By Christopher Hunt
RANDALLS ISLAND – Patrick Farmer looked sick before his race, fatigued and unsure of himself.
“I’ve been dry-heaving all day,” the St. Anthony’s senior said. “I feel like I want to throw up but I can’t.”
It sounded like nerves but Farmer said that he had been having the same feeling in school and planned to see a doctor. Farmer’s demeanor coupled with a chilling wind and dropping temperature at Ichan Stadium didn’t seem to give Farmer a chance to make any kind of statements in the first outdoor 400 meters of his track career.
Then Farmer ignored his ailing belly and the cold and won the invitational 400 meters at the New York Relays in 47.25 seconds, the second-fastest time in the country this season. For the record, Farmer was heaving again before he took his award at the medal stand. Nothing about it was dry.
“During the race starts all those feelings go away,” said Farmer, who parlayed his very first winter track season into an athletic scholarship to Virginia. “I knew I wasn’t going to run under 47 today but this is a good way to start the season.”
Roosevelt’s Dale McDonald finished second in 48.40. Farmer’s debut open 400 is the fastest recorded by a New York sprinter since Edino Steele (Pacific) ran 47.24 at the AAU Club championships in 2005.
“I definitely want to break 47,” Farmer said. “I just didn’t think I’d ran this fast this early. I want to run under 46 on the (4x400) relay. Maybe at Penn Relays.”
Despite the fact that the weather was not sprinter-friendly, Zamir Thomas of Snyder (N.J.) completed two impressive wins in the 100 and 200 invitational races. Thomas first won the 100 in 10.95 then claimed the 200 in 21.43. Westbury’s Darnelle Mickens was second in 21.61 and John Thomas of Sheepshead Bay third in 21.91.
“I felt good today,” Zamir Thomas said. “Once we got started the breeze didn’t really bother me. I saw (John Thomas) got out really hard. I just wanted to stay with him around the turn. Once we got to the straightaway I knew I had it.”
Even if the cold didn’t hamper Thomas, he said things could be different when the sun comes back out.
“The season is going really well,” he said. “When it gets hot then we’ll see something fast. I’m pretty sure I’m going to run 20.8.”
Columbus sophomore Strymar Livingston continued to make a name for himself this season. He turned a pedestrian pace into a torrid finish to win the invitational 800 in 1:55.83. It’s just a month into the season but Livingston has already earned enough respect – after a 48.80/1:54.35 double at the Mayor’s Cup last week – for the field to sit behind him even as he went through the first last in 59 seconds. This time Livingston held off Grady’s Shevaun Marsh, who tried to follow when Livingston broke loose with 300 left.
Livingston broke into a wide smile with 10 meters left and pumped his fist before he broke the tape. He was also 30 minutes off of running a 1:53.8 split on Columbus’ sprint medley relay, where he stormed the first lap in 51.4.
“I was just smiling because it’s the first time that I’ve made it this far,” he said. “I’m happy I get one of those plaques.”
Eddie Owens of Packer-Collegiate bettered his own state-leader in the 3,000 steeplechase. For the second straight race he found himself in an all-out sprint on the home straightaway. Lap after lap, St. Anthony’s Ken Walshak dragged Owens through the pace while Owens fought not to lose contact. Owens earned a close victory in the 3,200 Friday.
“This is too many close races,” Owens said afterward. “I always end up kicking at the very end. The steeple is such a painful race, I can’t even begin to explain.”
With 300 left, Owens moved to challenge Walshak’s shoulder. They hit the water jump together and hurdled the last barrier shoulder-to-shoulder. Owens’ head began to bobble as he pulled himself forward and ahead of Walshak to win in 9:33.67. Walshak crossed in 9:33.76.
“I usually trust myself even when I feel dead,” Owens said. “I knew that the water jump was going to be really difficult and the last barrier would be really difficult. I knew I just had to fight until the end.”
Devon Carter (50.0), Jon Feigin (22.8), Uriah Brickhouse (23.4) and Steve Morrone (1:52.8) won the invitational sprint medley for Washington Township in a meet record 3:30.30 over NSIC champs St. Anthony’s and surging St. Joseph’s by the Sea.
St. Anthony’s Payton Hazzard made this typical frantic kick to the finish but Morrone squashed his heroics this time. Danny Zaccariello of St. Joseph’s by the Sea almost stole the race on the outside.
“I was pushing as hard as I could,” Morrone said. “With 5 or 10 meters left my legs, my muscles, everything just locked up. I was just trying to hold on. I knew I had to win.”
Midwood won a tightly-contest 4x100 and proved to be ready headed into Penn Relays next weekend in Philadelphia. Donald Williams, Eric Williams, Andy Nicolas and Alex Sterling won in 42.37, just ahead of Medgar Evers in second in 42.41. Midwood’s time is the second-fastest in the state.
Boys & Girls also won the 4x400 in 3:21.50. Uniondale’s Glen Forsythe won the long jump, clearing 21 feet.
Reach Christopher Hunt at chunt@armorytrack.com.