Record-setting Staine leads Baldwin

After helping Baldwin win a Long Island championship in basketball, senior Kirk Staine got a late start to the spring track and field season but you’d never know based on his results.

Staine, who blazed to a school-record finish in the 400 meter run at the Nassau Class AAA championships last month and also anchored the Bruins’ winning 4-x-400 relay, is headed to the state meet this Friday and Saturday at Cicero-North Syracuse High School where he’ll compete in the 400.

“He had some catching up to do coming off basketball season, but it’s always that way,” Baldwin coach Joseph Mercado said of Staine, who broke Ricky Jordan’s 23-year-old school mark in the 400 when he crossed the wire in 48.3 seconds to win the county title. “He was still one of the better runners in the county when he stepped on the track in March, but there’s a process he has to go through before he’s anywhere near 100 percent,” he added.

Mercado said Staine’s long stride and improved speed in the first 100 meters are two of the biggest reason’s why he’s returning to the state meet for the second year in a row. “The last 150 meters is still his strength, but now he’s become better earlier in the race,” Mercado said.

Staine’s performances in the 400, 200 (fourth place) and relay (with Shaquille Spradley, Al-Hassan Keita, and Treyvon Mask) was just an example of Baldwin’s strong two-day showing at the county meet that exceeded the coach’s expectations. The Bruins totaled 91 points to finish runners-up to Syosset. “I figured us in the 75-80 point range,” Mercado said. “It was awesome how some kids really stepped up.”

Juniors Jovaun Tomlinson (High Jump) and Kendall Bramble (Shot Put) also captured individual county titles, while sophomores Pascal Bastien and Kaleel Walcott shattered their personal bests in the Triple Jump and Long Jump, respectively, to place second and third.

Mercado said Tomlinson “quietly goes about his business and is one of the most athletic kids I’ve ever coached.” Bramble, meanwhile, worked closely with throwing coach Rich Carroll and peaked at the perfect time, throwing 48-feet, 6-inches, topping his previous best by more than three feet. “Kendall wasn’t seeded in the top five, but he was ready and that’s what big meets are all about,” Mercado said.

Bastien’s top Triple Jump at the county meet was 44-1-¼, a better than two-foot improvement from the 41-8 he had earlier in the month, while Walcott had a Long Jump a shade under 22 feet after only topping 20 on a few occasions during the regular season. Other scorers for the Bruins were senior Kinsey Sheppard, junior Rayshawn Walker, sophomore Emerson Felix, and freshman Michael Webster.