You can not make this up. During a lifetime of watching or participating in sports events, you can usually count on one hand how many times the wildest dreams of a team come true. Saturday, February 13th was one of those times. This is “The Story” of the 2010 CHSAA Intersectional Indoor track & field championships.

The day dawned with the sun peeking through a winter white sky. Three days prior more than a foot of snow blanketed the New York City area. Parking would be hard to come by at the site of the meet – the 168^th street Armory in upper Manhattan. After last years crushing victory at this championship, almost every point Fordham Prep scored had been lost to graduation. Before a surprising victory at the NY Sectional meet, the Prep was not even thought of as a contender for the title. The strongest teams came from Long Island, led by the strong favorite, Sts. Anthony’s, a team which had just been ranked #2 among all high schools in the state. Chaminade and St. John the Baptist were the other favorites, though they’d require great performances to beat Sts. Anthony’s. Fordham Prep headed the rest along with Sts. Joseph by the Sea, while Iona Prep, Archbishop Molloy and Xavier figured to score a significant amount of points.

During the week, and for that matter, throughout the season, the Prep coaches plotted their strategy for “Cities”, as this meet is called, and hoped for the best. At 9:10am, head coach George Febles, adorned in his blue blazer, presided over his troops as the second call went out over the speakers for the Alumni 4x200 relay. One half hour later the 4x200 trials were underway, with the top six finishers qualifying for the meet’s final race, some eight hours later. Fordham Prep would finish 7^th out of over 30 teams entered with a time of 1:35:20– just missing the final. But when the results were announced some twenty minutes later, Bishop Ford had been disqualified after running a 1:34:33. The Prep had made the final as the last team in. It was a seemingly minor occurrence which would play a major role as the events of the day unfolded.

Ninety minutes into the meet, the first points were scored. A somewhat disappointing third place finish in the 3200 meters by St. Anthony’s, coupled with Chaminade taking first, second and fourth sent the message that maybe this meet was not a lock after all. James Gallo had the best finish for Fordham with a fine 9:53 clocking. Then, Dan Zaccariello of St. Joe’s took the 1000 meter final, and Chaminade added three points for third.

At 11:05am the high jump saw a great competition come to a close. It was between the Prep and St. John the Baptist as Trevon Tann took second place leaping 6’0” and barely missed at 6’2”. But the St. John jumper eventually pulled it out on his last attempt and then went on to jump 6’4”. Next, SJB added three points in the Long Jump.

Passing by the Fordham section at 11:21am coach Febles was writing stickers for the afternoon competitors. Numerous 55 meter trials were going on and then something unusual and unplanned occurred. At 12:25, just before senior Bruce Grant was about to run in the 55 meter semi-final, coach George Febles Sr. appeared at the section of the stands directly across from the inner track finish line. A couple of minutes later, coach Matt Febles appeared. A minute later coach Daryn Johnson showed up. You guessed it, coach George Febles followed. Five people there at the finish line. All by different routes. And no one from any other team was there. Do you think this was an important heat? Bruce Grant was key if Fordham had a chance to move up among the leaders. Of course Bruce won the heat and moved on to the finals. I guess you can say great minds think alike.

Next, St. Anthony’s got on the board, winning the 600 meter run. Doug O’Connell was 7^th running 1:25.

There are 15 events at the “Cities”. Five events, a full 1/3 of the championship, were now complete. Here were the scores: Chaminade 15, St. John the Baptist 12 ½, St. Anthony 9, St. Joe’s 8, Archbishop Molloy and Xavier 6. The Prep was well back, tied for 7^th with 4 points.

Now it was time for the Prep to assert itself. And they did so in a big way.

The pole vault competition was winding down at twenty past one. The great Prep tradition of coming through was again satisfied as Tom Ferguson took second, and Tom McShane placed 5^th for a big 5 point total.

Bruce Grant was again the focus as the 55 meter final held center stage. At 1:25pm Mr. Grant won a thriller with an excellent 6:56 time.

After seven events, the scores: Chaminade 18, Fordham Prep 15, St. John Baptist 12 ½, and St. Anthony 11. The big four had emerged.

