St. John the Baptist's Shamir Lisbon jumps, runs to three NSCHSAA crowns

Three was the magic number for St. John the Baptist boys track and field in this year’s rendition of the Nassau-Suffolk CHSAA track and field championships.

On Saturday at St. Anthony’s High School, SJB senior Shamir Lisbon successfully defended his titles from this past indoor season in both the high jump and the long jump, and also collected a third championship by running the second leg of SJB’s victorious 4 x 100-meter relay team.

Lisbon’s day began with him clearing 5 feet, 10 inches to win the high jump championship. Later, he flew 21-5 in the long jump to win that one, as well. However, it was the third title that meant the most to him, as he and his three relay teammates ran for a bigger cause.

On Sept. 25, 2024, Bella Trezza — a 17-year-old senior at SJB — died from injuries suffered in a car crash four days prior. Junior Nigel Fleetwood, Lisbon, and seniors Parker Jones and Jayden Miller sought to honor their fallen friend through their efforts on the relay team. The extra motivation paid off, as the four of them combined to run 43.46 seconds to win the 4 x 100.

“There was a reason we were running,” Lisbon said. “Not only to run fast, break the record and win, but for somebody else. Not just for selfish reasons.”

Winning for Trezza has been a mission of Lisbon and his fellow Cougars ever since she passed.

“It was our mission since Day 1,” Lisbon said. “We dedicated a lot of things to her during football season, track season — everything.”

Their efforts gave SJB its third consecutive championship in the 4 x 100.

Miller, who ran the anchor leg to secure the three-peat, also won an individual title when he ran 49.67 in the 400. Miller had never run track before, as he is a football and basketball player and generally spent the spring seasons training for those two sports. However, he had always wanted to show off his sprinting skills on the athletic track, and now, after just one season of doing so, he has a gold medal to show for it.

“It feels great. I wasn’t expecting to get such a big thing out of this,” Miller said. “Once I got on the track and saw how hard everybody worked, I was like, I really want to do this, too. Being able to run sub-50 felt great. I was looking forward to it all season and finally got it.”

SJB had a third individual champion, too, when sophomore Noah Agbayewa ran 16.24 in the 110 hurdles.

Agbayewa’s key to success? Running without socks.

“Definitely not wearing socks helped me,” Agbayewa said. “Ever since I first didn’t wear them last week, I felt better.”

St. Anthony’s senior James Ciaccio became the first runner to win both the 200 and 800 at the NSCHSAA championship meet, posting 22.18 in the 200 and 1:58.63 in the 800.

To put an end to the meet, Ciaccio anchored St. Anthony’s 4 x 400 relay to clinch the win in 3:30.75. His individual efforts were keys in the Friars winning their 16th consecutive outdoor league championship, scoring 109.5 points, followed by Chaminade with 81.

“It’s tiring, but rewarding,” Ciaccio said. “Coming in, it was probably the closest we’ve ever thought it was going to be for the league championship. Every point mattered. It’s tough, it’s tiring, doing three events as hard as I can, but it’s all about the points and doing it for the team.”

Other individual champions for St. Anthony’s included senior Maxwell Green (400 hurdles, 58.01) and juniors Julian Saenz de Viteri (long jump, 40-11 ¾), Sean Maloney (pole vault, 12-7), Anthony Morello (discus, 148-7) and Thomas Whidden (javelin, 128-2).

Three Chaminade juniors combined to sweep the distance events, with Sean Loggie winning the 1,600 in 4:34.27, Brian Guiheen winning the 3,200 in 9:33.46 and Daniel Hilton winning the 2,000 steeplechase in 7:00.42. The Flyers placed the top two finishers in all three races, including the top three in the steeplechase.

“In the past few years, we’ve had some strong guys in the distance, but never across the category, so it shows the depth that we have for next year,” Guiheen said. “It should be really fun.”

Kellenberg rounded out the rest of the champions list. In the 4 x 800, junior Daniel Meenan, freshman Aidan Hopkins, junior Amir Ajenishe and sophomore Zach Paggi combined for 8:13.22 to top both the St. Anthony’s dynasty and the Chaminade distance running superteam.

In the 100, sophomore Damion Gordon Jr. secured his first career championship with an 11.07.

“After all the stress, all the obstacles I’ve faced, it shows that I’m getting somewhere,” Gordon said. “I’m a big overthinker, and it tones me down mentally, and physically I won’t feel at my best. Sometimes, I’m not able to perform and I’ll have a bad race. Sometimes I think it’s the end of the world, so a moment like this really uplifts me and shows me who I am. It reminds me of everything I’ve worked for.”