Fuller leads Longwood to 400 relay title

ITHACA, N.Y. - When Longwood's Joe Fuller took the handoff to start the anchor leg of the 4 x 400-meter relay, the chances of his team winning a state championship looked slim.

Longwood was third entering the final leg, trailing Middletown and DeWitt Clinton.

The senior sprinter put all doubts to rest as he overcame a 10-meter deficit and led Longwood to a first-place finish and a Federation championship in a school-record time of 3 minutes, 24.38 seconds Saturday in the state track and field championships at Cornell.

None of Longwood's remaining 4 x 400 team members panicked when faced with the deficit. In fact, once Fuller got going, it was just a matter of time, according to Joe Payton, who ran the first leg.

"I knew we had a shot," Payton said. "Every time it gets to Joe, something happens and he just runs. It was just important for us to keep it close."

Soba Vincent ran the second leg and Shane Cruz was on the third leg.

It wasn't the easiest turnaround for Fuller, who ran to a sixth-place finish in the 600-meter Federation final (third in public schools) less than an hour earlier. "I knew I was a lot stronger than the other runners," Fuller said. "I knew if I could pass one, I could pass the other."

SEE PHOTOSNYSPHAA Track & Field Championships

Longwood coach Joe Reilly was impressed.

"Are you kidding? It was amazing," Reilly said. "I couldn't believe he ate everyone up like that, especially coming off that 600."

Half Hollow Hills West's 4 x 200 team of Justin Connor, Justin Ma, Abdias Myrtil and Dan McCord took second in 1:31.74, and Uniondale (Derrick Ingram, Chris Armour, Nyder Chardonette, Joshua Salmon) finished third in 1:33.24.

St. John the Baptist's 4 x 800 relay team of Hunter Burrell, Matt Zampariello, Seitu Solomon and Brandon Camenzuli ran to a second-place finish in 7:56.68.

Central Islip's Ryan Satchell was Long Island's only individual winner among the boys, taking home the public schools championship in the triple jump with a leap of 47 feet, 4 1/2 inches. Satchell finished second in the Federation final.

Miller Place's Adam DeVito took third in the long jump in 22 feet, 10¼ inches.

That jump occurred in the final, though, because DeVito pulled his left hamstring just before his first attempt in the final round and fouled.

He made one last effort on his second attempt, but the pain was too much and he was forced to withdraw. His final jump in the first flight preliminary was good enough.

"I'm just thankful for everything," the junior said. "I just couldn't take off in the final. But I'm happy and I'll take this experience and move on."

Chaminade's Thomas Awad finished second in the 1,600 (4:20.03). Awad faced a tough field, led by West Genesee's Billy Gabriel (4:16.91), who finished first and Westbury's Owen Skeete, who was fourth in 4:22.33. Skeete set a personal mark in the 3,200 earlier in the day, taking fourth in a career-best time of 9:14.65.

It took almost an entire lap for Awad to pass Skeete, who led the 1,600 field for most of the race. "It took a lot out of me to pass Owen," Awad said. "I just didn't have enough. I couldn't feel anything and Gabriel just passed me."