By Christopher Hunt
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.
Livingston never labored. He didn’t press. Didn’t strain. He just simply clocked the sixth fastest time in United States history for 600 meters and walked off the track like he just completed a moderate workout. Livingston won the 600 at the Mayor’s Cup Hall of Fame Classic in 1:19.48, which also lowers his nation-leading mark this season.
“Coach (Damon Reader) wanted me to come through the 400 in 50 and pretty much jog after that but I felt good so I figured why not keep going,” Livingston said.
The senior landed in the third section of the race because he checked in late to the event but being in a slower heat didn’t bother him at all. At the pace he was on, he would have been running alone in front anyway.
Livingston used the race as a tune up for next week’s invitational 600 meters at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational on Friday where he’ll face the twin superstars Anthony and Andrew Hendrix of New Bern in North Carolina along with senior sensation Clayton Parros of Seton Hall Prep, the national leader in the 400 meters.
“The twin and Clayton, we get to batted for who’s mid-distance king in the country,” Livingston said. “It should be fun.”
Apparently, the best performances of the afternoon would look the most effortless. Medgar Evers sophomore Jermaine Brown torched the 300 meters, outdueling John Thomas of Sheepshead Bay to win in 33.78, the fastest time in the nation. Thomas finished in 35.26. The two were dead-even headed into the home stretch when Brown unleashed a dynamic display of raw speed that gave him the sixth-fastest performance in New York State history.
“My coach told me that he was going to come,” Brown said. “My plan was just for wait for him to caught me and then that’s when I’d show him the talent.”
Brown arrived at Medgar Evers in October from Jamaica where he competed at sprint powerhouse Calabar. Thomas competed at Wolmers High before coming to the U.S. last spring. But the two never raced each other before Saturday. Even though Brown accelerated over the last 50 meters, the switch in gears was barely noticeable and Brown contends that he can run much faster.
“I know I can run faster,” he said. “It’s just not time for that yet.”
Thomas also ran the third leg on Sheepshead Bay’s victorious 4x200 where he joined Darryl Bradshaw, Ayo Isijola and Paul Fyffe to win the Mayor’s Cup 4x200 in 1:28.79, improving their time as the second-fastest time in the country this season.
“Ayo finally got out,” Sheepshead Bay coach John Padula said. “It’s the first time since he’s been running that he’s really gotten off the line. When he was a freshman he was too fast and he’d be running away from people (during the baton exchange) so we’ve been trying to get him to stop waiting.”
That turned out to be the difference as Sheepshead Bay set a new school record in the relay despite tired legs from both Isijola and Bradshaw, who competed in the boys 60-meters at the Millrose Games Friday night. Bradshaw still managed a personal best while winning the Mayor’s Cup 55-meter hurdles in 7.43. He complained of a sore legs headed into the race but had his own motivation.
“My motivation was that I was running against the guy from Fordham Prep (Wayne Seaton) was in the race,” Bradshaw said. “I wanted to send a message because we’ll be racing them in the shuttle hurdles so if that’s their fastest guy and our fastest leg beats there fastest leg that just gives us more confidence going in against them.”
On the girls’ side, Hempstead senior Charlene Lipsey returned to the sprinting ranks. She won the Hall of Fame 600 in 1:34.11. Lipsey also said she suffered from some soreness after racing the tight turns on the track at Madison Square Garden at the Millrose Games but her time Saturday wasn’t important. She only wanted to secure a decent seed time for the state meet and the Section 8 state qualifier next week. She also anchored Hempstead’s winning relay in the Hall of Fame 4x200. This came after running the mile for back-to-back weekends.
“I definitely enjoyed this,” she said.
Cornwall sophomore Aisling Cuffe enjoyed her best race of the season, winning the 3,000 meters in 9:58.49, the fifth-fastest time in the country this season. Cuffe said she was going after Emily Lipari of Roslyn’s national-leader of 9:50.21.
“I probably shouldn’t have been so relaxed in the beginning,” Cuffe said.
It was the biggest win of the winter season for the sophomore who made a name for herself this year in cross country but hasn’t yet made headlines this season.
“I realized that I’m no longer running in the small meet anymore,” she said. “Every time you come out here there is competition. I just had to realize that I might not win for awhile, that every race is going to be tough.”
Cardozo coach Gail Emmanuel kept her promise to experiment with her relay in the 4x400. This time she fielded a squad of Alexis Mapson (59.1), Lateisha Philson (59.3), Claudia Francis (56.7) and Chamique Francis (55.0) to win the Mayor’s Cup relay in 3:51.17, which improves their time as the second-fastest in the country this season. The Judges had two different legs (Tessa West and Ahtyana Johnson) and a different order when they won the Millrose Games PSAL 4x400 Friday night.
Johnson, in fact, won the Mayor Cup’s 300 meters in a meet record 39.34. Her performance only further displayed Cardozo’s depth in the sprints.
“I wanted to come in here and run as fast under the record as I could,” she said. “I was tired (from running at the Millrose Games) but being tired doesn’t matter. You just have to run.”
Farrell’s Cory Duggan matched his personal best in the pole vault, clearing 14 feet, 6 inches for the win. He said he had two solid attempts at 14-9 afterward and experimented with a heavier pole but was satisfied with his performance.
“I can definitely go higher,” he said. “Right now 14-6 is good. It’s right where I want to be.”
Campus Magnet’s Yolanda Rumph, Aichatou Kamate, Dominque Thoams and Monique Green also won the Mayor’s Cup 4x200 in a season-best 1:42.64.
Reach Christopher Hunt at chunt@armorytrack.com.