Millrose Games: World records fall; Newburgh relay wins gold, Nanuet thrower wins silver
NEW YORK — When David Pinnock took his first stride in the suburban boys 4x400-meter relay at the 116th annual Millrose Games Sunday, his Newburgh Free Academy squad stood first in New York in the event this season among high school squads and eighth in the nation.
When teammate Brady Danyluk hit the finish line after middle legs by Anthony Barrett and Anthony Burnett, the team bolted to fourth in the nation.
In a historic meet that each year features some of the top Olympians and pros in various track and field disciplines, records often fall.
Included Sunday was the women’s 60-meter indoor world record and the men’s two-mile indoor world mark.
By .01 of a second the Bahama’s Devynne Charlton set the new world record, crossing the finish line at The Armory in 7.67 seconds.
And in the men’s two-mile, Great Britain’s Josh Kerr stayed on American Grant Fisher’s shoulder for multiple laps until passing him with less than a lap to go.
Kerr’s world-record finishing time was 8:00.67, smashing the previous record of 8:03.4.
Fisher’s 8:03.62 broke the U.S. record.
And while not a world record, American Elle St. Pierre's 4:16.41 in the women's Wannamaker mile broke the national indoor women's mile mark.
The Newburgh four knew they weren’t going to garner 1/100th headlines of those elite athletes, but it was gold and not headlines they were seeking.
And it was gold they got.
Newburgh, which entered the meet with a season-best time of 3:20.95, ran 3:18.68 for the win.
Winslow Township, New Jersey was second (3:20.43) and West Orange, NJ (3:23.2) was third.
Suffern (Anthony Couch, Mason Garagliano, Uriah Dieujuste, Michael Cromwell) clocked a season-best 3:24.31 for fourth and New Rochelle (Ryan Temistokle, Manasi Simpkins, Isaac Evans, Obinna Njoku) crossed in 3:28.46 for fifth.
While some athletes seemed overwhelmed to be competing at Millrose, Newburgh was out to prove something and any nerves were apparently left at the door.
“Last year, we took second place. We knew we’d come back and perform better,” said Barrett, one of three seniors on the relay.
“As a team, we came together. We put together a mantra,” Pinnock said.
“We all train together. We push each other,” Danyluk, a junior, explained of his team’s success.
The four made it clear they’re not satisfied, noting they plan to further whittle their time at the state championships and Nike Indoor Nationals.
Nanuet’s Vizcarrondo and Warwick’s Beattie win silver
The high school throwers competed Friday when the crowd was significantly lighter.
But Nanuet junior Gabriella Vizcarrondo clearly didn’t mind.
With a throw of 51-3.5, little more than five inches off her personal best, Vizcarrondo took silver in a 12-athlete field.
The winner was Rhode Island's Adelaide Caron, who edged Vizcarrondo, the current New York state high school girls leader, on her final throw of 51-8.25.
“Coming into it, I was really excited to throw. But there was a lot of competition and it was nerve-racking before every throw. Still, I had a good time,” Vizcarrondo said, adding being in such a big-meet environment should help her at nationals.
She noted she may opt to compete at both Nike Indoor Nationals at The Armory and at New Balance Indoor Nationals outside Boston, since the meets are a couple of days apart.
Vizcarrondo was on hand Saturday to watch the rest of the competition, which included a showdown in the men's pole vault, where 2020 Olympic silver medalist Chris Nilsen cleared 19-1 to edge fellow American KC Lightfoot, who cleared the same height but had a miss before doing so.
On the high school side, events included the girls pole vault, where three athletes from Section 9 competed with one exiting with a personal-best mark.
Warwick High’s Lily Beattie, who’ll pole vault next year for Division 1 Ol’ Miss, cleared a personal-best 13-5.25 on her first attempt at that height in capturing silver.
Pennsylvania’s Veronica Vacca, at 14-1.25, not only won but set an Armory girls high school facility record.
Middletown’s Ava Allen cleared 13-1.5 on her last attempt at that height and finished fourth.
And another Section 9 athlete, Pine Bush’s Ella Galloway, took fifth at 12-7.5.
“I’m very satisfied,” said Beattie, whose personal best entering the meet was 13-2.
Rather than concentrate on getting over 13-5.25, she ignored that number and, in fact, didn’t ask what the height was before clearing it.
“I didn’t know what the bar was at. I just went for it,” Beattie said.
Now, she’s hoping to break the Warwick school girls record of 13-6.25, as well as do well at the state championships and nationals.
St. Thomas Aquinas’s Durcan, a Pearl River grad, wins bronze
Maybe it’s a lack of societal patience — the bored-easily factor.
But racewalking, although an Olympic sport, not only doesn’t draw the attention of other track and field events but isn’t even an NCAA event.
So, athletes who are serious about it are forced to find a way to compete outside typical college meets and, in New York, high school spring meets, since it’s only officially a winter sport and, at that, limited to girls.
But former Pearl River standout Ciara Durcan, a member of the St. Thomas Aquinas women’s track team, who was second at the 2020 state indoor high school championships in the 1,500-meter racewalk, has continued to find ways to compete.
