Borzor Picks Up Speed at New York Relays

By Brian Towey of DyeStat

NEW YORK -- Uniondale NY senior Christopher Borzor, one of the most dynamic sprinters in the greater New York area, was hampered by Friday's cold weather in the 200-meter prelims, running 22.4. In the finals, he came back and showed what he can really do.

Borzor's 21.57 easily won the 200 at the New York Relays at Icahn Stadium. He added a 48.70 second-place finish in the 400, and perhaps most impressively, anchored Uniondale's 4x100 relay to a 42.21 victory over Cardinal Hayes NY (42.83).

"It was cold out for the prelims. I was feeling tight," said Borzor, who plans to run at the University of Cincinnati. "I had to pick it up in the finals."

St. Joseph's Prep PA senior Miles Green capped a stellar weekend (he won the 400 hurdles in 52.81 Friday night) with a 47.41 victory in the 400 meters.

Padua Academy senior Lydia Olivere hit one of the day's outstanding performances when she won the invitational girls mile in 4:49.71, a solo effort. 

"I'm extremely happy with it," said Olivere, who anchored Padua Academy's 20:57.47, second-place 4x1,600 relay. "I did a 1,600 meters last weekend, hitting 73's and 75's. I knew I was close (to a breakthrough)."

Olivere and her Padua teammates will run the 4x800 at Penn Relays, and she'll also be in the invitational 3,000.

Kelsey Chmiel, following a 9:43.52 win in the 3,000 on Friday, anchored Saratoga Springs NY to a 20:52.58 4x1,600 win. The relay, a Saratoga Springs specialty, consisted of senior Carley Vetter, junior Sophie Tesla and senior Samantha Vetter.

"I think we all really like the 4x1,600," Chmiel said. "I think it's a really good race for us."

Sophomore Pedro Bravo anchored Iona Prep NY to an 18:14.58 win in the boys 4x1,600. Iona Prep, with a relay of sophomore Aidan McDermott, senior Tyler Dorsainvil and sophomore Brendon Mulvaney, narrowly held up Goshen NY (18:14.58) for the win.

Benjamin Cardozo senior Paris Peoples was dominant in a 2:10 victory in the 800.

"Me and my coach talked about going out in 60," said Peoples, who was thrilled by the early-season breakthrough. "I ran 1:30-point in the 600 indoors and that gave me a lot of confidence to do this."

Newburgh Free Academy NY, on the strength of sophomore anchor Ryler Gould, won the 4x400 over Elmont, running 3:20.02. Junior Ricardo Singh, senior Davin Slater and senior  Brendon Hanson combined for an impressive performance given the blustery, cool conditions at Icahn Stadium.

Queens High School of Teaching senior Sophia Myers took wins in the heptathlon (4,264 points) and 100 hurdles (14.14).

"I want to run sub-14 in the 100 hurdles and (score) 4,500 points in the heptathlon," said Myers, who is interested in the multi-events for college. "That way I can go to New Balance Nationals."

Cumberland RI senior Chris Choquette, in his first attempt at the event, won the decathlon with 5,309 points. Choquette, who has won two Rhode Island state championships indoors in the 55-meter hurdles, qualified him for NBNO.

"I've done track for four years," said Choquette, who defeated Massapequa NY sophomore  Nickolas Blanco (4,782 points).

"I started as a sprinter, then I did hurdles, then I did jumps. I fool around with the throws in practice and I was good at it."