Rivalry between Chaminade's Sean Kelly and Garden City's Andrew Morra is photo finish

Chaminade's Sean Kelly and Garden City's Andrew Morra stood side by side, waiting for their 1,000-meter heat at the Armory track during Saturday's Molloy Stanner Games in Manhattan.

Predictably, the conversation between the two friends quickly turned to the upcoming race.

"We were talking about how it was going to be a close finish," Kelly said.

Close was an understatement.

Kelly and Morra were neck and neck as they sprinted toward the finish line. Kelly crossed first -- but only by a hair.

The junior clocked in victorious at 2 minutes, 31.49 seconds. Morra, a senior, finished second in 2:31.52.

"My coach always tells us to put our chest out at the finish line," Kelly said. "I just try to get as big an advantage as possible."

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Kelly credits the victory to that final bit of body contortion. In the bottom line world of indoor track, any advantage counts.

For Morra, closing in on a tight finish is all about the chase.

"I made it my mission to not let them go," he said.

Kelly started to pick up speed on the third lap. Staying true to his word, Morra was right beside him. They stayed connected for the remainder of the race, giving way to the final dash.

"After the 600 [meter mark], I knew I had to turn it on and start getting ahead of the guys," Morra said. "The last lap came down to everything we had left."

As the two raced toward the finish, strategy and training is almost secondary -- it's an instinctual fight to the end line.

"You can't teach that," Chaminade coach Tom Rozea said.

After a duel that close, the two can't wait to meet again.

"I love racing Sean," Morra said. "He's a really good runner. It was a good time."

Next time, they'll have even more to talk about.