By Christopher Hunt
photos by Greg Armstong
RANDALLS ISLAND – Someone asked St. Anthony’s coach Tim Dearie who his biggest competition was headed into the CHSAA championship.
“Ourselves,” he answered. “We can only beat ourselves.”
It’s the kind of answer that a coach gives to keep the responsibility on the athletes to perform. But it was
also spot on. The Friars overwhelmed the scoring in the track events to coast to the CHSAA title Sunday with 51 points at Ichan Stadium. Mount St. Michael finished second with 27 and St. John the Baptist third with 24.
St. Anthony’s depth on the track allowed the Friars to post top-three finishes in 9 of 12 events on the track. St. Anthony’s scraped for points in bunches, provided the superstar performance of the meet and created drama all while posting a blowout.
Even before St. Anthony’s put the meet out of reach, junior Payton Hazzard created a stir by winning the 800 meters after losing his shoe in the first 200 of the race. He won in 1:58.02. His reaction showed what kind of day it would be for his team.
“I actually got really excited,” Hazzard said. “In my head, I’m thinking I run faster without shoes.”
Kenneth Walshak led the distance attack. He coasted to a win in the 3,000 steeplechase, finishing in 9:51.34. Teammate Brian Smith followed in second in 10:02.76. Then Walshak placed third in the 3,200 in 9:29.10 with Thomas Diliberto fourth in 9:33.57.
Winners earn an automatic bid to the state championships June 11-12 in Vestal. But Walshak said there was more at stake than that.
“The transition for my freshman year to now is insane,” the senior said. “I never thought I could do what I’m doing now. You hear about the tradition at St. Anthony’s and how great the teams used to be. We want to come out and show that we can be a part of that.”
Tradition and depth and a headline sprinter. Some teams have it all.
The only thing as dominant as the team’s performance was Patrick Farmer’s win in the 400. The rookie senior phenom won his event by almost three seconds. Farmer won the 400 in 47.58, running in a headwind on the home stretch and breaking a meet record.
“I went out really fast,” said Farmer who anchored the 4x400 that won in 3:19.19. “I got the lead early. I was racing for time. I just need to improve.”
The team saw a breakthrough performance from Warner Cooley III also. He finished second in 200 in a personal best 22.61 and ran a leg on the 4x400. Patrick Murphy finished second in the 1,600 in 4:24.91 ran a leg on the third-place 4x800.
“I always tell them, if we don’t have great role players then we can’t win championships,” Dearie said. “The great thing about us is that everyone is a really great role player.”
There were two double-winners in the sprints. Molly senior Sean Collins won the 400 hurdles in 54.42 then won the 110 hurdles in 14.63. Winston McCormack won the 200 in 22.59 and then won the 100 in 11.14. Kellenberg’s Andre Johnson (2:00.0), Quesnel Senatus (1:59.4), Jim Agoti (1:58.6) and Mike Cook (1:56.6) won the 4x800 in 7:55.14. Farrell’s Cory Duggan also advanced to the state meet, winning the pole vault at 15 feet.
Reach Christopher Hunt at chunt@armorytrack.com.
