Chaminade's 4 X 800 team misses first place by a hair in national event

It was closer then close. Closer than the letters on this page. Closer than the fabric fibers that made up Chaminade’s jerseys Sunday afternoon at The Armory in Manhattan. The Flyers, one week after falling short of their goal to win a state indoor 4 X 800 meter title, placed second by 1/1000th of a second in the same event on the third and final day of Nike Indoor track and field Nationals.    

An all-out sprint and lean at the line by anchor leg Jack Higgins just barely missed the ultimate mark. Chaminade, which also ran Reef Kirchner, Michael Touma, and Patrick Mulryan, placed an All-American second in 7 minutes, 48.836 seconds. Ohio’s Lancaster High School won in 7:48.835.

“It was scary,” Higgins said of the finish. “. . . It was probably the most exciting race ever.”

The race will be forever known as the ‘missing shoes invitational.’ Or maybe more accurately, the case of the disappearing footwear. Shortly before the race, Touma — the second leg — realized his shoes had gone missing. Without time for a proper investigation, he decided to share shoes with Higgins, who happened to be the same size. So, as his anchor stood barefoot, Touma ran a two-second personal best with his teammates’ shoes — quickly handing them back to Higgins, who strapped them on and stepped back on the track for the breakneck final 800. It was a lot for everyone, especially the shoes.

“I left my bag with my spikes in it,” Touma said. “I forgot the baton so I went downstairs to get it and when I came back up [my shoes] were just gone.…. I thought ‘is the relay not going to get All-American because of me?’ I was so lucky that Higgins was the same size.”

In the same race, St. Anthony’s — who won the 4 X 800 indoor state championship last weekend — placed an All-American fourth in 7:51.47.

Elsewhere, West Babylon’s Farrah Wengler placed an All-American second in the one mile race walk in 7:54.87.