Adegbite leads St. Anthony's to title run

James Adegbite took his time as he gathered his stuff and met the rest of his St. Anthony's teammates. The Friars were taking a victory lap around their home track, but Adegbite was in no hurry to join them.

After all, he was in enough of a rush throughout the meet.

Adegbite anchored the winning 4 x 400-meter relay team and finished second in the 300 as the Friars won the CHSAA Intersectional crown Saturday at St. Anthony's. The Friars scored 45 points to take home their first intersectional title since 2004.

Chaminade took second with 33 points, and Kellenberg was third with 23 points.

Adegbite ran a 51.0 in his leg of the 4 x 400 to lead the Friars to a win in 3:30.56. The senior also finished second in the 300 (36.14) to Laray Smith of Xaverian, who clocked a 35.25.

"I just feel really tired," Adegbite said. "It was a busy day. But this was my chance to add to the team's legacy, and I'm happy."

Adegbite's teammates also turned in strong performances. Mike Brunoforte won the pole vault in a school-record 15-6 to start the scoring for the Friars. The senior broke his old record of 15-3, which he set in December at the Stanner Games.

SEE PHOTOSCHSAA track championships

"I'm hoping to break 16 feet soon," said Brunoforte, who was named most outstanding field performer. "I just need to get a little more oomph early on."

Because the meet served as both a league championship and a state qualifier, St. Anthony's coach Tim Dearie decided to spread his runners across events to maximize points instead of trying to get as many people to the state meet. "We tried to spread the wealth," he said. "It's depth that wins you championships."

The strategy worked, as St. Anthony's had a runner place in the top three in nine of 16 events.

Cameron Black took the 55 hurdles for the Friars in 7.79 seconds. Tom Diliberto took second in the 3,200 with a time of 9:32.82. Chris Pensa took second in the shot put with a throw of 49-1. Dan Graw finished second in the 55 in 6.62 seconds, and Kevin Kreider took second in the 1,000 in 2:26.16.

"Second place gets you to the state meet, so it worked out well for us," Dearie said.

St. John the Baptist's Sean Ferguson won the 1,000 (2:35.89) and anchored the winning 4 x 800 relay (8:00.18).

Chaminade's Thomas Awad won most outstanding track perfomer after winning the 3,200 and setting a record en route to winning the 1,600. "It feels great," he said. "There are some great runners in this league, so for me to be able to beat them is an honor."

Awad started the meet by taking the 3,200 in 9:30.36, which was 2.46 seconds ahead of Diliberto's second-place time. At one point in the race, Awad had opened up nearly a half-track lead on the rest of the field.

"I wanted to make the middle mile upbeat," he said. "I wanted to relax for the first 800 and the last 800."

Awad also won the 1,600 in a meet-record 4:15.55. The senior stuck with Dan Galford of Monsignor Farrell (4:23.51) for the first 1,000 meters, then began to kick with three laps to go.

"I just felt comfortable," Awad said. "My legs felt great. I really felt like I could move."