Feb 23, 2016 2 min read Education

Brooklyn Kid Runners Sweep The Podium At NYRR’s 2016 Millrose Games

Henry Kurzawa, Kymoy Phillip, and Dubar Smalls (front) with NYRR CEO/President Michael Capiraso and NYRR President of Events Peter Ciaccia. (Photo courtesy of NYRR.)

Congratulations are in order for the pre-teen winners of the inaugural New York Road Runners (NYRR) Young Runners 800 Meter Finals at the 2016 Millrose Games! The top three medal-winning kids in both the girls and boys races blew the crowd away with their speed and determination — and all but one of them hail from Brooklyn, specifically Park Slope, Clinton Hill, and Bed-Stuy.

For the Boys 800 Meter Final, P.S. 9 alum/MS 88 student/Clinton Hill 11-year-old Kymoy Phillip won first place, tying his existing best time for the win at 2:33:67 minutes. In second place was P.S. 21 Young Runner Dubar Smalls with a time of 2:37:18, and in third was P.S. 107 runner Henry Kurzawa with 2:39:00 minutes.

“The pros taught me to never give up,” said Kymoy. “Just do your race. Even if you know you can’t [make a good time], keep going. Don’t quit. The important thing is to just finish your race.”

“The process with Kymoy is he’s always been fast, so he just had to go through the transition of breathing properly and pacing himself,” explained his coach Yvonne Pringle. “We needed to channel his energy. Not every race is about taking off fast.”

For the Girls 800 Meter Final, P.S. 107 students/alums Bella Stenhouse (2:37:08) and Rosie Coats (2:41:40) came in first and second place, with Manhattan student Stella Teeter coming in third (2:42:85). Coats actually beat her own personal best, which was previously 2:44.

Fellow Brooklynite Karess Pringle-Wishner, of P.S. 9, came in fourth place with a time of 2:56:04.

“The pros inspired me that no matter what you do in life, you can always accomplish, find different things you like in life,” said Karess Pringle-Wishner.