By Phil Murphy
DigitalSports.com
BLOG: January 31, 2008
(Check below the results for video highlights from Thursday’s meet.)
4:48 p.m. – Arrive at Prince George’s Sportsplex still hating I-495 traffic.
4:52 p.m. – Exit restroom. Buy one, get one free Coke Zero’s are not as good of a road-trip idea as initially thought.
4:55 p.m. – Receive instructions for permissible stationing of coaches and media from Langley Director of Student Activities Corey Bowerman.
5:00 p.m. – Announcement of final call for long jump and girls’ shot put.
5:03 p.m. – First events begin on opposite ends of the Sportsplex – Flight 1 of girls’ shot put and Flight 1 of boys’ long jump. Choose to film long jump.
5:09 p.m. – Acknowledge personal lack of athletic ability. Very impressed with Robert Herrity of Chantilly who had three jumps of 18-feet, 6-inches, 19-1 and 19-4.5 in succession. His was the best in Flight 1.
5:14 p.m. – Four events in full swing: Boys’ long jump and girls’ shot put, high jump and long jump. Recognize impossibility of proper coverage for all four. Thank goodness for computerized results.
5:18 p.m. – Recognize prominence of Westfield and Herndon boys’ long jumpers. They hold the top six seeded distances coming into the event.
5:21 p.m. – Try, unsuccessfully, to film preliminaries of girls’ shot put. The event is won by Jesse Echard (Robinson) with a throw of 35-feet, 5.75-inches, still nearly two feet shorter than her regular-season best.
5:26 p.m. – Notice sandwich tray for officials only. Contemplate grabbing the tray and making a run for it.
5:27 p.m. – Russell Green of Herndon long jumps 21-feet, 8.5-inches in preliminaries, but I missed it while diagramming sandwich escape. This was the longest jump of the meet.
5:33 p.m. – Flight 2 of the boys’ long jump is riddled with faults, but three athletes sail more than 20 feet: Green (21-8.5), Westfield’s David Skahn (20-8) and his teammate Julian Bellamy (20-3). Skahn is exactly one inch shy of qualifying for the Virginia AAA State meet.
5:36 p.m. – Gun sounds unexpectedly for girls’ 4×800-meter relay. Duck and cover.
5:38 p.m. – Lauren Pinkston (Herndon) wins long jump at 16-4.5, exactly five inches farther than runner-up sophomore Emma Stewart (Westfield).
5:46 p.m. – Herndon wins 4×800 relay in 9:40.70, qualifying for the state meet with over four seconds to spare – they needed to break 9:44.99.
5:47 p.m. – Inadvertent bell after race completion causes Herndon anchor Hiruni Wijayaratne to start a fifth lap. The PA announcer quickly clarifies that the Hornets have already won. Oakton finishes second at 9:43.47, also qualifying for states. Westfield is third at 9:46.45.
5:48 p.m. – Boys’ 4×800 begins. See 5:36 p.m. entry.
5:51 p.m. – Trying to watch girls’ high jump as it is down to the final six, who have all cleared 4-feet, 6-inches: Leah Soukup (Chantilly), Caroline Reist (Robinson), Jade Murray (Fairfax), Marian Dougherty (Robinson), Danielle Theberge (Herndon) and Haley Boone (Westfield).
5:53 p.m. – Reconsidering sandwich escape.
5:54 p.m. – Oakton, anchored by cross-country sensation Joe LoRusso, wins the 4×800 in 8:14.03, shaving :0.24 seconds off of its seed time. Robinson and Centreville round out the top three.
5:55 p.m. – Instantaneous 180 to view the girls’ high jump, which is down to five. All cleared 4-8 except Murray, a freshman.
6:10 p.m. – Four-feet, eight-inches is seemingly the cap for all except Theberge and Dougherty. Dougherty, a junior, outlasts sophomore Theberge to take the event, clearing 5-feet.
6:17 p.m. – Bowerman is kind enough to allow access to the sandwich table. Immediately make him regret his conscientiousness.
6:21 p.m. – The 55-meter preliminaries are beginning. Quickly terminate sandwich eating for the time being.
6:23 p.m. – Sophomore Audrey Berry (Robinson) clocks the fastest girls’ time with 7.48 seconds. Ten sprinters are under eight seconds.
