Saavedra Nearly Catches Chaminade Runner

 junior Thomas Awad turned in the most heart-pounding finish at Saturday’s  Invitational.

The highly regarded miler added the 3,200 meters to his resume, joining a crowded field along the fast Mondo track at St. Anthony’s in South Huntington. Awad, of East Norwich, broke free from the pack midway through the race.

But with 100 meters to go, Sachem East’s Alex Saavedra caught Awad.

“I looked back once or twice, a quick glance,” Awad said. “It seemed like they were far away.”

He never saw Saavedra lurking in his shadow. Luckily Awad still had some energy in reserve.

“He closed hard, but then I was able to sprint him out,” said Awad, who never lost his cool and found the extra gear to kick hard to the finish and win.

Despite the victory, Awad’s time of 9 minutes, 23.73 seconds just missed the automatic state meet qualifying time of 9:20.94. That was the personal goal Awad set. 

Saavedra (9:24.20) finished second.

“I felt like I had something left,” Awad said. “I needed something to bring it out. He did it for me.”

Awad’s thrilling finish was just one of many at one of the biggest track events on Long Island each spring. St. Anthony’s Athletic Director Don Buckley said the meet drew 1,600 athletes from 83 schools. The  with 66 points while Chaminade placed seventh.

Here's a look at how the East girl's did...

This past weekend the Sachem East varsity girls track team competed at the St. Anthony’s Invitational and as a team placed third overall.  St. Anthony’s won the meet with 56 points, Garden City placed second with 52 points, and Sachem East placed third with 50 points. 

Their third place finish was led by very strong performances in the shotput and discuss circles.  In the shotput alone they scored 20 points led by senior veteran Brittany Christiansen who took first place with a throw of 38’10.5”, Brittany Sepe took second place throwing 37’3.5”, and Gabby Trejo threw 35”2.5” and took fifth place.  In the discuss Diamond Jackson had a huge throw of 113’0” for a new school record and got third place overall.

In the hammer throw the previous weekend Christiansen threw 124’0” setting a new school record and achieved the national qualifying standard necessary to attend the New Balance High School Nationals in Greensboro, N.C. this June. 

In the racewalk, Kelly Maranchuk walked a huge personal best of 7:09.89 and finished in third place overall.  This time is currently the second best walked in Suffolk County this season.

Rachel Paul ran the 800-meter dash in a time of 2:15.93 finishing in seond place with a solid performance.

In the 1,500-meter run they did not have any scorers, but there were three big personal records set by Shannon O’Hehir in a time of 5:03.30, Danielle Vazquez in a time of 5:09.18, and Katie Hempfling in a time of 5:11.51.

The 4x100m relay of Ebonie Lewis, Ashley Mercado, Essence Sterling, and Alyssa Genduso set a new school record for the third straight time running it in 50.52 seconds which was good enough for fourth place overall. 

The 4x800m relay of Paul, Kaitlin DiMartino, Melanie Notarstefano, and Laurie Semetsis ran a very solid race in a time of 9:41.52 finishing in third place against a competitive field.

Chris R. Vaccaro contributed to this story.