Gelibert bests Gallagher, Williams

Bay Shore's Jessica Gelibert found herself trailing Garden City's Emma Gallagher and St. Anthony's Olicia Williams with the laps winding down and a championship at stake.

Sound familiar? It should, since it was Gallagher, Williams, and Gelibert -- in that order -- who made for a thrilling 600 meters last week at states.

This time, the setting was the anchor leg of the sprint medley relay at the New Balance Indoor Nationals, and Gelibert was determined to get the final say.

She did, using exactly what she learned from that very 600.

Gelibert's late surge lifted the Marauders to a second-place finish in the girls sprint medley relay Saturday at the Armory in Manhattan. The team of Brianah Allen, Anisa Toppin, Danielle Rowe and Gelibert clocked 4 minutes, 2.43 seconds, a school record and the second-fastest time in the nation this season.

"It hasn't sunk in yet," Toppin said when told that their time was the second-best in the nation. "It'll probably hit us when we're on the train back."

Hillhouse (Conn.) won in 4:00.58. Garden City (4:02.88) took third, and St. Anthony's (4:03.32) finished fifth. Bay Shore, Garden City, and St. Anthony's were named All-Americans for finishing in the top six.

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Gelibert ran a 2:10.7 split on her 800-meter leg, which included a gradual kick that brought her up from fifth to second through the final 400 meters.

"I told myself beforehand that I'd stick with them and go on the last lap," the senior said. "But as the race went on and we fell behind, I decided to be patient and just keep building my speed up."

The kick was eerily similar to what happened last week at Cornell, when Gallagher used a late move to overtake Gelibert and Williams midway through the race to win the state crown in the 600.

This time, Gelibert was the one who outkicked her fellow Long Islanders.

"I was not going to let it happen again," she said. "You win some and you lose some, and I was not going to lose this one for my team."

Garden City held an early lead for most of the race, with St. Anthony's following closely behind in second and Bay Shore about 20 meters back in fifth. But Hillhouse and La Salle Academy (Providence) took the top two spots at the start of the final leg, setting things up for Gelibert's kick.

"On paper, I thought we could run 4:01 or 4:02 if everything went right," Marauders coach Steve Borbet said. "Everything certainly did go right."

Later on in the girls events, Annica Penn of Westhampton took third in the mile walk in 7:36.31, and Sachem North's Katie Michta (7:38.88) took fifth. Garden City also placed fourth in the 4 x 800 with a time of 9:09.90.

Kellenberg, Friars set marks

A pair of state CHSAA records were shattered in the boys events. Kellenberg's 4 x 800 squad of Tyler Capozzoli, Raul McGee, Randall Turner and Dylan Murphy took third with a time of 7:43.84.

The St. Anthony's team of Patrick Ginty, Kevin Kreider, Frank Segreto and Tom Diliberto took sixth in the 4 x 1 mile relay in 17:47.90.