Lions sprint to county title
Miles steps in for final relay to seal championship
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Longwood senior Walter Miles placed third in the long jump at the large school championship Tuesday night as the Lions won the county title after finishing second for three of the previous four years.
Just a straight 50 meters to the championship.
Longwood senior Walter Miles, perhaps better known as a tailback on the football team, sprinted down the straightaway at Suffolk Community College late Tuesday night, the baton held firmly in his right hand, his face grimacing with each step. Miles could hear his teammates yelling.
"They were telling me he's gaining on me," Miles said. "So I pushed it a little bit harder and when I crossed the finish line I knew we were in first."
Longwood's win in the 4 x 200-meter relay capped an 88-point effort for the Lions as they won the large school county championship for the first time since 2005.
By the time Miles grabbed the baton for the final leg, the Lions already had the championship clinched. But Miles wasn't about to leave anything to chance. With an opportunity to win the relay, he was gunning for the finish line as if it were the end zone in a tied football game.
"Someone told me we were down a point, so my heart was racing," he said.
Miles was a late addition to the 4 x 200 team that includes Jave Walker, Tommy Scala and Dimitrius Leonard. The team finished in 1 minute, 27.25 seconds.
The Lions had to add Miles, who missed the league championship because of a college visit, after Dannie Holland tweaked his hamstring.
"Quick switch, quick change and we just ran it," Miles said.
Holland, one of the premier triple jumpers in the state, hurt the hamstring during a practice earlier in the week. Normally one of the team's top sprinters, Holland was scheduled to run the 55-meter dash as well as triple jump and run the anchor of the 4 x 200.
The Lions took a cautious approach with Holland, having him slowly jog out his heat in the 55 at the start of the meet to not risk furthering the injury and to save himself for the triple jump. He couldn't scratch from the 55 without losing out on the other events.
In the triple jump he still came in second by jumping 45 feet, 93âÑ4 inches.
"He built his confidence that he's OK now as opposed to thinking what could be," said Longwood coach Joe Reilly.
While most teams would be hard pressed to make up for one of their top athletes being limited during a championship meet, the Lions simply rallied together.
Even without Holland in the 55, the Lions still took second and third with Scala (6.75) and Miles (6.76).
The Lions' depth in the sprints, as well as in the field events and relays, allowed them to pull away from the competition, of which the closest team was North Babylon with 58 points. Bay Shore finished third with 41.
"Going in, looking at the seeds we felt like we had a good shot," Reilly said. "But then you got to execute. The kids pretty much stepped up pretty well all throughout."
Longwood had two individual champions with Joe Fuller in the 600 and Leonard in the 55-hurdles. Fuller entered the 600 as the favorite with the fastest seed time and he came through, running 1:26.09 to narrowly defeat Cody Amengual of West Babylon (1:26.27) and Angelo DePrimo of Connetquot (1:26.34).
Leonard was seeded second in the hurdles with a time of 8.00. He ran 7.85 in the finals, earning some redemption from last year's county championship when he pulled up lame after the second hurdle during the finals and couldn't complete the race.
He was all smiles this time.
"That was big for us winning the hurdles," Reilly said.
Miles also placed third in the long jump (22-01 3/4). Justin Williams was fifth in the high jump (5-10) and sixth in the triple jump (43-09).
In the shot put Rob Smith threw a personal best 48-071âÑ4 for third place. Teammate Marc Mobley was fifth with a toss of 481âÑ2. Mike Kelly scored a point in the 1,000 by finishing sixth in 2:45.07.
The Lions dominated the relays, winning the 4 x 400 and taking second in the 4 x 800. The 4 x 400 team included Joe Quattrone, Joe Payton, Shane Cruz and Fuller. They ran 3:36.73, taking control after the third leg when North Babylon's runner stumbled to the finish line with a leg injury, opening the door for the Lions. The Bulldogs struggled with their relays. They were one of four teams to be disqualified in the 4 x 200.
"We're a pretty well-rounded team," Reilly said. "We come to the relays and we have all our depth and it shows when you get two firsts and a second."
Longwood had finished second in the county meet three of the past four years.
joew@northshoresun.com
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