St. Anthony's Louis Santelli takes advantage of home track, winning CHSAA 800

When Louis Santelli steps on the St. Anthony's track, a wave of calm engulfs him. He is at home and, to paraphrase an old saying, there's no place quite like it. So it's fortunate that so many important meets take place where the senior feels most comfortable.

"It's an advantage," Santelli said of running on his home turf. "Training on it every day, you know the little quirks, like where the wind is coming from. Generally speaking, the most wind is on the second turn. I'm so comfortable on this track. I've never really run poorly [here]."

The latest important meet held at St. Anthony's came Saturday, the CHSAA championship.

The home-track advantage paid major dividends for Santelli in his nail-biting victory over Chaminade's Sean Kelly in the 800 meters. Santelli won in 1 minute, 55.56 seconds. Kelly was second in 1:55.92. Santelli outmuscled Kelly on the final straightaway, thanks in part to his extensive knowledge of the track.

"Going around the final turn, I was right on his shoulder," he said. "I know where I make my move when I do workouts. In the last 100 meters, when I go around the turn, I go out and start sprinting. It lined up perfectly, because that's what I had to do [today]. I moved to the outside, went up next to him, and the rest followed suit. I slowly started to pull away from him, he came back up on me, and in the final 20 meters, I finally pulled away and got the win."

The victory was one of many for St. Anthony's, which ran away with the league title, scoring 122 points, 56 more than second-place Chaminade.

Santelli also won the 1,600 meters in 4:23.51. "I went out slow," he said. "I wanted to make sure I had a lot for a kick because I knew that [Chaminade's] Gunnar Nolan has incredible leg speed at the end of a race."

SEE PHOTOSNSCHSAA track and field league championships

Mozai Nelson won the 100 in 10.82 seconds and the 200 in 22.19 seconds. "I got out really well in the 100," Nelson said.

Brian Kreider and Frederick Buckholtz set the tone for the Friars' dominance early in the day, finishing first and second in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Kreider won in 10:07.11. Buckholtz was second in 10:09.19.

"I led from the start," Kreider said. "A couple times in the race, people came up on my shoulder. But I kept on pushing."

Michael Rodriguez won the high jump, clearing 6 feet, 2 inches. Rodriguez also won the long jump, going 21-6 and took second in the triple jump, flying 41-9. Luke Schapfel won the pole vault, clearing 13-1.

Despite St. Anthony's dominance, St. John the Baptist's Oscar Frisby won MVP of the field events, taking first in the shot put (50-1) and discus (146-4).