By Christopher Hunt
Morris Hills didn’t have a goal in mind time-wise. They wanted t run fast. Mission accomplished.
Vinny Chisusano, Tyler Hendrickson, Lucas Clyne and Liam Tansey won the 4x800 relay at the New Balance Games in 7:46.54, the fastest time in the country this season, the 10th fastest in history and the second best in New Jersey state history.
Morris Hills previously had the nation’s leading time after running 7:51.07 at the Hispanic Games Jan. 10. But that was before Albemarle in Virginia won the 4x800 at the Virginia Tech Invitational Friday in 7:49.88.
“We had the previous No. 1 time and we wanted them to have it for as little time as possible,” Tansey said. “Twenty-four hours seemed about right.”
Morris Hills turned the race into a time-trial right after Chisusano’s 1:55.5 leadoff leg. Hendrickson followed with a 1:57.8 then Clyne finished his leg in 1:59.8 before Tansey put the stamp on the race with a 1:53.4 anchor leg.
“We knew it was either going to be a few teams step up and we have some people to race with or we were going to have to do all the work ourselves,” Tansey said. “We were prepared either way.”
Understandably, the team is full of confidence and seemingly indestructible on the track.
“Right now, this is our house,” Clyne said.
If the 4x800 the House of Morris Hills then another New Jersey star is making his residence at 400 meters. Seton Hall Prep senior Clayton Parros won the men’s open 400 meters in 47.58, which leads the nation this season.
Not only was Parros buried in Lane 2, but he was slow off the starting line and in third with 50 meters left and former Seton Hall University standout Tyrone Ross and Anthony Campbell, a 4-time all-American at New Jersey City University.
“I was thinking, “Oh man, this is not what I wanted to happen,’” Parros said.
But Parros never lost his composure. He moved into third with 150 to go and kept gaining ground on the leaders until he inched ahead with 20 meters left. Campbell finished second in 47.75 and Ross third in 47.95.
“I knew that if I wanted to have a shoot at winning or even placing I was going to have to move (down the back straightaway),” Parros said. “I could feel the pace slowing a little bit. Then off the last turn I just kept going as hard as I could and I could by them.”
Parros will also run the 600 yards against a field of professional runners at the Millrose Games Friday at Madison Square Garden. He was excited for an opportunity to run fast but never intimated by the competition Saturday or even is lane assignment. He remembered a talk he had with Larry James, a 400-meter silver medalist at the 1968 Olympics, where James told him, “You have to able to run from any lane. You have to have that much confidence in yourself.”
James, who attended White Plains High School, died of colon cancer in November. But Parros, who was given the Al Oerter Award as athlete of the meet, took his mentorship with him and is now the top quarter-miler in the country.
Newburgh Free Academy just missed being able to make the same claim in the 4x400. Robert Graham, Akino Morgan, Fred Locklary and Randy Patterson won their relay in a season-best 3:19.54, only to be outmatched by New Bern of North Carolina, which ran 3:17.00 at the Virginia Tech Invitational Saturday.
“It feels good,” Locklary said about the team’s first time under 3:20 this season. “We should have done this before.”
Medgar Evers also introduced a new relay into the fight for the best sprint relay around. Jermaine Brown, Jason Geivs, Andy Williams and Yaw Affum won the boys 4x200 in 1:29.31, making them the third relay to break 1:30 in the relay this season along with Newburgh and Sheepshead Bay. It came as a shock to most when Medgar Evers ran the fastest qualifying time (1:29.98) headed into the final. Ramapo made it fourth New York teams to break 1:30 this season by finishing second in 1:29.66.
"This is our first time running together," Brown said. "We weren't ready to show them the full team yet. We expected to run fast. We can run better than that."
North Rockland Christopher Carrington was another athlete to find his best race Saturday. Carrington won the boys invitational mile in 4:19.83.
"This is the biggest win of my career," the senior said. "I just wish it was faster. I wish it went out faster."
Reach Christopher Hunt at chunt@armorytrack.com.