By Christopher Hunt
When Mel Mosley wanted to accomplish something, he turned to the one person that’s been with him his entire life: his twin brother.
All season the Middletown senior has been shooting to break 48 seconds for 400 meters, and with the competition sparse at his home meet, the Middletown Invitational, Mosley turned to his twin brother Manny.
“I went in knowing that we wouldn’t be able to go to Loucks (Games at White Plains) and I knew that someone at Loucks would run 47,” Mosley said. “That was my whole focus going in. I wanted to run 47.”
So Manny agreed to essentially serve as Mel’s rabbit. He blasted through the first half of the race, and carried Mel through 250 meters before Mel Mosley took over and won in 47.82, the fastest-time in the state this season. At the Loucks Games, Mosley’s prediction came true. Andre Jordan of Medgar Evers clocked 47.94.
“It made me kind of nervous at first because he was running pretty strong and fast,” Mel said of his brother. “I thought that he might finish it off.”
Mel was able to corral his brother, who finished second in 49.82, but more importantly gave his brother the boost he needed. Both Manny and Mel have committed to Southern University.
“You finally did it,” Manny told Mel afterward. “You got it done.”
Mel Mosley has been getting it done in more ways than one. Last week, in a dual meet against Port Jervis Tuesday, Mosley cleared an incredible 6 feet, 10 inches in the high jump, another state leader. Mosley toyed with the jumps his sophomore year but shelved the idea after injuring his knee in the long jump.
“He’s athletic ability is just crazy,” assistant coach Lindsay Hammer said. “You can put him in anything and get can do it.”
Mosley didn’t jump at all last year but, now healthy, decided to give it another try. No one expected this.
“I definitely surprised myself jumping 6-10,” he said. “I surprised myself at 6-2.”
Molsey felt some pain in his calf after the high jump Tuesday, enough that sat out of the jumps Saturday to focus on the 400.
“When he finished his calf hurt a little,” head coach Eric Hipsman said. “But when we announced the time, the pain went away for awhile.”
Middies on top: Mosley’s teammate Adam Abdur-Rahman posted the state’s fastest time in the 400 hurdles Saturday in 53.52.
Reach Christopher Hunt at chunt@armorytrack.com and follow him on Twitter @ChrisHuntArmory.