Track: Fordham Prep's Hogan Nike U.S. 2-mile champ, Iona Prep's Milillo Adidas hammer champ
Myles Hogan and Chris Milillo will never directly compete against each other.
One is a mid- to longer-distance runner, the other a thrower.
Different workouts. Very different body types.
But here's what they have in common: Both are national track and field champions.
Competing in the boys two-mile championship at Nike Outdoor Nationals in Eugene, Oregon, Hogan, the Hastings resident and recent Fordham Prep grad, who'll run in a Princeton uniform next year, ran a personal-best 8:54.42 to win an extremely tight race.
Hogan, whose time was No. 5 overall among high school boys in the country this spring and No. 1 among New York high school runners, edged Minnesota's Noah Breker (8:54.53) and Oregon's Charlie North (8:54.86) for the win.
But it wasn't easy.
In his final high school race, Hogan, who won both the state Federation and Loucks Games 3,200, led for most of the race after the initial 400-meter lap but was passed at the start of the last lap, regained the lead with about 300 meters left, got passed again with 100 meters to go but then, despite a late stumble, won a sprint to the finish, leading from 10 meters in.
"(It was) simply a great race and a fantastic way to end his high school career," Fordham Prep coach George Febles said, describing the finish as a "crazy, three-way fight" for the win.
"He has proven he can win from the front (states), from behind (Loucks) and win a footrace (Nike Nationals)," Febles said, adding, "(It) will be fun to follow his career in college."
Ex-football, lacrosse player Milillo chose right sport
Hogan started running for Fordham Prep as a freshman. By comparison, Milillo is new to the sport.
Milillo was originally devoted to football and lacrosse.
Now his decision to leave those popular sports behind for track seems like nothing but a very good one.
Milillo, who helped lead Iona Prep to the Westchester County boys outdoor track and field team championship this spring, capped a very satisfying senior season Saturday with a national title on the other coast.
Throwing 195 feet, 7.6 inches, Milillo captured the Adidas Outdoor Nationals boys championship hammer throw in Greensboro, North Carolina.
That throw was less than two inches off his personal best, which had placed him second in the state among high school throwers before the weekend competition.
Milillo, who medaled in fourth in the state Federation championship in both the shot put and the discus, also was second Saturday in the second-tier elite shot with a throw of 52 feet, 5.9 inches, which also was just off his personal best.
Of his spring season, Milillo, who'll throw next year for Division I Wagner College on Staten Island, said, "I kind of shocked myself."
After all, getting close to 200 feet in the hammer was little more than "kind of a pipe dream of mine" in the preseason, Milillo explained.
And while he hoped to get to nationals this spring, he initially thought he'd never contend for a medal there if he did.
Milillo, who didn't start throwing until winter of his sophomore year, then, with COVID cancellations, threw little until last year's scaled-back spring season in which he chose to forego lacrosse before making the same decision about football last fall, so he could concentrate on track.
"I made up my mind I wanted to do track the rest of my life," he said, noting he likes the the fact "what you put in, you get out" in terms of work leading to success.
Milillo said entering his senior year, the onus was on him to show he made the right decisions in giving up lacrosse and football.
"I felt I had something to prove. I cut those ties, now I have to make it happen. I had to prove it wasn't a mistake," the newly-crowned All-American said.
Luciano breaks 200 in hammer
With three national championships going on at once, winning times, heights and distances varied.
Somers senior Brian Luciano might not have won a medal in the hammer with his eighth-place finish at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania but he accomplished a long-sought goal.
Entering the competition with a personal-best throw of 195-5, the Division I Binghamton-commit broke 200 feet, throwing 202-5.
That throw pushed Luciano, who had been third in the state among high school hammer throwers, to the No. 2 spot, a notch above Milillo.
Negrete medals in shot, breaks own Honduran discus record
One of Milillo's final tune-ups for North Caroline was at the 12th Rock Sports Complex in Orange County.
While he trained in hammer, Prizila Negrete, a junior at The Ursuline School, whose athletes train at Iona Prep and share the same coach in Jan Mitchell, worked out at the same time there in the discus.
Negrete, who helped lead Ursuline to the girls Westchester team title this spring, competed at New Balance.
There, she medaled in fourth place at 38-6 in the second-tier rising stars division in the girls shot put after throwing a personal-best 121-3 for ninth place out of 35 among rising stars discus throwers.
Her discus throw broke Negrete's own Honduran national women's record of 120-5, set at the recent Section 1 state championships qualifier.
And it eased the string of throwing 111-7 to finish eighth and out of the medals at states.
She said she spent time working on technique after that disappointment because "little things make a big difference" in discus.
"My first warm-up throw was good and I felt good things were going to happen today," se said, adding with a laugh, "You don't want to foul out at nationals."
