Bobcats' Cawkwell wins steeplechase at Loucks
Fastest time in the state this season
05/13/2007
He kept waiting and waiting, pushing the pace from behind. Byram Hills senior Phil Cawkwell forced himself to stay behind the right shoulder of North Rockland's A.J. Savoia.

Cawkwell said he thought Savoia was messing with him.

"I thought we were slow," Cawkwell said.

But they weren't. Savoia was on pace and Cawkwell just felt that good. Cawkwell won the 3,000-meter steeplechase yesterday at the Loucks Games in 9 minutes, 16.88 seconds, the fastest time in the state this season and the second fastest in Loucks Games history.

Cawkwell moved ahead of Savoia, an all-American in the steeplechase last year, just after the mile mark.

"My plan was to wait until three laps to go but I just felt great," Cawkwell said. ''I had one hurdle just perfect and he kind of messed up on it so I went by him just naturally. Then I kept thinking, 'I just got to get away.' "

Cawkwell said he hoped to break 9:30 yesterday. He's having the best season of his high school career after missing most of the winter and the entire spring seasons last year.

"I could definitely go faster," Cawkwell said. "I slowed down a lot on my last mile and I had a couple bad hurdles."

He admitted that he doesn't have much opportunity to practice hurdling the barriers, but the way he's been running the past three weeks it didn't matter much.

"Confidence has been a really big thing," he said. "After being walked down by BRD (Brian Rhodes-Devey of Guilderland) Thursday night in the distance medley, I had to come back here and redeem myself."

Tarem Cannonier of Woodlands didn't need redemption as motivation. He just wanted to defend his title in the 400 hurdles. He won in 55.23, his season best. Cannonier made it a point to get ahead early and come off the last turn with a lead.

"If I'm not aggressive, it's not happening," he said.

The senior, who's considering Buffalo and Lincoln University, said he hoped to run faster but was satisfied with his performance.

"I'm still trying to work on some things," he said. "Right now I feel good with how the season is going. I just want to be ready for the state meet."

Julian Sheinbaum of Scarsdale finished third in the 1,600 in a personal-best 4:15.96, the fastest time in the section this season. He was patient early on, even when the lead group looked like it was pulling away, and worked through the back in the second half of the race.

"I got a little nervous, I'm not going to lie," he said. "I never feel like I'm out of contact. They did the same thing to me at Red Raider Relays and I came back on them so I knew I could do the same thing.''

Cawkwell, Sheinbaum and Cannonier are all names that most in Section 1 are familiar with, but anybody watching should commit Tewado Latty's name to memory.

Latty moved from Kingston, Jamaica, last June and started at White Plains in the fall. Yesterday he announced himself as the best 400-meter runner in the section. Dealing with a hamstring strain that sidelined him for two weeks early this season, Latty couldn't get into the fastest heat of the 400 meters. Instead, he demolished the heat before and finished second overall in 48.39 seconds.

"I knew I was in the second-fastest heat so I just wanted to get out hard and bring it in strong at the end," he said.

Latty thought he made a mistake by being tentative in the third 100 meters, which may have cost him the upset win.

"I was a little afraid I was going to die," he said. "But I wanted to come out here and prove myself, and I think I did."

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