Few athletes have had an experience like Caleb Johnson. The Cornwall sophomore joined the indoor track team to get in shape for lacrosse. He appeared in his first race on Dec. 29 at The Armory in New York City.
Caleb wasn’t alone. He was part of a distance medley relay team for freshmen and sophomores. Running with him were Jack Byrne, Jeremy Small-Hawks and Blaine Doyle.
“They carried me,” the newcomer admitted with a smile. That’s partially true. But Caleb didn’t let them down. He helped the Dragons finish a lap ahead of everyone else, and set a meet record for the frosh/soph event — beating the old mark by six seconds.
In the event, each member of the team runs a different distance. Jack Byrne led off and carried the baton for 1200 meters (six laps around the track). By the time he passed the stick to Caleb, the Dragons had a 50-yard lead. They were still out in front after Caleb ran a quarter of a mile in less than a minute.
At this point, Jeremy Small-Hawks (2:09 for 800 meters) and Blaine Doyle (4:37 for 1600 meters) ran away from the rest of the field. When Doyle crossed the finish line, the clock read 11:10.67. The Dragon foursome had clipped six seconds off the record for the Marine Corps Holiday Classic, a huge meet that’s been around since the turn of the century. What a way for Johnson to begin his indoor track career!
Cornwall’s best individual event was the girls weight throw, where Jillian Dorego was third (39-3.25) and Tamera Dorcinville fourth (37-8.5) in a field of 36. The teammates have been close to one another all season, always finishing one notch apart in the final standings.
Other highlights included the varsity girls (Sydney Decker, Gabby Fanning, Abby Munterich and Hannah Mellino) placing fourth in the distance medley relay, and the frosh/soph girls (Molly Cameron, Ashley Hickman, Sophia Perez and Meredith Hickman) taking third in the same event.
