Cities Story
by A Friend of the Prep
February, 2009

 

The story goes that St. Valentine was buried many years ago north of Rome on February 14th.  The story of this Valentines Day in 2009 was whether the number one indoor track team in all of New York state could bury the very difficult competition afforded by the best league in the state – the CHSAA.  As the sun shone brightly on the towers of the George Washington Bridge just a few blocks away, this is how the story of the 2009 CHSAA Intersectional indoor track championships unfolded.

 

Barely more than twenty-four hours before the meet began, the favored Fordham Prep team lost its top pole vaulter, John Horvath, to a serious elbow injury.  The points needed to beat the top contender, Monsignor Farrell, would have to come from other sources.  But first, the Prep had to face more adversity.  After Chaminade won the first final of the day, the 3200, and added a fifth place finish to take the early lead, Fordham sent out its strong 4x4 relay team for the trials.  They finished first, easily qualifying for the final.  Then an official suddenly reversed his decision and disqualified both Cardinal Hayes and Fordham after the race was over for allegedly throwing the baton.  Video’s proved otherwise in the case of Fordham, but nonetheless an appeal was overturned and the Prep would not be allowed to partake in the final some six hours later.

 

It wouldn’t take long for the defending champs change the direction of the meet.  Senior Mike Jennings posted an excellent 2:31 time for the 1000, bringing home 3rd place.  The amazing Jourdan White won his 5th “Cities” title taking first in the High Jump.  Despite an ailing hamstring he then took 4th in the Long Jump and teammate Andrew Hemmings captured 2nd place with a leap of 21’2”.  The twelve points from the two jumps moved the Prep into first place past Chaminade.  But it was still early.

 

The team scores after four events:  Fordham Prep 15, Chaminade 12, St. Anthony 9, Bishop Ford 6, Iona Prep 6.

 

It doesn’t happen very often, but sometimes truly defining moments occur in sports events.  Events that are never forgotten.  At 12:45pm, magic occurred in the Armory.  The 600 featured some of the best runners in NY.  James Farley, the top Farrell runner, was the defending champ.  Sean Atkinson of Nazareth had the best time going in.  Zach Keefer was having a great season for Fordham Prep.  Nick Italiano of St. Joseph by the Sea and Carlos Petrovich of Fordham Prep were strong contenders.  After the early jostling for position, Zach took over third position behind Farley and Atkinson.  Petro was back in fifth.  Atkinson assumed the lead over Farley.  With barely more than a hundred meters to go Keefer blew by Farley and Petro began his move up to fourth.  The Prep was counting on points from these two and things looked good.  A second and a fourth for the Prep would bring home a solid 6 points.  In the final straightaway the six points seemed certain.  With Keefer tucked in behind Atkinson and maybe only 20-30 meters to go, an amazing thing happened.  Zach suddenly moved outside.  Could he make this close?  The Fordham Prep crowd, already on their feet, let out a roar as Zach unbelievably moved to the outside, and edged past Atkinson for the victory.  There was euphoria in the stands.  The hammer had been dropped.  The momentum was completely changed.  There would be no stopping the Prep now. A historic time of 1:20:90 said to all – “This meet is ours”. It was a new school record.  Zach was literally bear hugged by reporter Chris Hunt into the press room to discuss the stunning come from behind victory. Petro turned in an excellent 1:23:78 effort for 4th place as an amazing 5 finishers beat the state qualifying time in the race.  Defining moment indeed.

 

At 1:20pm the athletes’ paused for the National Anthem.  It happened to allow the pole vaulters a few minutes to catch their breath.  Remember that the Prep had lost their top vaulter.  But here was John Horvath, out of the emergency room, cast on his arm, exhorting his teammates to produce their best.  Numerous vaulters had already cleared 12 feet, including 5 from the Prep.  Andrew Petrovich and Berent Kowarick soared over the 12 foot mark.  Tom Ferguson went over 12’6” tying for 5th.  Keegan Talty was over 13 ft., good for 4th place and Andrew Carr vaulted 13’6” for second place.  An amazing 10 Prep pole vaulters went over 10 feet.  Coach Carney’s group more than picked up the slack, producing a solid 6 points for the team.  The clock showed 1:45pm, and the direction of the meet had turned completely toward a certain school from the Bronx. The scores below sent the message loudly and clearly to all.  Fordham Prep was well on its way.

