By Christopher Hunt
RANDALLS ISLAND – Donald Williams, Jr. admitted that he went to bed near tears Saturday night. The Midwood senior captain twisted his right ankle running down the stairs at home and knew that without him, his team’s chance of winning a city title would vanish as quick and he could run100 meters.
But Williams, Jr. packed his ankle with ice and tried to keep the swelling down. Then he watched as his team didn’t scored what they hoped in the 400 or 800 meters. His team called a meeting during the meet.
“We were getting down,” assistant coach Ron Edmundson said. “We said we had to turn it around.”
Then Williams won the 100. First he got caught sitting in the starting blocks but midway through the race, had reeled in the field and won in a wind-aided 10.56 seconds. Teammate Eric Williams was third in 10.68.
“That changed everything,” Edmundson said. “That changed the meet.”
It started a rally that Midwood capped by finishing third in the 4x400, the last event, to win the PSAL city championship with 53 points, edging Sheephead Bay, which finished second with 50. Curtis scored 43 for third.
Williams said: “I just wanted to run fast. The start of the race was horrific. My start was terrible. Everyone was out before me. I kind of knew that I needed to drop something to pick the team’s spirit up.”
And he did. After Donald Williams, Jr. and Eric Williams went 1-3 in the 100, Olukayode Owolabi posted a personal best, winning the triple jump in 49 feet, 6 inches, the best jump in the state this season.
“The whole time I was at the triple jump, I was just cheering everyone else,” Owolabi said. “I saw Donald and Eric in the 100 and that hyped me up. It hyped everyone up. I lost my voice after the 4x400.”
After Owolabi won the triple jump, Midwood only needed two points to win. Indoors, they need to finish third in the 4x400 to win. They finished sixth that day. Sunday they finished third and won by three points.
“We’ve been so close,” Edmundson said. “I wanted to hide. I didn’t even want to come to the meet. I thought it was my fault, like I was bad luck. But I wanted to support my team.”
Curtis senior Kareem Crawford earned the meet’s outstanding performer award winning the 400 hurdles in a state-leading 53.67 and won the 110 hurdles in a wind-aided 14.04. Crawford will go into the state meet next week favored to win both hurdle events. Last year, he finished sixth and didn’t qualify for the state meet.
“This time last year I sucked,” Crawford said. “All the Sheepshead Bay kids beat me. Everyone last one of them. I wasn’t focused on track last year.”
Crawford, a native of Trinidad, gave up his first love, soccer, and lacrosse to focus on training for the track season. The decision may earn him a state championship.
“I feel like I’m going to win all the time,” he said. “I’m not trying to brag but I feel like I’m faster and stronger than everyone.”
The same words could have come from Sheepshead’s John Thomas. The senior won the 200 in 21.24, wind-aided. Thomas said he has benefited from taking advice from Val Branwell, a masters world sprint champion, who is currently serving a two-year doping ban for a positive test collected last August after the World Masters Championships 200 final.
“This is my last year, my last cities, I wanted to run fast,” Thomas said.
Thomas exploded around the curve and finished stronger than he’s looked all season. Once he hit the straightaway, he had already won the race.
“Nobody can run with me on the turn,” he said. “That’s my lane.”
Medgar Evers won the 4x100 in 41.43. Wingate’s Kemar Lewis cleared 6-8 to win the high jump over favored O’Neil Sandiford of Robeson. Chukwuebuk Enekwechi of Francis Lewis won the shot put and discus.
Reach Christopher Hunt at chunt@armorytrack.com.