Kellenberg boys track's Damion Gordon Jr. wins 55-meter title at NSCHSAA championships in photo finish

The average blink of a human eye takes between 0.1 and 0.4 seconds — or rather, 100 to 400 milliseconds — according to Harvard research. Even that is not nearly quick enough to differentiate a league champion sprinter from the runner-up.

Such was the case with Kellenberg junior Damion Gordon Jr., who fell just 0.06 seconds shy of winning the Nassau-Suffolk CHSAA championship in the 55 meters last year. He was bested by Holy Trinity’s Jalen Josey, a speedster committed to play centerfield for Stony Brook baseball.

The airtight finish raised the anticipation for this year’s NSCHSAA championship meet, where the two met again in the 55. They entered Saturday’s meet at St. Anthony’s High School in South Huntington tied atop the league rankings in the event at 6.49 seconds, which also knotted them up at the No. 11 ranking in the state.

Motivated by the frustration of that 60-millisecond shortcoming from last year, Gordon ran so fast on Saturday, that one blink may have caused anyone in the building to miss the whole race, not just the finish. He clocked 6.46, dethroning Josey by 0.07 to win the league title.

“This accomplishment definitely ranks toward the top for me, because it’s a moment that I’ve been waiting on for a long time,” Gordon said. “It’s been on my mind since last year. It was really a challenge to think about. That motivated me to never let it happen again.”

Another rising star at Kellenberg is Gordon’s classmate, Zach Paggi. Not only has he become Long Island’s best runner in the 600, but he is ranked sixth in the state in the event. He showed why on Saturday when he won in 1:23.68 — 2.64 seconds clear of the next finisher.

The former swimmer is in his second full year as a runner, and is happy to be emerging as one of the best in his new trade.

“I was already good at swimming, so if I was going to pick up track, I might as well be good at it,” Paggi said. “It’s rewarding being able to know that all of the work paid off. If you don’t have anything to show for it, it doesn’t feel as worthwhile, so having a championship to show for it feels really good.”

The only double champion was Chaminade senior Jonathan Szymanski, who successfully defended his titles in both the weight throw and the shot put. His day began with him throwing the weight 67 feet, 11 1⁄2 inches. Later, he chucked the shot 61-9: the new No. 1 mark in the state.

“I was just focused on trying to win both events so I can score as many points for my team as possible, so I’m really happy about this,” Szymanski said.

Szymanski’s performance provided the Flyers with 12 of their 102 1⁄2 points, helping them win their first NSCHSAA team title since 2008. The win snapped a 17-year streak by St. Anthony’s.

Szymanski was named the meet’s field MVP, and Kellenberg’s Aidan Hopkins — who won the 3,200 in 9:32.09 — was named track MVP.

By Mike Anderson

michael.anderson@newsday.com

Mike Anderson is a high school sports reporter who has covered 12 sports so far at Newsday. He was the sports editor of Stony Brook University's campus newspaper for two years.