After coach Febles was among the honorees on the track during the mid-day opening, those who knew – and there were few - moved way down the track behind the screen to watch an event which would turn the complete direction of the championships toward the defending champions from the Bronx. The shot put flights were going on. Thunder was about to roll through the CHSAA.

Not even in the final flight, Sal Annunziata overcame his season’s injury and had the best throw in the second to last flight. Then Joe Paulus uncorked a put of 50’9” to take the lead. Teammate Mike Seminario was right behind in second place. Sal’s put passed everyone else in the final flight and he entered the final in third place. No one could pass the top three in the final. The Prep had an unbelievable 1-2-3 finish and thirteen points added to their total. It was only 2:35pm however, with a long way to go.

St. Anthony added a third place and St. John the Baptist grabbed second in the triple jump to St. Francis Prep and each kept in the race.

After 9 events, the scores: Fordham Prep 28, Chaminade 18, SJB 16 ½ , St. Anthony 14.

The coaches at the Prep knew one thing. The Friars had most of their big events ahead of them. The Flyers and SJB had many scoring opportunities as well.

At 3:35pm, exactly on schedule, the 1600 meter final was on the track. St. Anthony could win it. Chaminade could go 1-2. With their strong events still ahead either could take control of the meet. But Dan Zaccariello of St. Joe’s prevailed, as he had in the 1000. Patrick Murphy got 2^nd for St. Anthony. Xavier’s Sternglass took third and though Chaminade grabbed 4^th, Phillips of Regis edged the second Chaminade runner for 5^th. The 1600 results did not strengthen the hand of the Flyers or Friars, though they crept closer to the lead with 20 and 18 points respectively.

At 3:55pm George Febles headed toward the stairway. His look revealed this was going to go down to the wire. No words were needed to convey that.

To coin a phrase, the meat of the meet was about to begin. Five finals in little over an hour. The first of these was the 55 meter hurdles.

It is simply not a Fordham Prep track meet without Mr. Febles Sr. taking care of his hurdlers. And the best of them this year is Bruce Grant. Bruce had incurred many a second place finish in the hurdles in past years, but only because the person ahead of him was Prep graduate from the class of ’09 Wayne Seaton. Now Bruce was ready to take on great hurdlers from St. John Baptist and Archbishop Molloy. Sitting next to Febles Sr. as he watched Bruce win the hurdles was a privilege. Watching Bruce win the hurdles was a privilege. A splendid time of 7.61 in the last of six races he ran on Saturday would complete one of the great days in the history of Fordham Prep track. Added to his 55 meter victory, Bruce contributed 12 points to the Prep cause! The team total had now swelled to 34. Would it be enough? The coaches knew it was not likely. They were correct. More points were needed.

The scores after 11 events: Prep 34, SJB 20 ½, Chaminade 20, St. Anthony 18.

The last individual race, the 300 meters, resulted in a win for St. Anthony’s by way of Patrick Farmer, who held off the Mount St. Michael runner down the stretch. They now had 24 points, and were favored in two relays to add another 12 points.

Going to the three relays, the final events of the day, the scores were Fordham Prep 34, St. Anthony 24, SJB 23 ½ and Chaminade 20. Each school was in two of the three. But some had stronger chances than others.

Shortly before 5pm, numerous college athletes entered the Armory, including a large mens’ and womens’ contingent from U Penn. One asked “Is this Cities”. Another commented that this is some exciting meet. The best was yet to come.

First up, the 4x800. St. Anthony’s was the defending Millrose champion. Chaminade and Kellenberg were right there with them. Chaminade had a strong second team in the race as well, while St. Joe’s and Molloy had sights set on victory or at least a top 3 finish. The Prep had a team in the race but was only seeded 10^th. No points were likely in store for them. The best hope was for a super race and a 5^th place finish to garner a valuable point.

