Cammer, a senior at Walt Whitman, held off a late rally by North Babylon's Kris Moran to win the boys race in 4:27.95. Moran, out front for the first half of the race, had fallen back to eighth or ninth with 200 meters left. He ran out of room, finishing second in 4:28.13.

"I knew it was up in the air," Cammer said of his chances coming into Friday.

He has run 4:19.90 for 1,600 meters.

Friday's race trudged through a slow first half mile before Nick Costello of Delsea tried to make a decisive move at the midpoint. He gained more than 15 yards on the field but the pack eventually pulled him back in.

"If it was a faster race that move might have been enough," Cammer conceded.

For his part, Cammer bided his time and got into position with two laps to go and had enough kick in his legs to get to the finish line first. The girls race was even more exciting. Tiana Guevera, a junior from Miller Place, waged a fierce battle with Kellenberg's Jazmine Fray over the final 400 before pulling out the victory, 5:02.65 to 5:03.84. They were both 10 seconds clear of third place.

The lead exchanged hands three times over a a thrilling final 200, with Guevera mounting a final attempt around the last corner and pulling back into the lead in the final 40 yards.

"I was standing in the shower last night saying 'I've got to win this!' I was on the bus today thinking 'I've got to win this!'" Guevera said. Guevera was thinking the same thing, again, in the final half lap.

Cammer and Guevera join earlier Bishop Laughlin Games qualifiers Chris Marco of Toms River South (N.J.) andSabrina Southerland of Benjamin Cardozo in the Millrose high school mile fields.