Barrett thrilled he defended Fed title

Sancho Barrett had an extensive list of goals for his senior year at Amityville that included winning the indoor 55-meter hurdles state title, as well as the outdoor and national outdoor 110 hurdles championships.

The Penn State-bound runner was also hoping to clock sub-14 seconds at some point.

Barrett wasn't able to achieve every goal he set, as he struggled through an injury-shortened indoor season, but he did capture the 110 hurdles Federation championship in 14.26 seconds last weekend. It was the second straight Federation title in the 110 hurdles for Barrett.

"This means everything, because I couldn't make it to the indoor state championships," said Barrett, who pulled his right hamstring midway through the indoor season.

Barrett's recovery was slow initially, but once he got it going, everything returned to normal. Barrett turned a lot of heads at the Suffolk state qualifier after winning the 110 hurdles in a career- and state-best time of 13.98 seconds.

"I was pretty happy about that," Barrett said. "Two years of trying to hit that time and I finally did it."

The buzz surrounding Barrett's win at the state championships was dashed a bit, however, as he tripped just as he crossed the finish line and fractured his left forearm.

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The injury effectively ended his senior season and prevented him from participating in the scholastic outdoor national championships in Greensboro, N.C., this weekend.

The disappointment of not competing at the nationals notwithstanding, Barrett is pleased with how his senior season concluded.

"I was happy to at least be able to defend my Federation championship," Barrett said. "I accomplished a lot of things I set out do to."