Shaker senior John Maloy capped off his high school career by winning the 800-meter title at Saturday’s Federation Meet at St. Lawrence University.
Going into the race, Maloy said he was hoping for a personal record and didn’t even consider himself a contender for the state title.
Winning never even crossed my mind, Maloy said. `I wanted to run as fast as I could, but I never imagined that it would be enough to win.`
His time of 1:51.51 was enough to win, and broke the school record that Maloy previously held.
Maloy entered Saturday’s race off a victory in the Division I (large school) final the previous day. Maloy said his time of 1:53.13 wasn’t as fast as what he hoped for, so he came ready to race in the Federation final.
The gun went off prematurely for Saturday’s race, but Maloy said he got off to a great start. When the race started for real, he didn’t duplicate his quick start, but was able to stay with the lead pack.
The first 400 meters was run in 54.9 seconds, so Maloy knew that it was going to be a fast race. Entering the last straightaway, Maloy trailed John Moore of Fonda.
`Going into the race, I thought that Moore was the guy to beat,` Maloy said. `He held the Section II record. I was just trying to stay with him.`
Maloy stayed with Moore until there was 150 meters left in the race. He passed Moore at that point and then held on for the final 100 meters.
Maloy has had a lot of accomplishments as a Blue Bison. However, his latest one is what he calls his `biggest accomplishment.`
Colonie’s Jim Kehrer and Shaker’s Fred Casimo had top-six individual performances at the state meet. Kehrer placed third in the Division I 110-meter high hurdles with a time of 14.64 seconds and finished fifth in the Federation race with a time of 14.62 seconds.
Casimo placed fourth in the Federation long jump with a distance of 21-10.75 inches and finished sixth in the Division I long jump with a leap of 21-8.5.
Colonie’s 400-meter relay set a Section II record in placing second in the Division I race with a time of 42.16 seconds. The team of Cjiantai Williams, Tyler Johnson, Colin Frederickson and Brien Lenge then broke that mark in Saturday’s Federation final with a time of 42.14 seconds.
Colonie’s 1,600 relay team of Frederickson, Kehrer, Lenge and Joe Soblosky placed second in the Division I race with a time of 3:17.43.
On the girls’ side, Loudonville resident Clarie Hardwick finished third in the Division II 1,500 with a time of 4:47.95, and Shaker’s Seri Gordon placed sixth in the Division I 800 with a time of 2:13.63. Colonie’s 1,600 relay was third in Division I and the Federation races.“
