent that there is in the Baldwin community.”
A big catalyst in Baldwin’s runaway county title at the Syosset High School track was senior Nigel Wright, who captured the 100 meters title with a time of 11.13 seconds and the 200 meters with a time of 22.4. Wright was also on the second leg of Baldwin’s first place 4X100 relay team that also included Christon Raysor, Prosper Prawl and Brandon Thweatt.
Higgins credited Wright with showing resilience after placing last in the 100 and 200 meter finals a year ago to finish out his high school career on top.
“It’s a testament to his hard work," said Higgins of Wright, who also led Baldwin to a 4X100 relay county title as a junior. “He was saying all spring season he was ready for battle and he proved it and went out there and delivered.”
Wright captured the 100 meter title just 0.1 seconds ahead of Thweatt with Baldwin’s Jordon Williams placing third at 11.36 seconds.
Thweat, a junior, won the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.09 seconds. Junior Dorryen Dort paced third with a time of 16.53.
Senior Paul Fleck also played an instrumental part in compiling points for the championship with second-place finishes in the 3,200 and 1,600 meter races. He will be running cross country at Washington University in St. Louis this fall.
“He is a tremendous, tremendous distance runner,” Higgins said of Fleck. “He has the greatest work ethic I’ve ever seen.”
Junior Darrell Turner was runner-up in the 400 meters at counties with a time of 50.24 before winning the event at state qualifiers the following week at 49.24 seconds. Turner’s clutch performance at the qualifiers event held at North Shore High School last Thursday propelled him to the state championship scheduled for June 13-14 in Middletown.
Also qualifying for states were Flech in the 1600 meters and Thweat in the 110 meter hurdles.
Higgins said he hopes winning back-to-back county titles paves the way for more success and motivates his athletes to take their skills to another level. He noted that the 2022 team was only 3.5 points away from a county title showing that the program has potential to reach dynasty level.
“There is so much talent in the halls and streets of Baldwin when you put those guys together and they work together great things can happen,” Higgins said. “They have had shots in the past to some things that are special and when they believe that they can do those things and they work together they are successful.”
