Townsend Harris, Cardozo Stars Shine

The Queens Borough Indoor Track & Field Championships at the New Balance Armory in Washington Heights Sunday afternoon, February 11, did not hold much importance to Cardozo’s Lindsay Rowe and Dalilah Muhammad. The two star sprinters have already qualified, along with the Judges’ sprint medley relay team, for the National Scholastic Indoor Championships. So has Devotia Moore, Townsend Harris’s impressive middle distance runner.
But the event, amongst Queens’ best, meant a lot to Moore, who helped the Hawks gain their first indoor title, cruising to victories of three seconds or greater in the 600, 1,000, and 1,500-meters. Townsend Harris scored at least a point in each event except for two for a grand total of 123. Jamaica finished second with 126 and Cardozo took home the Bronze with 91.
“It’s nice,” said Moore, a senior who is looking at such high-profile Division I schools as North Carolina, Duke, Florida and Boston University. “It’s definitely a great accomplishment for us. We always try to achieve whatever we can.”
Behind Moore, Townsend Harris Coach Tim Connor has built an impressive girls program at the Flushing School. They’ve won borough titles in cross-country and outdoor Track & Field. “This is the one that eluded us,” he said. “For the seniors, it was important.”
Connor said the team success in field events, where they scored in all four competitions, proved vital. In the pole vault, for instance, the top five finishers were all Hawks, including the winner, Yewan Salau, at six feet and six inches.
As for Rowe and Muhammad, it was another stellar afternoon. A little more than a week after helping Cardozo defend their Mayor’s Cup title at Madison Square Garden in the 4×400-meter relay, the two were back out there, roasting the rest of the borough.
Rowe not only took home the gold in the 55-meter dash and 55-meter hurdles by lengthy margins, she set a personal best in the latter with a time of 7.86 seconds, just six-tenths off the city record. Muhammad, who injured her right heel at MSG last Friday, breezed to first-place finishes in the 300-meters and the high jump.
While they have already qualified for nationals, taking part amongst the borough’s best certainly held a place in their hearts. “It’s fun,” said Muhammad, who reported no ill effects of the foot injury. “I wanted to help out the team.”
Rowe and Muhammad are just two parts of the unit that that will take part on the grander stage in March. Teammates Allison Lee and Tessa West will also run with them on their top-ranked sprint medley team.
Their coach, Gail Emmanuel, said this would be the fourth consecutive year, since middle sprinter Joy Henry qualified, when the Judges will enter the event against the country’s best. “It’s a combination of hard work, national talent and good coaching,” she said.
“Everybody trains hard.” added Rowe, the No. 4-ranked high school hurdler in the nation. “Everybody wants to keep up the Cardozo name.”