Medgar Evers’ Kadecia Baird won the 100, 200 and 400 meters Sunday at Ichan Stadium. (Joseph Staszewski)
Everything is going just right for Robert Rhodes.
The Boys & Girls senior executed his race plan to perfection to hold off Columbus star Strymar Livingston and win the 800 meters at the PSAL track & field outdoor city championship on Randall’s Island in a time of 1:51.67. Livingston was second in 1:55.85. Rhodes, one of the country’s top middle distance runners, also recently committed to the University of Connecticut next fall, picking UConn over Tennessee, Texas A&M and LSU.
“The coach was very convincing,” Rhodes said of Huskies head coach Greg Roy. “He has a lot of good athletes there and based on his history of creating athletes I think me and him could do very well in the next four years.”
He visited the Big East school prior to the Penn Relays and fell in love with it. Rhodes, who helped Boys & Girls win its first PSAL indoor title since 1998, liked UConn’s closeness to home. He is the anchor leg to the Kangaroos 4 x 800 and 4 x 400 relay team, which has been one of the top squads in the country this season.
“Everything about it is perfect for me,” he said of Connecticut.
While it took some time for him to make his college choice, Rhodes immediately took control of the 800, bursting out of the blocks at the gun and leading from start to finish. Livingston, who won the 400 prior, said he was extremely sore, but never really challenged Rhodes.
He beat the Mississippi State-bound Livingston in similar fashion during the indoor championships in the 1000. Rhodes was also a member of the winning 4 x 800 and 4 x 400 relays, taking the lead around the final turn of the latter to secure the victory. They won in times of 8:04.26 and 3:16.86, respectively.
“Right before the race [coach Will Thomas] said run by race, don’t worry about where he is,” Rhodes said of Livingston. “That’s exactly what I did.”
Medgar Evers’ Baird complete sprint triple: The real thing is always harder than what you think. Cougars coach Shaun Dietz approached star Kadecia Baird with the idea of running the 100, 200 and 400 at the city championship meet. The junior was willing to take the challenge and felt pretty confident after preparing for it at practice against the school’s boys runners.
“I was hoping that it might be easy, but it was hard,” Baird said. “I was running it like a six [hundred], but it came out to be an eight.”
That didn’t stop her from excelling. Baird won all three events and earned track MVP honors. She was victorious in the 100, 200 and 400 with times of 11.83, 23.95 and 55.63 respectively. Baird was hoping to PR in the 100 and tried to muster up a big performance in the 200, but tired at the end.
“I came out and won everything and I’m happy,” Baird said. “[Dietz] is happy too.”
Tight Livingston can’t take two: Strymar Livingston said he could barely do butt kicks. Still, he was able to muster a push around the final turn to move from third to first in the 800 and grab a winning time of 47.90. He said he is extremely sore since an intense practice Tuesday that was just drill-based – including frog jumps over hurdles – leaving him barely able to walk down the steps at home after.
“I just fixed it up before I came on the track,” Livingston said. “I felt good, but my legs are still tight.”
Forest Hills’ Yanez picked up big win: Felipe Yanez had all but given up on running for Forest Hills, upset over not being placed in more premier races. After two months away from the team, the Rangers coaches convinced him of his importance. He showed the promise beating Stuyvesant’s Konrad Surkant, Sheepshead Bay’s Mitchell Kuhn and Jefferson’s Sidgie Greene to win the 1600 in a time of 4:25.32
“The freshmen and sophomores needed someone to look up to,” Yanez said.
Surkont rallied on the final lap of the 3200 to past Kuhn down the final straight away. He was aided by the slow pace, but hopes to run faster next weekend at states.
“I value my kick and it worked out,” Surkont said. “It worked out.”