Baldwin shares conference title

After landing in a deadlock with Port Washington for the Conference 2 boys’ track and field title, Baldwin had some heartbreaking runner-up finishes at the Nassau Class A championships on Feb. 2 at St. Anthony’s High School.

“They had to go to the video replay twice and both times the results didn’t go our way,” Bruins coach Rich Carroll said. “It took about five minutes to determine who won, but it felt longer.”

Baldwin had to settle for second place in the 4x200 relay, with the foursome of Ralph Cordeau, Dion Spradley, John Welsh and Chris Nunez-Saunders finishing less than a tenth-of-a-second behind Uniondale with a time of 1 minute, 33.23 seconds. The Knights were clocked in 1:33.14.

“We were running neck and neck most of the way,” Carroll said. “Chris had some ground to make up during the final leg, and I honestly thought he nipped the Uniondale kid right at the finish line.

“It was a tough defeat, but we couldn’t ask for much more after three of our four kids ran the 300 earlier,” he added. “All of them ran about a 23-second heat and their transition with the stick was seamless.”

Cordeau, Spradley, Welsh and Nunez-Saunders formed the conference-winning 4x200 three weeks earlier at St. Anthony’s with a time of 1:36.61. Seniors Cordeau, Spradley and Welsh also teamed with sophomore Tyreice MacArthur to form the winning 4x400 relay in Conference 2 with a time of 3:48.47. That group edged Calhoun by four tenths of a second.

“I’m looking for the 4x2 to qualify for the state meet,” Carroll said. “It’s probably going to come down to us, Uniondale and Hempstead.”

Nunez-Saunders, a junior, is expected to be in the mix to qualify for the state meet in the long jump. He captured the conference title in the event, as well as winning the 300 meter dash, and placed fourth in the county after tweaking a hamstring. “Chris kicked into another gear last spring and just missed going upstate,” Carroll explained. “He reached the state standard in the opening meet this season and can reach over 21 [feet].”

The other photo finish at the county championships that didn’t go to the Bruins, who placed sixth out of 23 schools, came in the 1600m where junior Will Salmon was nipped by Port Washington’s Andrew Adelhardt, 4:30.00 to 4:30.65. “They were together the whole stretch run,” Carroll said. “Will ran great. It couldn’t have been any closer.” Salmon finished fifth in the conference in the 1600m, but placed second in the 600 two spots ahead of junior teammate Justin Hamilton.

Baldwin pulled off a rare trifecta in the conference meet with the top three finishers in the 300. Nunez-Saunders (38.18 seconds) was followed by Cordeau and Welsh. The Bruins were second (Spradley) and fourth (junior T’Khi Woodsmith) in the 55 dash, second in the 55 meter hurdles (sophomore Russell Johnson), and fifth in the high jump (sophomore Benjamin Ross.) In the county meet, Ross picked up third with a leap of 5-feet, 8-inches.