Doug O’Connell went first for the Prep and handed off not too far from the leaders in a quality field. Tom Jennings was next. After being bumped badly he fought back, then again and again, turning in a nearly two second PR as the Prep hung in there in mid pack. The Prep fans began to roar. Tom McShane, yes he of pole vault fame earlier in the day, ran an excellent leg to keep the Prep’s chances for a point alive. Antonio Rosa, in an unfamiliar spot as anchor, was holding on. It was another coaching maneuver, changing the team order, but it didn’t seem to be working to pull off the miracle needed. At the lead, Kellenberg and Chaminade were toying with St. Anthony’s anchor Payton Hazzard. It was a dubious strategy and played into Hazzard’s hands as he blew by them for the win. But Chaminade’s #2 team, Molloy and St. Joe’s were ahead of the Prep for the last two spots. Antonio picked off Chaminade and set Molloy in his sights. Not only did he finally catch Molloy, he also burst past St. Joe’s by the Sea to finish 4^th. It was pure bedlam in the Fordham Prep section of the stands. Some couldn’t see he had passed two runners on the final straightaway. It was 5:05pm. It was now a two team race.

The scores: Fordham 36, St. Anthony 30, Chaminade 25, SJ Baptist 23 ½.

Two of the most exciting races in CHSAA history were left. St. Anthony’s had to win the 4x400 relay or Fordham Prep would become champion. They had the best anchor, and the slightly favored team. But the way the race unfolded, St. Anthony fell to last after two legs. They were still 5^th before the final leg. The Prep was so close to a shocking victory they could taste it. Then came Patrick Farmer. He closed the gap, but with a hundred meters to go most thought he was too far behind to catch the three ahead. Iona Prep took the lead and thought they were victorious. Then Farmer came storming down the final straightaway and passed the Iona lead runner who turned and looked almost to say “where did you come from?” Farmer’s amazing 46.5 leg had done the job for St. Anthony’s. They had 36 points. The meet was tied.

Now think back to 9:45 in the morning. Fordham Prep qualified 7^th for the last race of the day and were moved to 6^th. Now, as an original #9 seed, they had to finish 5^th in the 4x200 and Fordham Prep would win it all. As it had in the entire Armory, especially in the Friar section during the 4x4, bedlam again prevailed in the 4x2.

Dom Rivera ran a smart first 200 and the Prep was in 5^th. Soph’s Andrew Velazquez and Dennis Kennelly safely navigated the next two legs. Anchor Mike Gray ran a tremendous race to the deafening roar of the Prep faithful. He avoided a Holy Trinity stumble and the Prep was fighting neck and neck with Xavier in the 4^th and 5^th spots.

The Prep finished 5^th and was later moved to 4^th after a Mount St. Michael disqualification. Eerily, the reverse happened 6 years earlier when Sts. Anthony’s won Indoor Cities by 1/3 of a point over Fordham by finishing 5^th in the 4x200 when the same school, Mount St. Michael had a mishap in the same race. Nonetheless, the two relay teams of the Prep produced the points needed to secure an unbelievable 38-36 victory over Sts. Anthony’s. St. John the Baptist was third with 29 ½.

Before the summation of the greatest track & field meet I’ve ever attended, let’s go back nearly one year in time. Assistant coach Paul Collins, saw that the Prep would lose nearly every point with the graduation of the greatest indoor track & field team in Prep history. He stated back then, if Bruce could win 10 or 12 points, the pole vaulters could come though with their usual 5 or so, we have some excellent shot putters who will score points. Then a couple of points from the relay’s – you never know. He didn’t just tell me, he told a few of the coaches. No one believed him. It wasn’t rational thinking. Maybe 7^th or 8^th place would be a good showing at the 2010 Cities. Well look what happened. This group is right next to last years’ group on that huge trophy. The class of 2009 learned from their predecessors. They have passed it on. The 2010 group of seniors, juniors and sophomores has pulled off the unattainable. It was so unexpected. It took one of the greatest coaching performances in history. Virtually no margin if error. The athletes did the job. It can’t be said any more simply than that. The greatest upset, the greatest track meet. Congratulations to the entire team and coaching staff. You can not make this up.

- A Friend of the Prep