By Christopher Hunt
NEW YORK – Domenick DeMatteo already started to pull away with two laps left. But the strain on the Half Hollow Hills West senior’s face told that he had more on the agenda.
“Don’t worry about winning the race,” assistant coach Tom Finn shouted in his direction. “You’re too slow.”
DeMatteo knew he came to NY Relays to chase a time and his pursuit punished those who followed him until they broke and he pulled away. DeMatteo won the 3,200 at Ichan Stadium on Randalls Island in a meet record time of 9:25.42, a personal best.
“I wanted to run around 9:20 to 9:25,” he said. “I’m around that so I’m happy. I went out OK. I really wanted to run my own race.”
Finn said it was more important that DeMatteo, who’ll join his former teammate Kyle Merber at Columbia next year, run 70-second laps that winning the race. But DeMatteo admitted that he misjudged and dropped off pace in the middle portion of the race. Still, he managed a personal best.
“I definitely think I can run faster,” he said.
His race was one of seven that produced meet records Friday afternoon. Washington Township’s Tim Carey set meet record, winning the 400 hurdles in 54.07, the fastest time in the nation this season.
“I just wanted to sit and see what everyone else was going to do in the beginning,” said Carey, who’s considering UPenn and Rutgers. “Then I really just wanted to stay strong and run hard after that.”
Carey did most of his damage of the home stretch and set a personal best in his first attempt at the event this season. Rashim Gaines of Amityville finished second in 55.19.
“I’m tired. I’m not going to lie,” Carey said. “But I’m pumped now for the season.”
Holy Trinity senior Anthony Thomas set a meet record in the boys discus when he unleashed a 179-foot, 9-inch toss.
“It’s a solid performance,” Thomas said. I was expecting about this. I’m just getting ready and excited for Penn next week.”
Roslyn’s Emily Lipari was another athlete sharpening before Penn Relays next week. Lipari’s entered in the high school 3,000, the event she won Friday in a meet record 10:17.44. She put 70 meters on the field by the 200 mark then settled into a pace that showed she was looking to save her legs for a highly competitive field Thursday night.
“I really used this as a workout,” Lipari said. “I really want to bust it out at Penn.”
She said she would back off as much as she could afford to this season knowing she normally is in plenty of hard races deep into the spring. “There are only so many a races a high school girl has in her,” she said. “I know I had a lot of hard races in the winter and I know I have a lot of hard races ahead of me.”
Brentwood set a meet record in the girls sprint medley relay. Stefanny Laureano, Essence Felder, Genesis Coston and Donna Jeanty won the race in 4:09.61. Newburgh was second in 4:13.71. Jeanty also won the girls 400 hurdles in 63.01.
Danny Kane of Tappan Zee won the 2,000 steeplechase in 6:19.40 in only his second time in the event.
“I learned that steeplechase is one of these events where you really have to keep your composure when there’s a lot of people.” Kane said. “The barriers will separate them and the race will open up.”
Springfield Gardens also set a meet record in the boys sprint medley relay. Tadd Willoughby, Rashawn Simpson, Horaine Edwards and Weymore Johnson finished in 3:33.60 to win from the second section over Sachem who ended up second in 3:35.12 from the first heat.
Roosevelt built a strong lead in the second heat through three legs. But when the anchor got off to a slow start, Springfield’s Johnson reeled him in and took over in the last lap of his 800-meter leg.
“Going into the race I was thinking that we shouldn’t be in the second heat,” Johnson said. “But since we’re here we know we’re going to have to run hard. I tried to make up most of the lead early and I felt good.”
Bishop Ford’s Corinne Williams won the girls 200 in 25.63.
Reach Christopher Hunt at chunt@armorytrack.com.