By Christopher Hunt
WHITE PLAINS – Over the course of two years and many head-to-head races, Roslyn’s Emily Lipari and Aisling Cuffe of Cornwall have become good friends, although it’s been a one-sided friendship. At least on the track.
Their races were like a re-run of a dramatic television show that always ended the same way. Cuffe would control the race. Lipari follows and the sprints away at the end.
“Even the kids at school who don’t know anything about running were saying, ‘Doesn’t she just wait behind you until the end? Why don’t you just go out faster?’” Cuffe said. “But they were right. I couldn’t keep doing the same thing and expecting something different. So I tried something new.”
Cuffe decided that, right from the gun, she would might Lipari uncomfortable by pushing the pace in the 3,200 at the Loucks Games. Cuffe would slowly extract Lipari’s finishing kick until she put enough space between them that Lipari couldn’t get back into the race. Cuffe won the race in 10:08.19, the second-fastest time in the country this season and a New York State junior class record.
Cuffe’s time also beat a meet record of 10:14.63, set by Molly Huddle of Elmire-Notre Dame in 2002. Lipari finished second in 10:24.85.
“Even in the last 100, I was scared to be happy,” Cuffe said. “That’s how many times she’s outkicked me at the end. I was afraid to be happy until I crossed the finish line.”
Cuffe made the difference in the first half of the race, going through the 1,600 mark in 5:05.2, already putting a 2-second gap between herself and Lipari.
“I really just wasn’t ready to go out that hard,” Lipari said. “She got me.”
Cuffe ran even 77-second laps after that until she dropped a 72-second final circuit. But she had already done the damage. Lipari, who committed to Villanova, couldn’t get back in contact. Once they had both finished, Cuffe grabbed Lipari by the shoulders and shook her. She wouldn’t allow Lipari to sulk.
“I just didn’t want her to feel bad,” Cuffe said. “When you beat someone all the time and then they beat it, I know that it’s tough. Emily is great. She shouldn’t feel bad.”
North Babylon’s Vanessa Stewart also set a meet record in the shot put. Stewart launched a 48-foot, 5-inch effort to eclipse a 26-year old mark of 46-5.75 set by Cheryl Klein of Bellport. Stewart had been fighting a knee injury all year, but has managed to not just stay consistent but earn a personal best Friday.
“When I’m throwing I don’t feel it,” she said. “I just really want this. I want this more than anything. It’s what I want to do with my life.”
Stewart called her best toss nearly perfect but could still point to some technical mistakes and shows she can throw even farther. She will compete in the discus today.
Garden City’s Emily Menges rebounded from a disappointing race last week at the St. Anthony’s Invitational to win the 800 in 2:12.97. Menges led from the start and the field was content to sit behind her for 600 meters until Mamaroneck sophomore Anima Banks challenged Menges around the bend.
Banks made another hard surge on the straightaway but Menges switched gears with 50 meters left to pull away. Banks was second in a personal best 2:13.52. Menges’s teammate, seventh-grader Emma Gallagher was third in 2:14.02.
“After last week, I was not going to go out that fast again,” Menges said. “I think that was the worst race of my life. I just wanted to be comfortable and have something left at the end. I felt (Banks) coming. That was the difference between this week and last week. I had something left at the end.”
Whitney Fountain of Columbus won the 100 in 11.97 against a headwind.
“I got a pretty good start but for some reason toward the end of the race I was looking down at the shadows,” said Fountain, who committed to Clemson. “I started to get tight and that wasn’t good. It just makes me more of a go-getter for tomorrow.”
Fountain will run the 200 today. She ran a state-leading 23.81 in the 200 last week at the Howard Richter meet at Ichan Stadium.
Peekskill senior Nicole Cummings, who signed with the University of Miami two weeks ago, won the long jump in 18-5.25.
Reach Christoher Hunt at chunt@armorytrack.com.