 

After 7 events, the team scoring showed as follows: the Prep 29, Chaminade 12, Monsignor Farrell 9, St. Anthony’s 9, Iona Prep 8.  The hurdlers were up next.

 

After the trials, 4 of the 12 semi-finalists in the 55 high hurdles were from Fordham.  Ed Allison, Bruce Grant and Wayne Seaton then qualified for the 6 man final to be held later in the afternoon.  Impressive indeed, and points the Prep was counting on.

 

The steamroller was at full speed.  Andrew Hemmings leaped to a Cities championship with a 44’8” effort in the Triple Jump.  Coupled with his 2nd in the Long Jump, he would be named Field events MVP of the meet!

 

At 2:50pm, they announced the winner of the Novice mile.  It’s none other than James Gallo, who turns in a near meet record of 4:45. At 2:51pm, there is James Gallo down near the shotputters end of the Armory, exhorting teammates running in one of the later heats.  Speaking of the shot-putters, two Prep sophomores, Mike Seminario with a top put of 48’9”and Joe Paulus with a 45’7” took 4th and 5th , making the Prep’s lead insurmountable.  At 2:55pm there was the unusual site of not just throwers coach Kevin Phipps, but Matt Febles, Paul Collins and George Febles - 4 coaches- watching the completion of the shot put competition.  Yes, it was becoming a day to remember.

 

The Armory seemed to grow quiet around 3pm.  Maybe it was because so many big races and relays lay ahead, or maybe the dominating performance by the Prep had people shaking their heads and running for cover. The novice 4x2 relay added yet another first place. The Prep was doing so well, and the announcers were so used to calling out Fordham Prep all day, that when the girls team results were updated, they announced that Fordham Prep with 24 points was in second place behind the leader, St. John the Baptist! 

 

At 3:45pm there was George Febles Sr. at the concession stand, putting mustard on a hot dog, needing something to “tide him over” until the hurdles finals, only 20 minutes away.  On cue, his charges crushed the very talented field with Wayne Seaton’s 7.60 and Bruce Grant’s 7.66 both beating the all time meet record.  Their 1-2 finish added 10 points to the total.  Ed Allison broke 8 seconds with a 7.96 clocking.

 

After 9 events they announced 41 points for Fordham Prep, Holy Trinity 17, Chaminade 15, St Anthony 12, Iona Prep 12, and Monsignor Farrell 9.  The Prep total wasn’t exactly correct but then again the Prep was scoring so fast it was difficult for them to count accurately.  But it was close enough.  People got the message.

 

There was one big event remaining for Fordham Prep.  Two weeks beforehand, the Prep had won yet another Millrose crown in Madison Square Garden with a thrilling performance by their stellar 4x8 relay.  Chaminade and Farrell were back to challenge.  But the team of Harley Griffiths, Carlos Petrovich, Mike Jennings and anchor Zach Keefer produced a 7:56 finish, and another “Cities” championship.  The pummeling was complete.

 

The final totals showed Fordham Prep with a resounding victory, totaling 54 points.  Chaminade was 2nd with 24.  St John the Baptist and Holy Trinity tied for 3rd with 20 each and Monsignor Farrell was 5th with 16 points.  It was the 2nd straight Indoor championship and 4th in the 82 year history of the event for the Prep.  More amazing, it is the 8th track (indoor and outdoor) championship in this decade.  And that has taken place in the toughest league in the country.  Coach George Febles and his staff have done a marvelous job.  The hard work put in by the team has been rewarded.  History has again been made.  The opportunities to succeed are far and few between.  The Prep did not let this opportunity pass by.

 

After the team filed downstairs behind the track for the celebratory pictures, they filed out into the February night with smiles a mile wide.  There was Jourdan White clinging to the massive championship trophy on the front steps of the Armory as the clock struck 6pm.  As the buses pulled away with the remainder of the team, a few more Rams congregated near the 168th street corner in front of the Armory.  As cars drove by, there was the Novice 1600 champion holding court, talking no doubt about the great victory on Valentine’s Day for a certain school from the Bronx.