Sachem East's Abby Callinan makes quick decision, and it pays off
Abby Callinan from Sachem East takes first in the girls racewalk at the New York State indoor track and field championships at Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island on March 4. Credit: Patrick E. McCarthy
Salute To The Champs: Abby Callinan, Sachem East, 1,500-meter race walk
In race walk, the openings are quick, the decision-window is small and the consequences of a bad move can be drastic. But Abby Callinan was sure that it was time to make a good move late in the state 1,500-meter championship race. She kind of had to — there just wasn’t a whole lot of time left. She was on the final straightway, and Brockport’s Desilets Dubois looked as if she could be caught.
“It was the last chance to go,” said Callinan, who chased down Dubois and won in 6:55.79. “It was now or never. I might as well go now.”
For all the planning that may happen during the race, it all goes out the window in the throws of it. Callinan’s decision wasn’t calculated or thought out. It was all instinct.
“I just felt it at the end that I could go, and I did” she said. “ . . . I felt like I could stay with [Dubois]. Toward the end, I took a chance, went with it, and went as fast as I could.”
A week later, Callinan placed fourth in 7:33.65 in the one-mile race walk at the New Balance indoor Nationals at The TRACK at New Balance in Boston. She won the 1,500 race walk at both the Suffolk Large School Championships (7:08.5) and the Suffolk State Qualifier (7:05.34).
