Mason Gatewood Clinches Second Fastest Mark At Sunken Meadow In Past Four Years

It will be the home of the 2018 NYSPHSAA State Meet, but for the past decade, it has also been home to the St. Anthony's Invite.  Keeping with tradition, a theme strong in the CHSAA, a Saint Anthony's runner took home the top honors in the home invitational.

Mason Gatewood took home the win with a very fast time in 2017, winning in 16:03.54.  His win supersedes those by teammates Frederick Buckholtz (16:45 in 2015) and Matt Payamps (16:57 in 2016).  The performance elicited, once again, the fastest attributed Speed Rating of the season.  Gatewood held the top spot in the rankings after a runner-up finish at the Ocean State Invite, but was dethroned after a strong McQuaid performance from Silas Derfel (Ithaca).  However, with an attributed 189.82, Gatewood is back on top.

The mark is also significant for its raw speed.  Only Long Island legend Mikey Brannigan has run faster in the last four years.  Brannigan ran 15:44 at the Section 11 Championships, to place himself on the All-Time List of Sunken Meadow at 11th All-Time.  Proving the difficulty of the course, only 45 runners have ever broken 16mins on the course.  Gatewood is now a part of that next bunch, unofficially 46th All-Time, as no one has run in between those two marks since 2003.

The race also served as a returned for reigning champ Matt Payamps.  Most likely returning from injury or illness, Payamps could be a major addition to the Saint Anthony's team when he returns, providing a strong 1-2 punch in team scoring.  Despite St. Anthony's loss to transfer in Amani Morrell, the Friars may still be in the conversation come Intersectionals and Feds.