"This is why you work hard at practice. This is why I demand so much of you. But doesn’t it feel good NOW?!" Those were the words exclaimed by 4th year SHC head track & field coach Andy Chan to his team after the Varsity Boys had beaten Archbishop Mitty, 71-65 on Wednesday April 17, 2002. This marked SHC’s first WCAL Varsity Boys dual meet victory, not just in Chan’s 4 years at SHC but since at least 1994.

It was expected to be a close meet and it lived up to expectations with no team ever taking a big lead over the other. The lead changed hands several times during the meet. "We lined up to give us the best possible chance to win the meet," said Chan, "We really considered all options and pulled out all the stops." Freshman Brian Conway was moved to Varsity at the last minute to try to score a point in the 1600. Misha Osipov was asked to run the 400 and 800 all within 15 minutes of each other. Joe DeFillipo pulled out of his usual long jump event to try to pick up points in the High Jump. "We knew it was going to be close. We needed everyone to give that little extra today to try to get the win," said Coach Greg Bianchi.

Mitty got off to an early lead 5-0 when they won the 4X100 Relay, 45.00-46.89. The 5 point margin would be the Irish’s biggest deficit of the meet. Don Sebastian struck back quickly winning the 1600 in 4:47.17 for SHC’s first points. A sweep of the High Jump by Matt Gonzalez, DeFillipo and Christian Panganiban gave SHC their first lead, 14-9. The 110 Hurdles was a close race with Mitty’s Mike Boulton edging out Andy Lee and Nick Lien for 1st. However a big 2 foot 3 inch PR from Michael Lim that gave him 3rd along with Nicolas Solis’ 44-10 ½ for 1st in the Shot Put put SHC ahead 24-17, their biggest lead of the meet. It was short lived, however, as Mitty swept the Pole Vault to re-take the lead 26-24.

Next up was the 400, which SHC would run without their usual 400 star, Peter Fleming. "We needed Peter in the 100 and 200. He can’t run everything. So guys like Matt and Misha needed to step up," said Chan. And that they did. Osipov took 2nd in 53.55 with Gonzalez 3rd in 55.34. Minutes later, when Fleming won the 100 in 11.48, the line-up decision to have Fleming skip the 400 looked great. A 1-2 finish in the Long Jump by Ricky Cacho and Julius Santos put SHC ahead 41-36. Then a 1-2 finish by Mitty in the 800 put the Monarchs back ahead 44-42.

In the Discus the Irish had a 1-2-3 sweep (Darren Zapanta, Solis and Lim) for 9 big points to take a 51-44 lead. The Irish would not trail again. "The middle of the meet was key," said Chan, "Manuel Splain got us an important 3rd in the 800 and then with Mitty in 3rd in the Discus, Michael Lim stepped up and threw his 2nd big PR of the meet to get us the sweep." After Lee and Lien again took 2nd and 3rd behind Boulton (this time in the 300 Hurdles) and Fleming won his 2nd sprint event of the day, the 200, the score stood at 60-53 for the Irish.

"It was getting close to the end of the meet. We needed 9 points somehow. I figured it would come down to the 4X4," explained Chan, "Andy Lee was a little upset after not winning the 300 Hurdles and Misha was tired after the 400 and 800. I told Andy he had to put his frustration of the hurdles in a box and leave it because I needed him focused for the 4X4. Then we pulled Misha out of the 200 to save him for the 4X4."

Sensing a close meet, Mitty decided to run their top distance runner Drew Olson in the 3200. Olson was hoping to sit out the meet and rest for the CCS Top 8 Meet on Friday night. "The Mitty coaches were trying to figure out if Don was racing the 32. Their coach even thought I was the SHC 2 miler for awhile," said SHC Coach Brian Mulry, "Don has a race Friday night, too, but we never considered holding him out. That says a lot about Don and his commitment to the team." As the 3200 began SHC felt they had 2nd and 3rd place in the Triple Jump so a win by Sebastian could clinch the meet.

However as is the case in track, things change quickly. Mitty’s Joe Okafor showed up at the Triple Jump pit and had a winning jump of 39-7 ½, which bumped SHC down to 3rd place and made the score a 61-61 tie. That 4 point swing meant it was imperative that Sebastian place no worse than 2nd in the 3200. Then after one lap, Olson dropped out of the 3200. The 3200 continued at a slow tactical pace causing Sebastian to lose track of the laps. Finally with a lap to go he and a Mitty runner pulled away and it took a furious final 100 meter kick by Sebastian to earn a come from behind win in the 3200. The score was 66-65 SHC. It was a familiar story for SHC...it would all come down to the 4X4.

Running the 4X4 for SHC would be Lee (3rd year junior), Osipov (3rd year junior), Gonzalez (3rd year junior) and Fleming (4th year senior). Between them – 13 seasons of SHC track & field and 0 WCAL varsity wins. "The guys looked nervous before the race....but so was I," said Chan, "I told them that this was fun and that this was what made the sport so exciting. I was reminding myself as much as them."

Lee, leading off against his hurdle nemesis, Boulton, pulled away in the final 200 meters to give SHC a slight lead. Osipov would extend it slightly and Gonzalez kept it the same. Fleming would take the baton with a 3 second lead. "I was going crazy inside," said Chan, "For the last year I’ve been saying I want to win a WCAL Meet and I thought the Mitty meet was our best chance. And here we were maybe 50 seconds from doing it." Fleming would cross the finish line after a 51.4 split and SHC had their win. Chan ran over to congratulate his senior and announce the baton they were using, "The Black Beast" would now be retired on a winning note.

"I’m very proud of the guys and I am happy for them. 4 years ago we had 8 guys total on the Varsity Boys team. Today 23 guys competed at varsity and 14 scored at least one point for us. We’ve come a long way. There’s still a long ways to go but this team will always be remembered for helping to get us pointed in the right direction."

SHC’s scorers:

• Don Sebastian (1st in 1600, 1st in 3200)
• Matt Gonzalez (1st tie in HJ, 3rd in 400, 4X4 team)
• Joe DeFillipo (1st tie in HJ)
• Christian Panganiban (3rd in HJ)
• Andy Lee (2nd in 110H, 2nd in 300H, 4X4 team)
• Nick Lien (3rd in 110H, 3rd in 300H)
• Nicolas Solis (1st in SP, 2nd in DT)
• Michael Lim (3rd in SP, 3rd in DT)
• Misha Osipov (2nd in 400, 4X4 team)
• Peter Fleming (1st in 100, 1st in 200, 4X4 team)
• Ricky Cacho (1st in LJ, 3rd in TJ)
• Julius Santos (2nd in LJ)
• Manuel Splain (3rd in 800)
• Darren Zapanta (1st in DT)