Farmingdale’s Patrick Smyth saves energy, rallies to win 3,200

The race played out like a prize fight, with the victor rope-a-doping the field, a combination of strategy and peril that played out dramatically at the Nassau Conference I championships Tuesday night at St. Anthony’s.

In the end, it was Farmingdale’s Patrick Smyth who won the 3,200 meters in 10 minutes, 23.44 seconds, topping Syosset’s Sean Ahearn, who finished second in 10:24.33. Smyth, who placed third in the 1,600 (4:53.47) and ran in the 4 x 800-meter relay later in the meet, tried to conserve as much energy as possible, leading the field by a step for the first half of the race before dipping back into the front pack to save his legs.

“It’s all about trying to get points [at a championship meet],” Smyth said. “Even if that means coming in sixth, you just have to try to stay in the middle of the front pack and fight with them.”

Smyth, who has fully recovered from a hamstring injury suffered toward the end of cross country season, never got close to sixth, bobbing back toward the front with effortless precision, letting everyone in the building know that his absence from the lead was only temporary. But Ahearn wasn’t willing to let Smyth control the final lap, matching his every move toward the front. When Smyth tried to lose the field for good with 150 meters left, Ahearn went with him, culminating in a 50-meter dash that is relatively rare in long distance races.

“I heard [Ahearn’s] footsteps behind me, and I tried to get my kick in early because I’m not the greatest with foot speed. My endurance pulls me through, so I wanted to try to build a little bit of a lead and hold it,” Smyth said. “ . . . It’s an emotional rush.”

On the girls side, Port Washington’s Lucy Hurt won the 1,000 in 3:08.21 and 1,500 in 5:06.89. Hurt’s teammate, Megan Bazzini, won the 600 in 1:39.21. Bazzini outpaced Freeport’s Nakacee McNab, who finished second in 1:40.42.

“My coach told me to take [McNab] out wide and I thought ‘oh my gosh, is she right behind me?’ ” Bazzini said of the final lap. “I looked over my shoulder and saw her and thought ‘just go get it.’ ”

SEE PHOTOSNassau Conference I track championships