Claibornes Go 1-2 In Fast 800 Meters at St. Anthony's

By Brian Towey of DyeStat

SOUTH HUNTINGTON, N.Y. -- Northport NY's Elijah Claiborne had a surprise Saturday for his coach, Jason Strom, at the St. Anthony's Invitational. Peeling off his sweatsuit, the senior wore a jersey with the black and gold colors of St. Anthony's, one of Northport's rivals.

"I'm going to buy one of these," Claiborne said.

"No, you're not!" Strom responded.

Twins Elijah and Isaiah Claiborne are pranksters off the track. On the track, they're full of surprises, too.

The brothers charged to a 1:51.62 and 1:52.24 1-2 finish in the boys 800 meters, turning back an outstanding field that included St. Anthony's junior Matthew Payamps (third, 1:52.51).

After Payamps had seized control of the race with a 55-second opening 400 by Northport's Eric Stehlik, who served as the rabbit, the Penn State-bound brothers stormed back in the final 150 meters.

"I thought the race might be faster," Isaiah Claiborne said after his win. "I wanted to run 1:50."

Claiborne's 1:51.62 ranks No. 5 in the country. It also broke Mikey Brannigan's 1:51.7 meet record.

Mount Sinai NY earned a pair of wins in the girls distance races. Freshman Kaitlyn Chandrika won the 2,000-meter steeplechase in US#3 6:48.12, with sophomore teammate Sarah Connelly, in a duel with Sacred Heart Academy's Maggie Maier, winning the 3,000 meters, 9:55.00 to 10:00.54.

Following the dominance of former All-America teammate Michael Grabowski in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (Grabowski is now a freshman at the University of Arizona), Smithtown West junior Nick DeFelice won the event in a US#1 9:30.48, winning by 150 meters on a cool night.

"(Having Grabowski as a teammate) definitely helped me because freshman and sophomore year, I looked up to him," DeFelice said. "Now it motivates me to be better than he was."

Walt Whitman NY senior Aiden Smyth won an exciting 1,600 meters in 4:14.59, as eight runners dipped under 4:20. Following a 2:07 opening 800 meters, Smyth held off Shelter Island sophomore Kal Lewis (4:15.41) and Ward Melville senior Eric Zulkofske (4:16.24) for the win.

"I'm hoping to qualify for the national championship race in the mile," the Stony Brook-bound Smyth said.

Shoreham-Wading River senior Katherine Lee, after missing last weekend's Penn Relays 3,000 meters due to an illness, topped Sacred Heart Academy's Ellen Byrnes in an exciting 800-meter finish.

Following a 65-second opening 400 by Valley Stream South junior DeAnna Martin, Lee seized control of the race down the backstretch. But Byrnes, a top 600-meter runner indoors, never lost contact, pulling alongside Lee on the final straightaway.

Byrnes, on the outside, appeared to have the edge as the two approached the finish line, but Lee, diving for the line, took the win in a 2:12.04. Byrnes clocked 2:12.09.

Babylon senior Vladislav Cullinane won the boys high jump at 6-8.

Massapequa senior Kevin Cetin won the boys discus with a PR toss of 169-0.

St. Anthony's senior Mason Gatewood, following his team's 9:59.87 second-place finish in the distance medley relay at the Penn Relays, easily won the 3,200 in 9:20.92.

Gatewood, who can run anything from the 800 meters to the 2-mile, recently decided to attend the University of Pennsylvania.

"Both of my parents are in academia," said Gatewood, whose mother, Christine M. Riordan, Ph.D., is the president of Adelphi University in Garden City, New York.

"They both started out as professors. Me and my sister, we've always been very attuned to the academic side of things.

"When I took the official visit to Penn, I knew it was the place I wanted to be. I loved the atmosphere and I really like the coach."