Breakdown of Boys' Varsity Races

Athletes getting a leg up with summer work, instruction

  When the championship portion of the season rolls around that’s when most high school track and field athletes do most of their team’s heavy lifting. So since some of the county championships have started around New York State, I wanted to take a highlight some of the best doubles we’ve seen over this past weekend. Here are some that stood out.  

WHITE PLAINS – Zavon Watkins ran the fastest 800 meters of his high school career Friday and one of the best in the country. But the Liverpool junior and indoor 800 national champ, stood outside the track talking about what he still had to prove.

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – St. Anthony’s didn’t get quite what they came for but the Friars certainly did not leave empty-handed.

Nothing can gut a relay like graduation and Sheepshead Bay was no different. It seemed like all the speed the Sharks enjoyed graduated with the seniors last year.

Najee Glass stood around just as stunned as anyone else when he heard the words “national record.”

When Mel Mosley of Middletown won the state championship in the 600 meters last year, he was just as shocked as everyone else. He didn’t come into the race at Bishop Loughlin as a sleeper or even an underdog but that didn’t stop him from dropping jaws all over again.

Sheepshead Bay coach John Padula said he called 10 people. He didn’t believe. He needed confirmation.

Sheepshead Bay is the top team in NY State this year.  See where you team ranks.

Richmond Ahadzi and his looked up at the JumboTron hovering above the track, waiting for a time to show up.

These rankings were calculated by scoring the rankings as a meet. We scored 20 deep for individuals and 20 deep for relays. For example, for individuals 1st place received 20 points for their team, on down to 1 point for 20th place.

Neither Blake Heriot nor Brady Gehret had raced 300 meters before. Yet, in two different sections of the junior boys 300 they notched the two fastest times in the country this season.

The crowd keep buzzing afterward, the way an audience sounds when they are still trying to accept the moment into reality. That’s how it sounded after the boys 4x200 at the New Balance Games – a buzzing that signified both awe and admiration.

Photo courtesy of ArmoryTrack.com

It may just be a month into the season but John Thomas of Sheepshead Bay has already proved what many should have believed at the start of the season: that he is the preeminent sprinter in New York State.

Sheepshead coach John Padula was given the Rising Star coach's award at the Nike Outdoor Nationals Saturday.  Since Padula took over as boys head coach in 2004, every one his athletes have graduated to college, expect one that enrolled in the Marines. In five years, he's built one of the top sprint teams in state and won the 4x100 national title at the Nike Outdoor Nationals last year.

PHILADELPHIA – Sheepshead Bay’s Naquan Alexander had no idea whether his team had won or lost. It was that close. He had seen the scenario play out in the opposite way so many times – him uncatchable down the straightaway.

PHILADELPHIA – They pressed up against the fence, waiting for their prize like a group of gitty youngsters waiting for Santa reach in his giant red bag and pull out the one thing they always wanted.

Farrell takes 4x800m in 7:51, Sheepshead Bay wins SHR in 59.50. Warwick Valley, Hilton, Shoreham Wading River, Ursuline, and Iona Prep are all out at the meet as well.

A preview of the boys NY State Championships this weekend in Ithaca, NY.

The baton belonged in his hand when the meet was decided.  Kameron George deserved to carry his Transit Tech team to victory after all he’d done.

This week's How They Train features Sheepshead Bay's Darryl Bradshaw. How They Train is designed to give an in-depth look at how runners just like you train around the state. Since there is no uniform formula, we decided to find out yours.

He eyed the clock leisurely, his breath barely shaken. Great Neck South’s Terrance Livingston made sure to lean at the finish to squeeze every tick off this time.

The Armory Athlete of the Week returns for the 2008-2009 season. The latest award will be posted every Wednesday from now until after NSIC in March. Each week a girl and a boy, or relay teams, will be chosen based on the previous weeks performance here at The Armory.  

When Sheepshead Bay’s Naquan Alexander zipped by the Westlake (Md.) anchor leg – on the inside of all places – by most accounts the race should have been over. But while Alexander was trying to hold on to the lead, there was Newburgh’s Randy Patterson tacked on to their heels looking for an opportunity.

Amadou Gueye had never run the 55-meter hurdles before. He didn’t know what a good time what. In never raced at the Bishop Loughlin Games before. In fact, the Albany Academy senior never even ran indoor track.

Rodriques wins 400, helps record relay By Christopher Hunt GREENSBORO, N.C. – The whole crowd stood up. Then they waited. Naquan Alexander waited too. They all watched the scoreboard and waited some more. It took more than twice as long to figure out who won than it took to actually run the race. . FULL STORY HERE

Sheepshead Bay advances in 4x1 By Christopher Hunt GREENSBORO, N.C. – They knew it would be like this. The Warwick Valley girls toed the start line in the 4x800 relay as the top seed knowing they’d be chasing the clock. “Once we knew that Roosevelt wasn’t’ going to be in the race we knew we were going to have to push ourselves,” second-leg Tori Pennings said. “We wanted to run in the low 8:50’s.” FULL STORY HERE

Sheepshead takes 4x1 in 41.39 By Christopher Hunt BUFFALO – Terrance Livingston slowed just as he crossed the finish line without even the slightest hint of fatigue on his face. The Great Neck South junior scanned the crowd and tapped his wrist. He wanted to draw attention to the time. It was an inside joke between Livingston and his coach Damon Reader. “It meant, C’mon Coach, that time is wack,” Livingston said. FULL STORY HERE

Faulkner runs 47.49/21.33 double By Christopher Hunt photo by www.wingedfootfotos.com NEW YORK – Julian Wood gave his Transit Tech teammates an honest assessment of his team’s potential at the start of the school year. “I told everybody when the year started that we weren’t going to do anything this year,” Wood said. FULL STORY