6:25 p.m. – The boys’ pole vault is narrowing down, but there is entirely too much sprinting to focus on the body propelling occurring just feet behind.
6:26 p.m – Sophomore David Ladd (Fairfax) has the quickest boys’ time by nearly a tenth of a second at 6.63. Eleven runners break the seven-second barrier.
6:29 p.m. – Brief recess for another sandwich.
6:33 p.m. – Missing most of boys’ shot put. That’s the consequence of it being furthest away from food table.
6:38 p.m. – Girls’ 55-meter hurdle preliminaries are completed in just three heats. Westfield sweeps the top three: Boone in 9.01 seconds, Mary Boyles in 9.34 and Rachel Dillon in 9.66. Three Chantilly runners round out the top six.
6:42 p.m. – Wesley Sun (Chantilly) is the only competitor to clear 12 feet in pole vault. He is still to attempt 12-6.
6:43 p.m. – Sun leaves pole vault runway to compete in boys’ 55-meter hurdles. He is joined by other prominent vaulters and jumpers: Herrity, Skahn, Robert Obcemea (Herndon), et al.
6:51 p.m. – Herrity wins 55-meter hurdle in a time of 8.23 seconds, edging out Centreville’s Ray Willoughby (8.26). This comes just over an hour after finishing fourth overall in the long jump.
6:55 p.m. – The 55-meter semi-finals are set to begin for the girls. The Sportsplex crew quickly removes the dozens of hurdles littering the track.
6:57 p.m. – Barry continues her dominance in the semifinals of the 55, winning with a time of 7.52 seconds. She is followed by Jordan Grant (Centreville) at 7.62 and Brianna Crowell (Herndon) at 7.69 seconds.
7:03 p.m. – Sun, after a break, clears 12-feet, 6-inches on pole vault. His personal record of 14 feet was set on Jan. 8 at the Montgomery Invitational.
7:04 p.m. – Ladd maintains his top time in the 55-meter race, clocking in at 6.61 seconds. Buggsy Urrutia (Chantilly) finishes second at 6.73, followed by Ryan Tarpey at 6.75. The top six competitors qualify for the finals on Feb. 7.
7:10 p.m. – Complete sandwich No. 5.
7:15 p.m. – Sun pauses on the pole vault runway to hear the announcements of qualifiers for the 55-meter hurdles. He fist pumps when he is listed as having qualified for Lane 5 of the finals.
7:16 p.m. – Sun is unable to clear 13 feet.
7:18 p.m. – Gun sounds for Section 1 of the girls’ 1600-meter run. Ready for it this time.
7:23 p.m. – Best race of the day thus far as Rachel Grochowski (Chantilly), Kelly Kavanaugh (Robinson) and Stephanie Bray (Robinson) trade leads on the final lap of the 1600. Grochowksi outlast the others at 5:30.66. Kavanaugh and Bray were both within seven-tenths of a second after a mile of racing.
7:37 p.m. – New best race of the day in Section 2 of the girls’ 1600. Kerry Hartman (Westfield) wins at 5:06.04, her second best competitive time ever. She outlasted Chantilly’s Lia DiValentin (VHSL AAA cross country runner-up) and Hiruni Wijayaratne of Herndon. The top four runners qualify for the state meet on time. Melissa DiVecchia (Westfield) misses the cut by :0.20 seconds, but improves her personal best by eight seconds.
7:45 p.m – Jared Berman (Robinson) blows away the competition in Section 1 of the boys’ 1600-meter race. Only Fairfax’s Kevin Dowd is within nine seconds of him. Berman’s time of 4:34.46 is good for fourth on the day and a spot in the upcoming regional meet at George Mason University on Feb. 23.
7:48 p.m. – Gun sounds without incident to start the 1600… until I backpedal into the long jump pit while filming the runners on the first turn. Seriously.
7:53 p.m. – LoRusso (4:31.90) holds off teammates Brian Hendricks and Scott Maxfield as Oakton continues their long-distance dominance in the Concorde. LoRusso ran 15 seconds faster just 19 days ago at the Montgomery Invitational. Nevertheless, he qualifies for the regional meet and has the best time in the district.
7:56 p.m. – The generous on-site statistics people offer to send me these stats so this sounds like I know what I’m talking about.
7:58 p.m. – Grab two sandwiches for the road.
