By Elliot Denman // Photo by John Nepolitan

Even with Blaise Ferro, one of the most talented distancemen in the nation, sitting this one out -- he stayed home, a bit under the weather -- the power-packed Christian Brothers Academy lineup still outclassed its eight rivals to claim the boys invitational distance medley title in nation-leading time at the 16th annual Marine Corps Holiday Classic at the New Balance Armory Track Center.

The Tuesday special -- again played out to the "Halls of Montezuma to the Shores of Tripoli" / Semper Fi theme -- again attracted much of the Northeast's top talent and the meet lived up to much of its billing with three USA Number One marks at this early stage of the 2015-16 indoor campaign.

Drake Anzano, the reigning New Jersey Meet of Champions outdoor 1600 meter champion, more than ably filled in for teammate Ferro with a 4:20.7 anchor eight laps that brought the Lincroft, N.J. Colts home in 10:26.79,  holding off previous national Number One St. Joseph's by the Sea (which ran 10:28.45), third-place Fordham Prep (10:33.21) and six other schools in a prime-time feature event.

Sean Martinek led it off for CBA -- owner of one of the nation's most venerable distance records -- with a 3:12.7 1200 meters.  Brendan Bodisch put CBA in the lead with his 51.7 two laps; sprint/400 specialist Mike Zupko moved up to the 800 for the first time to leg a 2:01.6 and keep the Colts in the lead group, and Anzano did the rest.

Anzano fought off Nick Velez of St. Joseph's by the Sea (who ran 4:21.1) and Conor Miller of Fordham Prep (4:29.6) to give CBA the nation-leading triumph.

"I knew what my strength was, and that was the last 200," said Anzano, a 4:11 miler. "I've run against Velez before; I know how strong he can be.  I just had to be ready to make my move."

"My coach (Karl Torchia) asked me to step up (to the 800)," said the Princeton-bound Zupko. "So we kind of switched everybody around. I thought he was joking (about running 800) at first, it turned out he was being serious. It (800) felt a little weird, but it actually was fun."

Martinek set the early tone for the CBA triumph. "Basically, my job was to stay with the leaders, feel really comfortable, then in the last 100 (of his 3200) just let it rip," he said.

"Sure it's nice being the fastest in the country, but it's so early in the season," knew Anzano. "We're all going to go a lot faster."

Climbing to the top of the 2015-16 seasonal charts along with CBA were the Western Branch, Md. boys 4x200 squad (1:28.61) and the Lakeland-Panas, N.Y. girls in their own distance medley (12:19.19.)  

Grace Bugara gave Lakeland-Panas a commanding lead in the girls DMR with her 3:40.6 1200, but Sunny Nagpaul had to preserve the win with a 5:04.7 anchor 1600 carry. Maggie McCarthy (63.1) handled 400 duty and Jenna Pressman (2:30.8) ran the 800 leg.

"This was a phenomenal experience for all of us," said Lakeland-Panas coach Mike Coffey. "I didn't run in college - I was a music major - but coaching these girls is a fantastic thing.  They make my job easy."

Nailing down coveted spots in the classic Millrose Games back at the Armory on Feb. 20 by virtue of their Invitation Mile wins in this one were McDonogh (Owings Mills, Md.) School's Dalton Hengst in the boys race (4:22.69) and Friends (Pa.) Academy's Gabrielle Wilkinson (4:57.75) in the girls event. 

Hengst is just a sophomore with worlds of potential.  He'd once been a soccer player, but now that's he's focused on running realizes there's so much more ahead.  "I feel so much stronger than I did at this time last year," he said.  "Just qualifying for Millrose is a great achievement, specially so as a sophomore. At this point, my goals are not based on time. I just want to go out and win a lot of races."

One-mile steeplechase races gave the barrier-steppers a rare chance to show their skills in an indoor meet and Archbishop Molloy's Kieran Rock came through with a boys win (4:51.98) and Brooklyn Tech's Aziza Chigataeva (5:53.25) claimed the girls title.  No water jumps, of course, in these, just two of those sturdy obstacles to negotiate each lap.

