State Champions: Braydon Caraballo, Nate Lambert, Nate Baker and Dom DeAngelo rewrite the record books on the way to winning 4x200 relay
PLATTSBURGH — By now you’ve heard the story of the Plattsburgh High boys 4x200 relay team. You know how they captured the NYSPHSAA State Championship, Saturday, at Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island.
But now, let the boys tell you the story themselves.
- Lead leg, Braydon Caraballo
“You know, the mindsets a huge part of it,” he said. “When you’re on that line, then you’re waiting for the gun to go off, it’s tense. We just got to concentrate.
This is the moment. Everything we train for that’s, that’s what you’re thinking about. You’re just thinking about getting a good jump. Getting a good lead for the team.”
- Second Leg, Nate Lambert
“ I start praying, and then I see Braydon come around that curve,” he said. “He ran a fantastic first. Like you got us a little bit of a lead. I heard him say ‘Go!” and ran my heart out and get the baton.
“Then after that, come around that first turn, get my knees up, you know, getting fast, get my speed going. Then hit the cones I can cut in. and then just trying to hold that lead around the back stretch, I knew that that team Aquinas Institute was going to be fast. I come around that back, and I’m just pushing. I’m just trying to stay ahead, trying to keep that lead.
“I come around towards Baker, telling him it’s good handoff, and then step off the track and hug Braydon and watch the rest of the race go.”
- Third Leg, Nate Baker
“I see them in the lead,” he said. “I just have to do my best to maintain that lead. Get the baton to my anchor. Dom he always does a great job.
“So that’s my goal. I just maintain the lead and keep working hard to push through the whole race.”
- Anchor, Dom DeAngelo
Honestly, I knew we were gonna have a lead,” he said. “I was gonna get the time with the lead. and every single time I race with these guys, I know that it’s just going to be a great race, because I have such a great lead off runner, Braydon.
“I can’t remember a race where he doesn’t get us a lead, and Nate Lambert just keeps the flow going, just keeps maybe getting us a little more of a lead, and then Nate Baker just does his job. Big, big guy. and then once he gets to me, I just finished the job. and that’s just, that’s how the team goes.”
It sounds simple, but it’s still a fascinating race to watch as they set the NYSPHSAA Division II, and Section VII, record in the 4x200 at 1:32.37.
The last time Section VII won a state title in indoor track and field was in 2014. That was when Ti’s Jay Herbert won the 55-meter hurdles.
Breaking Records
The run actually broke their own record they set at the Garden State Open on Feb. 21, when they broke a 24-year old record set by Peru, with a time of 1:33.46. That run alone qualified them for the Nike Indoor Nationals.
“We had a rude awakening at the Garden State Open,” Lambert said. “It was our first time on a bank track, and yeah, we set a Section VII record, but we didn’t feel that we ran our best.
“We knew we needed to work on our handoffs. and that’s what we’ve worked on since. We’ll be (at the PSUC Fieldhouse) and all we practice is handoffs. We’ll look at the footage that the coaches record, and do it again. We’d practice in the school gym too, 4-5-6 handoffs and the rest. We’d repeat it over and over. It’s important.”
How important is it?
“You can be Usain Bolt,” Lambert said. “But, if you’re not able to handle a baton, you’re not going to be able to compete in a relay.”
While the squad worked on handoffs, they made progress and strides all the way to the NYSPHSAA State Championships. When it was near their time to race, they all know the task at hand.
Race Day
“Probably, like a half hour before the race, we were waiting down in the under part of Ocean Breeze when we were going up, and we were just talking all the time,” Caraballo said. “We were nervous, very nervous, probably the most nervous we’ve all been for any sporting event, because this is a huge deal.
“We knew we had a chance, but we knew it wasn’t going to be easy. It wasn’t going to be given to us. We had good competition to deal with, but we knew we could do it, and we believed we could do it well.”
The team felt overlooked, but winning the race, was it an upset?
“I don’t think it was an upset at all,” Baker said with a grin. “I think we had it from the start. We knew we could go down there and give it a shot.
“No upset at all.”
But, maybe it added a little motivation.
“100%,” DeAngelo said. “Every single meet that we’ve been to now, we just don’t look like we’re competition. That really fuels us to go out and do our job 10 times more.”
Plattsburgh was in the next to last heat of the day, if they won their heat they would be on the podium.
Head coach Alfie Ladue wasn’t able to be near the team and watched the races unfold. After the races, he said everyone thought the Hornets were in second. He looked towards the runners who looked back holding two fingers up.
But a surprise was on the way.
Results
Holy Trinity, a Catholic Prep School, ran a faster time but wasn’t allowed to place due to being a member of the NYCHSAA, and a private school.
“I was one of the first to notice it,” Ladue said. “I turned to the parents and told them we just won the States, but they didn’t understand right away.”
And then an announcement came over the public address confirming Plattsburgh High as NYSPHSAA champions.
While the parents and coaches knew what was happening, the runners didn’t.
“We didn’t realize it,” Lambert said. “We go over and we’re standing behind the second place podium. (The officials) have their clipboard and they tap down, like, “Plattsburgh in front. First place.”
“We all just realized at the same time. It was exciting because we didn’t know we were champions. All of our faces, we were beaming. We were so happy. It’s one of the proudest moments of my life.”
Baker added it was confusing at first because another team joined them at the second spot, so they didn’t know what was going on until the announcement.
“I mean, you know we were so happy,” DeAngelo said. “And you know, we knew we worked for it. It was earned, not given, and that was the big thing for us.
“And, you know, we worked our butt off for this. That was really the big part for us. and we were so happy that we actually got to do it, and we put a big goal for us, and we went out and did it”
Lambert was so excited at first, he didn’t realize his placard was upside down, that Caraballo pointed out.
“We were so jubilant,” Lambert said. Because, I mean there’s nothing wrong with second. We get a medal, get on the podium at silver, which is better than the bronze ones, yeah?
“I mean, you can’t do better than first. and we were just so happy because, if we had medaled, if we hadn’t medaled, we would have regretted that we didn’t medal. If we got second, we would have regretted that we didn’t get first. But I have no regrets.”
Up Next
While Caraballo and Lambert said they’re all still enjoying it, Baker and DeAngelo said everyone’s focus turned to Nationals the next day.
“You know, the night of, we took the bus ride home, we had fun celebrating it,” DeAngelo said. “Then the next day, the coach said, “Jobs not done, you know, might as well go win more. You know, we got a chance to do this.”.
“So we’re not going to take it for granted, and we’re going to go try to do the best we can and see what happens.”
Eventually there will be a banner hung in Plattsburgh High School with their names on it, celebrating the state championship. These four will have time to celebrate their accomplishments. But, once the Indoor Track & Field season ends, they all turn their attention to another sport.
While Caraballo and Lambert consider their options for the Spring, Baker and DeAngelo will turn their attention to baseball.
Both of them graduate this year with DeAngelo headed to Wagner University and Baker to SUNY Cortland. The duo is also considering competing in two sports because they have a love for running.
But that can wait, they’ve got the Nike Indoor Nationals where they compete today.
After winning the state championship, the team started to say, “Why not? Why not just win this one too?” Ladue said.
“We have at the top of our mind that we’re the New York State Champions,” DeAngelo said. People are gonna go out and try to beat us at the end of the day.
“So if a team comes along and fairly beats us, then that’s how it is. Until then, we’re gonna go out and aim to be everybody who faces us. If a team can beat us, then we know we gave it our all. and that’s how we want it.”
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