Email: pmurphy@digitalsports.com
RESULTS
Girls’ 55-Meter Dash — Semifinals
1. Audrey Barry, Rboinson, 7.52; 2. Jordan Grant, Centreville, 7.62; 3. Brianna Crowell, 7.69; 4. Emily Palmer, Herndon, 7.78; 5. Ashley Banks, Herndon, 7.84; 6. Jensen Smith, Robinson, 7.91.
Girls’ 1000-Meter Run — Section 1 (Section 2 to compete Feb. 7)
1. Katie Hickey, Centreville, 3:11.85; 2. Katie Gleason, Chantilly, 3:16.54; 3. Jessica Wilds, Herndon, 3:16.55; 4. Lauren Montross, Oakton, 3:17.35; 5. Karen Spears, Chantilly, 3:25.27; 6. Erin Burford, Fairfax, 3:35.50.
Girls’ 1600-Meter Run — Finals
1. Kerry Hartman, Westfield, 5:06.04; 2. Lia DiValentin, Chantilly, 5:06.51; 3. Hiruni Wijayaratne, Herndon, 5:06.93; 4. Chrissy Sane, Centreville, 5:15.14; 5. Melissa DiVecchia, Westfield, 5:15.55; 6. Hallie Eilerts, Oakton, 5:18.35.
Girls’ 55-Meter Hurdles — Preliminaries
1. Haley Boone, Westfield, 9.01; 2. Mary Boyles, Westfield, 9.34; 3. Rachel Dillon, Westfield, 9.66; 4. Kim Weinberg, Chantilly, 9.88; 5. Lily Wang, Chantilly, 10.17; 6. Kaitlyn Manley, Chantilly, 10.28.
Girls’ 4×800-Meter Relay — Finals
1. Herndon, 9:40.70; 2. Oakton, 9:43.47; 3. Westfield, 9:46.45; 4. Robinson, 10:00.61; 5. Chantilly, 10:24.69.
Girls’ High Jump — Finals
1. Marian Dougherty, Robinson, 5-0; 2. Danielle Theberge, Herndon, 4-10; T3. Leah Soukup, Chantilly, 4-8; T3.Caroline Reist, Robinson, 4-8; 5. Haley Boone, Westfield, 4-8; 6. Jade Murray, Fairfax, 4-6.
Girls’ Long Jump — Finals
1. Lauren Pinkston, Herndon, 16-4.50; 2. Emma Stewart, Westfield, 15-11.50; 3. Mary Boyles, Westfield, 15-9.50; 4. Julia Croote, Oakton, 15-7.50; 5. Amira Idris, Chantilly, 15-6.75; 6. Marian Dougherty, Robinson, 14-2.50.
Girls’ Shot Put — Finals
1. Jessie Echard, Robinson, 35-5.75; 2. Kaylin Newman, Westfield, 35-0.25; 3. Stephanie White, Centreville, 34-8.00; 4. Kay Onyekwere, Robinson, 33-8.50; 5. Brooke Fremeau, Westfield, 32-4.25; 6. Caitlin Lannes, Westfield, 29-7.50.
Boys’ 55-Meter Dash — Semifinals
1. David Ladd, Fairfax, 6.61; 2. Buggsy Urrutia, Chantilly, 6.73; 3. Ryan Tarpey, Robinson, 6.75; 4. Samson Okai, Herndon, 6.83; 5. Matthew Davis, Westfield, 6.80; 6. Efraem Salas, Chantilly, 6.84.
Boys’ 1000-Meter Run — Section 1 (Section 2 to compete Feb. 7)
1. Sadek Zouaimia, Centreville, 2:51.32; 2. Peter Malm, Westfield, 2:52.88; 3. Justin Feehan, Westfield, 2:58.82; 4. Matthew Cumpian, Chantilly, 2:59.06; 5. Michael Kloosterboer, Herndon, 3:07.61; 6. David Kloosterboer, Herndon, 3:08.01.
Boys’ 1600-Meter Run — Finals
1. Joe LoRusso, Oakton, 4:31.90; 2. Brian Hendricks, Oakton, 4:33.52; 3. Scott Maxfield, Oakton, 4:33.86; 4. Jared Berman, Robinson, 4:34.46; 5. Eric Palmer, Chantilly, 4:34.84; 6. Marty Wester, Robinson, 4:35.71.
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