Last spring's Outdoor Nationals 2000-meter steeplechase was a semi-forgettable experience for Rock, a senior bound for Adelphi University as a physical therapy major. "I fell, hurt my ankle and then actually finished last," he said. "But it was still a fun experience. I hope I qualify for OutdoorNationals again, I know I can run it a lot better. 

"But our real goal this year is the 4x800 relay. Molloy has a great team, we've already run 8:07, and there's a long way yet to go."Rock more than lived up to a Marine Corps recruiting message: "It's only through the harshest obstacles that you can reach your full potential."

The pace was quick from early morning to early evening and honors were widely spread among the Marine Corps' multi-state entry constituency. Triumphant on the 55-meter center straightaway were Newburgh Free Academy's

Jahniqu Dessaline in the boys sprint (6.47) and Middleton, Delaware's Daija Lampkin in the girls race (7.03), along with hurdlers Chris Duhaney of Uniondale (7.62) and Alyssa Sandy of Paul Robeson High (8.02.)

The Invitation 300-meter dashes delivered the expected lap-and-a-half thrills with the wins going to Bishop Loughlin's Nicholas Orosco (35.42) and Oscar Smith (Chesapeake, Va.) High's Destiny Ward (38.80.)

Back in June 1991, Penn Wood (Landsdowne, Pa.) High School alumnus Leroy Burrell came to New York and blazed to a world-record 9.90 100-meter clocking at the then-Downing Stadium on Randall's Island.  These days, he's the head track coach at the University of Houston.

Well, that's our way of saying that the Penn Wood program is continuing to churn out top performers and most impressive here were the Landsdowners' pair of wins in the Invitation 800-meter races.  Dennis Manyeah of Penn Wood nosed out Mike Kolor of Seneca Valley, 1:56.13 to 1:56.30, to win the boys four-lapper, and Penn Wood did even better in the girls event, as teammates Agnes Mansaray (2:16.35) and Terri Turner (2:16.83) ran 1-2.

"My plan is to continue to run the 800 and see if I can someday run with the world's best; yes, that is my plan," said Mansaray.

More Penn Wood glory followed in the girls 4x400 relay (3:55.82), along with a near-miss second place in the boys 4x400 back of winning Newburgh Free Academy, 3:23.97 to 3:24.73.  Newburgh had also blazed to a 1:28.93 in the boys 4x200, only to be nosed out by Western Branch's 1:28.61.

Moving right along - and these relay winners did just that - were the Paul Robeson 4x200 girls (1:38.90); and the 4x55 shuttle-hurdling Weequahic boys of Newark (30.34) and Western Branch girls (33.59.)

Family gatherings, as ever, are among the great delights of every Holiday Season and the Slagus siblings of North Pocono High School of Covington Township, Pa continue to take it an extra step.

As Matt Slagus of North Pocono was whirling his way to a 60-10 1/2 win in the boys weight throw event, sister Jessica was dominating the girls weight throw with a toss of 51-4 1/2.  Their sister, Jennifer, now starring at the University of South Florida, had preceded Matt and Jessica in the ring at North Pocono.

Jordan West of Rahway completely dominated the boys shot put with a 57-11 1/2 triumph (no other boy reached 50 feet), and Ashley Alexander of Cheltenham, Pa. led the girl putters at 37-6 3/4.

Moving over to the jumps, New Jersey claimed a pair of high jump wins with Trenton Central's Semaj Willis (6-6) and Union Catholic's Tyler Scott (5-4); Jericho's Matthew Su (21-9) and Cheltenham's Madison Langley-Walker (18-2) topped the long jumpers, and Western Branch's Gary Williams (45-0) and North Rockland's Anika Dwyer (37-2 1/2) took triple jump honors. Pole vault champions were Westhill, Ct.'s Marc DeLuca (13-6) and Commack's Amanda McNelis (11-6.)

At opening ceremonies, meet attendees paid a moment of silence for veteran track official Ronald McLean, who passed away two days ago. All the while, the meet was dedicated to familiar Marine Corps philosophy: "In the end, when a challenge is given, the question isn't whether it can be done.

Find the meet's results, photos, race footage and interviews here:

http://www.armorytrack.com/gprofile.php?do=view_event&event_id=7071&mgroup_id=45586&year=2015