Sheinbaum pops 9:01
By Christopher Hunt
WHITE PLAINS – Ramapo probably endured one of its most mediocre team performances at the Section 1 Class A championships. But the team won its first sectional title in school history anyway. And that’s how far the team has come.
“This win is great for the program,” Ramapo coach Dan Zotter said. “We disappointed in some of the performances. We think we could have done better but this is great for us.”
The truth is that Ramapo recovered from a number of missteps during the meet but the team has been virtually infallible this season. The team scored 89 points to win the meet and enjoyed the return of top junior sprinter Mike Abelard. Arlington finished second with 75 points and Beacon third with 67.
Ramapo led most of the way but Arlington never stayed out of reach. That is, until the relays, where Ramapo has been dominant all season. They won the 4x100 in 43.1 seconds then won the 4x400 in 3:22.6, using eight different runners.
“If we win this,” Zotter said from the stands with three events left in the meet, “it’s a testament to our depth in the sprints.”
That depth has developed from a culture at Ramapo to bring the fastest and strongest from the football team, where Zotter is also the head coach, to the track. Most of the team at Ramapo also plays football and has either participated in track since middle school or come straight from the football field to the track meet at Zotter’s suggestion.
That’s how Zotter has been able to house the best sprinting group in New York State, coupled with the addition of sprint coach Scott Pollard. Ramapo also won its first Rockland County championship last week. Last year, the team finished second at both the county and section meet.
“This group has come up together,” Zotter said. “They’ve just been unreal.”
Chidi Ezemma and Abelard finished 1-2 in the 400. Ezemma finished in 48.9 and Abelard in 50.0 in his first open 400 since straining his hamstring in the 4x100 at Penn Relays in last month. Ezemma also finished fourth in the 200 in 22.4. Teammate Nick Padilla finished third in 22.2. They expected that one of them would win the event.
Kevin Malivert shocked the crowd by finishing third in the 100 in 10.8, while Ossining’s Jesse Drinks snatched an upset win in 10.5. Ramapo’s Hendrick Jean, the section’s top shot-putter called Zotter Friday morning and informed that he couldn’t even attend the meet. But teammate Marvin Payen came up for the win, tossing 49-9.
“We made a conscious effort to get the football players out,” Zotter said. “It started building a group of sprinters. When they started picking up track they started liking it and they started seeing that they could excel.”
Ryan Whitley is one of the few that started in track. His father, Shulton Whitley is a legendary hurdler at Nyack, where he is also a coach. Whitley finished second in the 110 hurdles in 14.5 and won the 400 hurdles in 55.4 as well as running a leg on the winning 4x400.
“Once you see the flyers in the hallway saying state champions, section champions, county champions, people start to want to come out for track more,” Whitley said. “We had a bigger turnout this year and we’ll probably have a bigger turnout next year.”
Whitley, Malivert, Chidi Ezemma and Dozie Ezemma all competed in track together at Pomona Middle School. “There’s just a brotherhood there because we’ve been together for so long,” Whitley said.
As good as Ramapo has been in the sprints this season, it made it even more prominent when Drinks won the 100, a race that most handed to Malivert before the gun sounded. But 50 meters in, Drinks took over and never gave up his edge.
“I just knew I had to put it all out there,” said Drinks, a junior. “Early in the race we kind of win back and forth. I kept thinking he was going to pull (ahead). Then we got to the end and I knew I had it.”
But the most impressive performance of the day came from Scarsdale’s Julian Sheinbaum. The senior went unchallenged in the 3,200 and crushed his personal best, winning in 9:01.3, the fastest time in the state this season.
“My goal was 9:20, 9:15-ish,” Sheinbaum said. “I just came out and just pounded it out for the second mile. I thought I was slowing down. But apparently I wasn’t. I kept trying to push because of that feeling of slowing down.”
Sheinbaum had backed off the pace slightly but not much and then cranked a 62-second last lap that surprised himself more than anyone else.
“I’m in better shape than I ever thought I’d be,” he said. “If I would have known, I probably would have run harder at the end. I mean, I ran hard but if I knew I was close to breaking nine minutes it would have given me that little extra incentive.”
Sheinbaum, despite his performance Friday, said he will still compete in the 1,600 at the state qualifier and hope to race in the 1,600 at the state meet, seeking out the best competition.
“I want to race (Half Hollow Hills West senior Kyle) Merber,” Sheinbaum said. “I want to challenge him. No one has really been able to challenge him this season and he’s run a lot of races from the front. I think I can be someone in New York to challenge him.”
Reach Christopher Hunt at chunt@armorytrack.com.