Calhoun seniors win county titles

Calhoun seniors Tim Campbell and James Panetta capped their track careers with another pair of big finishes at the Nassau Class AAA Track and Field championships at Cold Spring Harbor May 24.

Both runners used a strong kick in the final lap to overtake Massapequa’s Andrew Valenski and earn a county title. For Campbell, he crossed the line at 4:23.10 in the 1,600 finals, besting Valenski by 4.5 seconds and the second-place finisher, Oceanside’s Rytan Rausch, by 1.2 seconds, while Panetta nosed the Chiefs top runner out by 2.1 seconds in the 3,200. Panetta’s winning time was 9:29.7.

“This is what [they’ve done] their whole career,” coach Dave Hendler said of the duo. “Their whole career they’ve outdone what anyone thought they would do. Valenski is one of the best in the state, but they [each] knew they had a better kick. With a lap to go they both had a burst.”

Senior Brendan Abrams was sixth in the 3,200 (09:52.8), showing just how deep Calhoun is in the distance events. “They’re all great runners on their own,” Hendler said. “But on a great team they get overshadowed and they know how to handle that.”

Campbell and Panetta played key roles in the Colts successful campaign, which included a second-place finish in the Division 2A Championships at Long Beach. Calhoun fell just 10 points shy of Long Beach, 149-139, for the top team spot. Senior Will Fugina captured All-Division honors by outdistancing the field in the 400m run (51.6 seconds), edging Long Beach’s Brant Scott by just two tenths of a second. Fugina also finished fourth in the 200m run (23.10 seconds), and sophomore Joe Conway took fifth in the 110m high hurdles (16.80s).