Durcan, who runs the 800, mile, 4x400 relay and distance medley relay for Aquinas, gets in some racewalk training to keep her form, since breaks in form can easily result in disqualification.
While perhaps not an ideal way to train, it’s clearly working for the junior.
Sunday she clocked 7:10.88 in the mile racewalk, good for third behind two Long Island racewalkers, Angelina Colon (7:04.1) and Ruby Ray (7:05.63), in a seven-athlete field.
Although a few seconds off her personal-best time, Durcan said she was “pretty happy” and she had reason to be. She finished in 7:12.81 last year in placing sixth at the Millrose Games.
While she loves the walk, she prefers relays due to their team component.
But she’s already envisioning pursuing the racewalk for years to come.
“I’d definitely like to continue after college. My focus is on the team now and then it will be on longer-distance (racewalking),” Durcan said.
Other throwing medals and results
New Paltz's Aidan Ifkovits won the boys weight throw on Friday at 70-1.5.
Greeley's Daniel Ye (59-0) was 11th.
In men's throwing, Binghamton University's Brian Luciano, a former state medalist in the weight for Somers High, won bronze at 65-9.25. That was Luciano's second best collegiate throw.
Manhattan College's RJ Decker, a Minisink Valley High grad, threw 59-1.25 for seventh.
Former Tappan Zee thrower Achilles Mouzakis, now throwing for Leigh University, was 10th at 50-11.25.
Manhattan College's Alex Kristeller won the event at 70-1.
North Rockland High grad Alex Caraher, who now throws for Manhattan College, was ninth in the women's weight throw with a toss of 52-6.
Adelphi's Alex Kristeller won with a 70-1 throw.
More local finishers
Despite finishing sixth in the boys 600, Stepinac’s Penn-bound David Davitt lowered his New York No. 1 time of 1:21.34 to 1:19.98.
Maryland’s Quincy Wilson won the event in a meet- and facility-record 1:17.36.
Fordham University (former Briarcliff High athlete Kevin Callaghan, Dakota Strain, Sam Freeman and Matthew Nurse) ran 3:19.71 for silver in the men’s collegiate 4x400 relay.
Manhattan College (Harrison Alonzo, Washingtonville High graduate Jaiden Bradshaw, Jay Glenn and Suffern High grad Travis Delaney) ran 3:23.72 for fourth in the six-team field.
While finishing well behind the winner, Delaware’s Padua Academy, which, at 8:49.86, set both a meet and Armory facility record in the girls high school 4x800 relay, both Tappan Zee and Scarsdale ran their season-best times at the distance.
Tappan Zee’s Sofia Fenton, Cassidy Donovan, Mia Dellolio and Bridget Dunn clocked a collective 9:21.72 for sixth place in the nine-team field.
Scarsdale’s Eva Gibney, Shannon Kelly, Zoe Dichter and Leia Patel ran 9:25.46 for seventh.
TZ coach Annemarie Carella noted her group broke its own school record.
“They continue to surprise me all the time. They push each other,” she said of her team, which is currently fourth in the state. “This was definitely good competition for them. When they’re pushed, they can do anything.”
Nyack (Jayda Johnson, Taitu Forrest, Hailie Vasquez and Junibel Fernandez) also ran their season-best time in the girls suburban 4x400 relay.
The four, who’d previously run 4:06.02, finished in 4:04.86 for fourth in a five-team race won by Winslow Township, New Jersey in 3:49.5.
Scarsdale (Maria Roberts, Ariella Sobel, Alice Nicassio and Morgan Greco) finished fifth in 4:13.08.
Jaylin Santiago, a Fordham Prep senior from Mount Vernon, clocked 34.34 for seventh place in the two-heat, 10-runner boys 300.
Santiago, who has the top high school time in New York this season at 34.41, had to run from the inside lane, a disadvantage.
“It was a bad lane, so I’ll take it,” the D-I University of Houston-bound senior said.
Millrose Trials: Nanuet's Vizcarrondo 1st in weight, Tappan Zee relay runs to U.S. No. 1
His goals for the rest of the season are to win the state Federation (all schools — public and private) championship and become an all-American at nationals.
The win went to Florida’s Caine Stanley, who blazed in 32.85 for a meet and facility record. His time is currently No. 1 in the country among high school boys this season.
Somers junior Haylie Donovan placed 11th in the 14-runner girls 300. Maryland’s Sydney Sutton (37.51) took the win.
St. Anthony’s won the boys Catholic High School Athletic Association 4x800 in a New York season-leading 7:56.11.
Fordham Prep (Gabriel Kramer-Griffith of New Rochelle, Paxton Reyes of Bronxville, David Rosado of the Bronx and John Canale of Yonkers) ran 8:07.67 for fourth out of eight teams.
Iona Prep (Peter Winter, Quin O'Grady, Michael Rynne and Tommy Flynn) finished in a season-best 8:09.14 for fifth.
Nancy Haggerty covers cross-country, track & field, field hockey, skiing, ice hockey, basketball, girls lacrosse and other sporting events for The Journal News/lohud. Follow her on Twitter at @HaggertyNancy.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Millrose Games: World marks fall; Newburgh relay wins, Nanuet thrower 2nd
