Amityville's Barrett leads host of Long Island winners at Federation meet

June 12, 2010 by MARCUS HENRY / marcus.henry@newsday.com

VESTAL, N.Y. - You'd think tying a school record in addition to winning a Federation title would be enough for an athlete.

Not for Amityville's Sancho Barrett.

Barrett considers himself a perfectionist, so he thought things could have gone slightly better at the state track and field championships Saturday.

The junior's smooth demeanor and routine helped him to a Federation title in the 110-meter hurdles in a school record-tying time of 14.14 seconds, just ahead of second-place finisher Elijah Pardo of St. John the Baptist.

"I really wanted to run 13. I actually hit the last hurdle a little that slowed me up at the end," Barrett said. "But when I saw 14.14, I knew I had a great race."

What was most impressive about Barrett's performance was that he shaved a good chunk of time off what he ran in the NYSPHSAA Division I championship race (14.33).

"It wasn't that hard," Barrett said. "I just relaxed and used the first race as a warm-up. I made sure I focused on coming back stronger."