| interview
by Matt Soja for Dyestat.com
Boys DMR This race was supposed to be a scorcher, with the three
fastest relays in the nation this season (Colts Neck, North Rockland, and
CBA) entered, and it did not disappoint. From the very beginning it was a
New Jersey-dominated affair with Cranford's Kevin Brown taking the early
lead (2:02 first 800m) and handing the stick off in the lead after 3:07.8,
closely followed by Colts Neck (Zack Tedoff 3:08.9) and a little further
behind by CBA's Chris Horel (3:11.1). The other two Jersey teams closed
the gap on Cranford to one second after the 400m leg, and the real
three-way battle began on the third leg. Colts Neck's Ryan Jagielski and
CBA's Pete Glackin took over the lead and pulled away from Cranford's Nate
Thompson. Both leaders split around 1:55 flat and handed off the baton
almost simultaneously when the clock showed 5:56.0. Given that Colts
Neck's anchor, the supersoph Craig Forys split a 4:13 on the DMR anchor on
the same track at Easterns just last week, it looked like the New Jersey
state record of 10:12.1 would be shattered. Alas, the anchor leg turned
into a tactical affair between Forys and the CBA anchor Greg Leach. Forys
moved into the lead halfway through the anchor leg but did not push the
pace until the last 400m, which he ran under 59 seconds, easily outkicking
Leach. Colts Neck won the race in 10:16.42, more than a second slower than
their Easterns victory. Unofficial splits: Tedoff 3:08.9, Clark 51.2,
Jagielski 1:55.9, Forys 4:20.4 CBA held on to silver in 10:17.99, also
slower than at Easterns. Unofficial splits: Horel 3:11.1, Leniart 50.0,
Glackin 1:54.8, Leach 4:22.0 Shenendehowa NY broke up the Jersey sweep,
sneaking into third in 10:24.18 thanks to Dan MacManamon's 4:17 anchor
leg. Cranford was fourth in 10:24.47. Unofficial splits: Brown 3:07.8,
McMahon 52.3, Thompson 1:57.8, McKinney 4:25.2 Asked whether he was
disappointed about running slower than last week, Forys replied: "no,
not at all. We were running only to win today. I was confident I could
outkick Leach, so I did not push the pace but saved energy for the last
400 instead. We would like to run around 10:03 outdoors, hopefully at
Penn." Colts Neck is also running a 4 x 800 on Sunday. CBA's Greg
Leach was disappointed in finishing second because, as he said,
"winning the title was our goal today. We went out too slow on the
anchor leg, and it just unfolded that way. Forys simply had more left than
me at the end." CBA planned on running a 4x1 mile relay on Saturday
but will not be able to because of SATs. They will instead run that relay
at Nike Outdoor championships in June while their main focus at next
month's Penn Relays will be avenging this loss by winning the DMR,
according to Leach. |
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