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Thomas leads Sheepshead Bay to heck of a day

Thomas leads Sheepshead Bay to heck of a day

John Thomas will certainly be ready for the next snow storm to hit New York City. The Sheepshead Bay junior bet his coach John Pabule that if he won the 300 meter at the 55th Annual Bishop Loughlin Games he’d give him a school sweatshirt in every color.

Thomas fulfilled his end for the bargain by placing first in a personal-best time of 34:19 in his first-ever 300 at the Armory Saturday. Now he just has to wait for his winter wear in orange, dark blue and light blue.

“I’ll wear them to every track meet,” Thomas said.

He was never concerned with the impressive field and the fact that his lane draw had him playing a little bit of catch up on the back straightaway.

“I just thought about me and my race,” he said. “Just about winning the race.”

Teammate Ayo Isijola isn’t quite in track shape yet. The Sheepshead Bay senior is the starting running back for the school’s football team and quite a sprinter as well.

Isijola placed second in the 55 meter dash in a time of 6.57. He was edged out by Middle Country’s Miles Lewis, who won in a time of 6.46. Donald Williams of Midwood was third in 6.60 and Jerremiah Kebena of Cardinal Hayes placed fourth in 6.63.

Isijola helped lead the Sheepshead Bay football team to a 7-2 record and rushed for 1177 yards and nine touchdowns this season.

“It all starts from the start,” Isijola said. “I had to catch him. I caught him a little bit, but it’s the 55. If it was the 100, I would have caught him."

Darryl Bradshaw could also not complete a late comeback in the 55 high hurdles for Sheepshead Bay. Bradshaw said he struggled over the first hurdle. He placed second in the with a time of 7.66.

“I could have ran my race better,” Bradshaw said. “It’s nothing to get discouraged about in the beginning of the season. These meets are important, but I know what I need to work on in practice.”

The thing to improve on for the future is his approach to the first hurdle.

“In the hurdles you try to make it as smooth as possible,” he said. “I planted on (my) left foot and that’s how he got the edge.”

He and Isijola were the first two legs of the winning 4 x 200 relay team with Paul Fyffe and Naquan Alexander, another Sharks football player, in a time of 1:31.52.

The Transit Tech 4 x 800 relay also took first. Anchor leg Elijah Rollock extended the Express’ lead as he took the baton and turned it on around the final turn. He and teammates Fard Rollack, Kameron George and Malik Swkes won in a time of 8:08.27.

“My coach was telling me don’t let the guy come in,” Elijah Rollack said. “I just had to try to keep him off of me.”

Fordham Prep’s Zach Keefer got bottled up when he moved to the inside first on the final lap of the 600. He then broke outside to lane three, which let him to slip past Brandon Burton of Woodside and then held him off and placed second in a time of 1:21.71.

“I felt like they were sitting so long,” Keefer said. “I didn’t know when they were going to go. The minute I went on the outside on the last lap they turned it on.”

Fordham Prep’s Cody Duggan, whose brother Brian set the state record in the event in 2005, has never cleared 13 feet until today. He placed second with a vault of 13-06, but could not clear the 14 feet he needed to keep the competition going. Fordham Prep’s John Horvath was third.

“I know I can do it,” Duggan said. “I guess the last couple of jumps I just wasn’t getting it.”

Farrell’s Alex Orlando placed second in the two miles race in a time of 9:42.33. Iona Prep’s Sean Halpin placed second in the 1000 in 2:31.61.