She missed qualifying for the finals in the discus by inches but said she told her mother it didn't matter because, "I did what I had to do today."
Negrete, who was injured and fell short of her goals during winter season, added, "I am very happy with the way I've performed this spring. It's really good to get back out and do what I know I'm able to do."
More Hudson Valley athletes excel and other results
Also at New Balance, Cornwall's Martin Decker recorded an enormous personal best in the boys rising stars hammer throw, winning bronze at 165-9. His previous best throw in competition, which occurred two years ago, was only 86-10.5.
Somers' Jared Googel also PB'd with a sixth-place, 156-10, throw.
Lakeland/Panas's Grace Adeyeye clocked 15.25 to finish seventh in the New Balance girls rising stars 100-meter hurdles.
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James O'Neill's Jadon Spain, clocking 10.66, finished second in the New Balance boys rising stars 100-meter dash.
With a throw of 111-9, Hackley's Skyler Safriet medaled in fifth place in the New Balance girls rising star javelin.
Fordham Prep (Mahopac resident Robert Disney, Dakota Strain of the Bronx, Mount Vernon resident Jaylin Santiago and Fordham Prep valedictorian and Bronx resident Arison Cruz took fifth in the Nike emerging elite 4x400 relay in 3:29.53.
A day earlier, that same group clocked 2:03.94 to win silver in the 1,000-meter sprint medley relay Swedish championship with 100-, 200-, 300- and 400-meter legs.
Cortlandt resident Chrysanthemum Osorio, at 79-1, was 10th and Arlington's Shannon Pfeifer (74-2) was 11th.
Monroe-Woodbury's Mia Sisilli clocked 7:57.5 for fifth place in the girls one-mile championship racewalk at New Balance.
White Plains' Mia Priore was 10th in that race in 8:23.35. Teammate Julia Beckman was 14th in 9:33.19.
Clearing a personal-best 6-1.5, Edgemont's Connor Fisher finished eighth at New Balance out of 29 in the rising stars division high jump.
In 6:08.59, Monroe-Woodbury's Collin Gilstrap finished eighth in the New Balance boys championship 2,000-meter steeplechase.
Bronxville's Ellis Goodson (6:18.08) was 12th and North Rockland's Michael Niero (6:32.57) was 19th.
In 1:34.78, Mount Vernon (Rayanu Adam, Shaquian Simeon, Jamar Matthew and Jabari Barriffe) finished 10th in the New Balance 800-meter boys Texas championship sprint medley relay.
Clocking a personal-best 6:08.4 at Nike in Oregon, Hackley's Brendan DiStefano took 10th out of 28 in the boys championship 2,000-meter steeplechase. In that same race, Nyack's Bobby Royston ran a season-best 6:30.5 for 25th. That was the second best time clocked in the event in Section 1 this season.
Also at Nike, Fordham Prep's 4x800 relay of Darren Croke of the Bronx, Pelham resident Ergi Agaj, Matthew Febles of the Bronx and New Rochelle resident Dean Mayo ran to an eighth-place finish in the boys emerging elite 4x800 relay, clocking 8:25.1.
Minisink Valley (Kessler Hirsch, Sierra Jones, Rihanna Burgher and Zoey Terpak) ran 1:50.8 for 10th in the New Balance 800-meter girls Texas championship SMR.
Mount Vernon (Jasmine Fuller, Sabrina Sylvain, Karmiyah Yitzchak and Taylor Bennett) clocked 1:51.79 for 14th in that race.
Briarcliff's Kevin Callaghan, Giovanni Culotta, Kyle Phillips and Kornel Smith finished in 7:59.7 for 15th in the boys New Balance boys championship 4x800 relay.
Iona Prep's Jake Gherardi threw 135-7 for 18th in the boys rising stars javelin at New Balance.
In 16.13, Stepinac's Eloha-Karmiel Yitzchak was 16th in the New Balance boys rising stars 110 hurdles.
At 17-4.75, Spring Valley's Simara Miller finished 21st in the girls rising stars long jump.
Nyack's Nephlini Desrosiers was 14th with a 17-3.25 jump.
Going t 20-3.75, Deion Joseph of Albertus Magnus finished 20th in the boys rising stars long jump in Philadelphia. Nyack's Putu Sutayasa was 25th at 19-11.
Clocking 51.87, Mount Vernon's Jabari Barriffe was 25th in the New Balance rising stars boys 400-meter run.
Nancy Haggerty covers cross-country, track & field, field hockey, skiing, ice hockey, girls lacrosse and other sporting events for The Journal News/lohud. Follow her on Twitter at both @HaggertyNancy and at @LoHudHockey.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Track: Fordham Prep's Hogan and Iona Prep's Milillo are national champs
