Reda wins 1,000 meters, Payamps is double winner (600, and 1,600) and is named track MVP as Friars win 10th straight CHSAA league title, according to coach Tim Dearie.

By Jordan Lauterbach Newsday
Photo Credit: George A. Faella

Matt Reda heard the edict loud and clear. Well, as clear as you can when you’re running as fast as you can. Reda, a senior on St. Anthony’s strong distance squad, was midway through the 1,000 meters at the CHSAA league championships when he heard teammate Brendan Dearie bark out the order.

“You take this one.”

Dearie had won the 3,200 in 10 minutes, 3.15 seconds earlier in the meet and wanted to conserve his energy for the 4x800 meter relay later in the afternoon.

And, take it he did. Reda powered through the final 200 meters to win the 1,000 in 2:38.8, barely holding off St. John the Baptist’s Brian Healy, who finished second in 2:39.05 Sunday morning at St. Anthony’s High School.  

“I barely got the inside off [Healy] on the turn and just went for it,” Reda said. “I didn’t know it was going to end up with a sprint finish.”

The move to the inside eliminated Reda’s one concern about the race. He knew that if he could take the inside on the final straight away he would find his way to the winner’s circle.

“I just surged real hard, extended my elbows a little bit, and got it,” Reda said.

Reda was one of a host of St. Anthony’s victories that led them to the team title with 82 points. It was their 10th straight indoor league title, coach Tim Dearie said.

Matthew Payamps won the 600 in 1:22.42, holding off Kellenberg’s Erik Brown on the final lap in one of the best races of the meet. Brown was second in 1:23.51.

“He came to run fast,” Payamps said of Brown. “I just had to stay confident in my training – we’ve been doing strength and speed. Coming around the last turn, I kicked and finished strong. I knew he was going to be right there from the beginning. Keeping that in my mind pushed me to go faster.”

Payamps, who was named track MVP of the meet, also won the 1,600 in 4:37.95. He also joined Robert Doherty, Patrick Finegan and Michael Barbaro-Barnett to win the 4x800 meter relay in 8:30.9.

Payamps’ victories came one day after he ran 4:12.39 in the mile at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston. The Georgetown-bound senior appears primed for a strong final six weeks of the indoor season.

“I’m feeling really good,” he said. “I’m feeling happy with where I’m at, where my teammates are at, and am just excited for the rest of the season.”

In the field, St. John the Baptist’s David Amelemah won the triple jump (45 feet, 3/4 inches) and was named field MVP of the meet.

On the girls side, St. John the Baptist won the team title with 69 points in a meet that came down to the final two relays. Sacred Heart was second with 62 points. It was St. John’s first girls indoor league title in program history, coach David Wood said.

St. John the Baptist’s Kristen Rivenburg won the 55-meter hurdles in 9.58 seconds. The Cougars earned the top four places in the final. Maggie Scott was second in 9.6 seconds, Ann-Isabelle Eustache was third (9.63), and Meredith Haberfield was fourth (9.77).

“I run with them every day, so it made me feel so much better,” Rivenburg said.

Having teammates comfort you is one thing – having them beat you is quite another. Rivenburg made sure she finished strong, no matter how friendly the competition.

“I saw them coming up behind me and I just pushed off a little harder,” Rivenburg said.

St. John the Baptist jumper Zhanna Green won the long jump (16-9.25), triple jump (35-6.75) and was named field MVP of the meet.

Elsewhere on the girls side, Sacred Heart distance standout Maggie Maier won the 3,000 in 10:25.91, the 1,500 in 4:52.20, and was named track MVP of the meet. St. Anthony’s Melissa Cunningham won the 55 dash (7.39), the 300 (41.07), and was on the winning 4x400 meter team (4:12.75).