By Christopher Hunt
photos by Greg Armstrong
RANDALLS ISLAND – After Olivia Abbate won the 100 hurdles at the CHSAA championships for the third straight year, she hugged an assistant coach until the two of them tumbled over laughing. When her team won the 4x100 she was the first to the finish line to hug a younger teammate anchoring a 
championship relay.
It’s no wonder that when sophomore Olicia Williams was 100 meters in to the anchor leg on the 4x400 – the last event and holding a one-point lead -- and battling St. John the Baptist in a literal sprint for the title, her thoughts went to Abbate.
“I was thinking we have to win,” Williams said. “It was for Liv. It was all up to me and I didn’t want to let her down.”
St. Anthony’s held a one-point lead going into the final event over defending champs St. John the Baptist. Williams took the baton in the lead on the anchor leg but the St. John the Baptist anchor went by on the first turn. Williams responded with a hard move down the back stretch then held her off down the final straightaway to secure the Friars win 61.5-58.5. Kellenberg finished third with 42 points.
“The whole meet we’ve been going back and forth,” St. Anthony’s coach Oliver St. Aude said. “We’ve been doing this all season. We’ve been facing each other in the 4x400 all year so it’s only fitting that it would come down to the last relay.
“And it’s really a testament to our girls because they’ve had our number in the 4x400.”
St. Anthony’s won the 4x400 in 3:54.36, a second ahead of SJB. But that’s the way it had been all afternoon, the Friars just a step ahead, the SJB made a surge and St. Anthony’s would take over again. It’s the kind of maturity that Abbate, who is on her second CHSAA outdoor title squad, has seen grow through the program since her freshman year.
“All through the grades, they’re so determined,” Abbate said of her team. “That’s definitely something I saw building. I feel like the young people watched us grow up and become more driven and more determined and they really picked up on that.”
Abbate has been invaluable to the St. Anthony’s program. Not only has she been the top hurdler in the CHSAA for the past three years and leader of championship team, she also delivered Patrick Farmer to the men’s team, who won the boys team title. The boys and girls both won the CHSAA crown last in 1986.
“She’s going to be missed,” St. Aude said of Abbate. “She came a long way from a skinny freshman. She’s taken control of this team.”
Plus, the Friar’s had even more ammunition than they had in the winter when they won the indoor crown. The time they had a healthy Williams, who missed the indoor meet and the start of the spring season. But the sophomore finished second in the 800 in 2:13.76 and ultimately anchored the team to victory. But even Williams brought it back to Abbate.
“We all follow Liv,” she said. “She puts it in our heads that we can’t lose.”
Kellenberg’s Kim Mackay overcame a slow start to win the 800 in 2:12.01. Mackay was seventh 300 meters into the race before she started to creep toward the leaders. Williams pushed the pace with Bishop Ford’s Shanique DaSilva trailing.
Williams and DaSilva went shoulder-to-shoulder down the back straightaway and into the last curve, but Mackay had started her attack with 300 left. She blew by them both on the turn to win. Williams was second and DaSilva third in 2:14.06.
Malekah Holland, a former 800 champ, won the 400 in her best race of the season. She finished in 55.72.
“I wasn’t really scared about the race,” said Holland, who made a verbal commitment Hampton. “I’m feeling really good. I could tell by the week in practice. This whole year, I’ve been feeling out of shape. I feel like I’m really back.”
Holy Trinity’s Colleen Schmidt won the 3,000 in 9:55.56, her first time under 10 minutes outdoors. She also won the 1500 in 4:45.11.
“I was really running for time,” Schmidt said after the 3,000. “I wanted to make sure that I got into the first heat at states. I think I’ll be able to run a lot faster with people pulling me forward.”
Bishop Loughlin’s Adrienne Alexander won the shot put in 41 feet, 7.5 inches.
Reach Christopher Hunt at chunt@armorytrack.com.
