There’s still plenty of life in Riley
UB grad wins open 800; Taylor triumphs in open 400
VESTAL — Buffalo’s Paul Riley wasn’t sure if he could still run with the college guys. Morris Taylor of Albion wasn’t sure he was ready to.
They each ended up getting an Empire State Games gold medal hung around their neck.
Riley, who hadn’t competed since graduating from the University at Buffalo a year ago, won the men’s open 800 meters Saturday at Binghamton University. Taylor, who will run at Erie Community College next year, won the men’s open 400 meters even though he just graduated from Albion High.
“I decided to get back into running and see if I could do this,” said Riley, an assistant track coach at Canisius High. “I’m so glad I did this, and went out on top.”
Riley won in a time of 1:53.06, his fourth-best time ever, a step ahead of Damian Drummond of Brooklyn (1:53.34). Drummond broke away from the pack on the second of two laps, but Riley stayed right with him.
“I was right on his tail — I heard his teammates screaming, ‘He’s coming, he’s coming,’ ” said Riley, who said he is seeking a teaching job with his English degree. “He and I were just battling the last 150 meters. It was probably the hardest race I’ve ever run.”
Riley took the lead in the final stretch and crossed the finish line with a smile on his face.
“A little smile — I think I was a little surprised that I won,” said Riley.
Taylor ran a personal-best 47.62, ahead of Hempstead’s Alie Beauvais (48.47), who participated in the NCAA Division II championships for Lincoln (Mo.) University, and Akinto Boone (48.56), a recent Newburgh High grad who has competed in several national meets.
“I was a little nervous because I was one of the youngest ones out here,” said Taylor. “At first I just tried to keep up with them because they just pulled away. I just tried to keep calm and relaxed and picked it up. Then I had a good finish, like I always do. . . . Now they can respect me somewhat because they didn’t know who I was.”
Andrew Hart won the 5,000 by eight seconds (15:06.03) as a Western team member — he’s a Cornell student and Ithaca native spending the summer doing psychology research in Buffalo with classmate Brad Bogdan, a Canisius grad who won the 10,000 meters Friday. East Aurora native and Geneseo runner Ryan O’Connor was fifth in the 5,000.
Java Center’s Jordan Hamm, who will be a senior at Canisius High this fall, took the bronze in the men’s scholastic 800 in 2:02.43 — just 0.18 seconds away from silver.
Brian Archie Jr. of Niagara Falls was part of the bronze-medal winning men’s scholastic 400 relay.
Reggie Rucker, who starred at the University at Buffalo before he graduated this spring, couldn’t add to the gold he won in the 110 hurdles Friday. Rucker felt some tightness in his chest in the 400 hurdles and pulled up to finish last in the seven-runner field.
Rucker says he is pursuing a goal of reaching the world championships.
“I’ve got to go for the dream — I just can’t stop until I get there,” said Rucker, a native of Rochester. “If I don’t make [the national team] for America, my wife is from Haiti so I can be a Haitian citizen and try it that way.”
