By Christopher Hunt
Chamique Francis snatched the baton from teammate Ahytana Johnson and without a hint of panic she turned her sights to the Medgar Evers anchor. Then like a vacuum she closed the space and pushed ahead.
Johnson had already done the work for Cardozo, which was in third behind Medgar Evers and Canarsie when she took over on the third leg. But she blew by Canarsie and then reeled in Medgar Evers close enough for Francis to do her job.
“We knew we would be a little behind,” Johnson said. “You work with what you'vs got. We refuse to lose. We don’t like losing and we don’t like second either.”
Cardozo, with Latiesha Philson (58.1), Alexis Mapson (60.5), Johnson (55.9) and Francis (56.4) won the PSAL girls 4x400 at the Millrose Trials Wednesday night in 3:50.94, the fastest time in the country this season.
“That’s pretty good,” Francis said. “We wanted to set the standard high. It’s realy important because we want to put ourselves out there.”
Medgar Evers and Cardozo have the first and second fastest times in the country, respectively, in the 4x200. Medgars Evers finished second in 3:54.35, the second-fastest time in the nation this season. They ran with Rachel Leeke, Nyana Moise-Joseph, Shakele Seaton, Camille Edwards. Both teams have been saying that wanted the opportunity to race each other.
“They were calling us out,” Francis said. “We were ready to run. We were more ready than nervous today.”
Hayley McMahon of Arlington didn’t look like she carried any nerves into her race either. For the first time, the Millrose Trials offered qualifiers for the high school mile if the athletes in the girls’ race broke five minutes. When the race started it seemed that it would become a tactical race, which most times is code for slow.
McMahon moved to the lead from third before the bell lap then broke away from the field. But she said she never tried to chase a time.
“My coach (Steve Arnett) said you only have one chance to live your life,” McMahon said. “The only thing standing in between me and Millrose was giving it my all.
“I didn’t look at the clock once until I was crossing the finish line.”
McMahon said she wanted to use the race to prove herself to the people that doubted her.
“A lot of people said that, oh, I’m only good in my section,” she said. “I wanted to prove to everyone and all the teams that I’m not a nobody. I can run with these girls out there. A lot of people, they choke at these really big meets. I’m a very modest person so I’m not going to flaunt it but I’m not going to lie, this is pretty awesome.”
St. Anthony’s Shannon Murphy (60.4), Sloan Russ (62.6), Olivia Abbate and Olicia Williams (56.2) won the girls CHSAA 4x400 in 3:58.32. Abbate made the difference on the third leg, passing Bishop Loughlin to give the Friars the lead for good.
“I thought Villa really would have been our competition,” Williams said.
But St. John Villa’s Dominque Claudio felt a cramp in her calf and pulled up on the back straightaway on the second leg and dropped out of the race. Villa won the CHSAA 4x400 at the Millrose Games last year. Bishop Ford finished second, running 4:00.40 from the previous heat. Abbate and Williams knew they would be chasing once Bishop Ford posted its time.
“We were trying to come in and break four minutes,” Williams said. “We knew if we did that we had a chance to win.”
Villa qualified with its ‘B’ team and will able carry two alternates, which means that Dominque Claudio and her twin sister Mariah could still run on the team at the Millrose Games.
Brentwood’s Stefanny Laureno (58.6), Brianna Reid (61.0), Donna Jeanty (56.3) and Andra Aberdeen (62.9) won the Suffolk 4x400 in 3:58.64. Manhassat won the Nassau 4x400 in 3:59.58 with Cathryn Avallone, Emily Easton, Jenny Vlahos and Jasmine Blocker, who anchored in 57.4. Mount Vernon’s Myla Allen, Tanya Yarde, Michelle McCrae and Shamika Mindingall won the Westchester/Putnam/Dutchess 4x400 in 3:58.61.
Columbia (N.J.) had the second-fastest time of the day winning the N.J.Suburban in 3:54.24 with Amber Ballew (59.5), Brittney Jackson (58.2), Kelsey Jackson (58.0) and Kayann Richards (57.9). Twelve teams broke four minutes.
Reach Christopher Hunt at chunt@armorytrack.com