By Christopher Hunt
The equation was simple for Strymar Livingston. He worked hard. He ran fast.
It didn’t happen overnight. Even though it seemed like it did. Now the Christopher Columbus sophomore is one of the hottest long sprinters in the state and will be a top contender when he takes the starting line in the 800 meters at today’s Loucks Games at White Plains.
It seems far-fetched for someone who, even through the indoor season, was a middle-of-the-pack miler. Before, only Whitney Fountain, New York's most dominant sprinter, was the one that put Columbus on the map. But Livingston was on a boys team struggling to maintain a program through his freshman year and was floating his way through cross country in the fall until Michael Pearson took over as head coach in the winter.
Pearson took a look at Livingston and knew quickly that he was out of his element. Livingston was a sprinter and a good one.
“Once we were in practice, I saw that he could sprint,” Pearson said. “When we had him in the 1,000 and the 600 (indoors) he started excelling.”
Livingston started the winter season running 1:28.84 in the 600. At the PSAL Frosh/Soph championships March 7, he won the 600 in 1:20.35. Then, a week later, he clocked 1:53.65 to finish sixth in the 800 at the National Scholastic Indoor Championships. He never resisted the change in distance.
“I’ll do anything to make me better,” Livingston said. “So I just went with the flow. I just followed the program.”
Since then Livingston, who was born in Brooklyn then grew up in Montego Bay, Jamaica before moving back to New York last year, has been the premier sprinter/middle-distance runner in New York City and one of the best in the state. And through it all, one thing remains constant. Livingston is as aggressive as they come.
At the New York Relays, with his team back in sixth-place in the sprint medley, Livingston stormed off the line and ran the first lap of his 800-meter leg in 51 seconds. Even last Saturday, at the Howard Richter Invitational at Ichan Stadium, Livingston won the 400 in 48.84. On a half hour rest, the sophomore blitzed the start from the gun.
He said he was on pace to run between 49-50 seconds for the first lap until he heard Pearson screaming for him to slow down. Midwood’s Gavin Henry gave chase and Livingston wanted to shake him but he backed off on Pearson’s word. He won in a personal-best 1:53.65, the second fastest time in the state.
“Since I saw him in cross country, he was aggressive naturally,” Pearson. “That’s something that always impressed me. He’s an aggressive runner. That’s how he is.”
Today, he’ll ran Marcellus senior, Mike Querica, who ran a state-leading 1:51.81 at the Arcadia Invitational last month.
“I heard it was going to race,” Livingston said. “It’s going to be crazy.”
Reach Christopher Hunt at chunt@armorytrack.com.
