By Christopher King
“Honestly, I was expecting us to place fifth, sixth, or seventh, right on the borderline [of getting into the Millrose Games],” said David Johnson, who stepped in recently after an injury to a teammate. “It was a last-minute thing because one of my other guys pulled a hamstring,” added Francis Lewis coach Ralph Montanaro. “I had to do a substitution and [Johnson] demonstrated speed in some of the drills and workouts.”Francis Lewis had a strong fourth leg of the race, finishing just .79 seconds behind second-place East New York Transit Tech for a final time of 3:35.80″We had a good race, so it felt real good,” Johnson said. “If we had a bad showing it wouldn't have felt as good, but we had a nice showing.”The last time Francis Lewis competed in the Millrose Games, more than 30 years ago, Montanaro was running for the school.”The last time I was here was '74,” said Montanaro. “So, to be back here as a coach brings back a lot of memories.””It goes to show how this team has turned around,” Andres Cabrera added. After this year's success Johnson is hungry for more.”We have three juniors and a senior [returning], so next year we should be back next time,” he said, “hopefully, trying to win it.”
