MoCoRunning






Developmental #2 Notes
By: Kevin Milsted
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
webmaster@mocorunning.com

The meet opened up with the girls' 4x800 relay. Whitman's Tessa Morrison led all competitors by six seconds with a 2:32 opening split. Damascus took over the race on the second leg and went on to win in 10:20. Whitman was second in 10:30 and WJ was third in 10:32.

The boys' 4x800 was a little more exciting on the opening leg, with Damascus's Thomas Arias and WJ's Sean O'Leary fighting to give their team the lead. Both runners came through together in 2:02, but the outcome was the same as the girls race with Damascus taking over the race on the second leg and never looking back. Damascus won in 8:29 with a 'B' team supposedly getting second in 8:38 if they counted all of their laps correctly. Springbrook was third in 8:43.

The strongest hurdlers of the meet were Churchill's Amirah Polite who clocked 8.8, and Whitman's Jonathan Hale who clocked 7.8.

Katie Wolf left the field behind in the 55m dash with a time of about 7.1. The boys race was more competitive, but Clarksburg's Avery Graham still got the win in a blazing fast, hand-timed, 6.1. Although I feel like I have been reporting on the same runners every meet so far, the first surprise of the season seems to be emerging. QO's Pernell Brantley is a rookie on the track. He went from last place after a standing start to catch Blair's Jonathan Haughton at the line for second place. He later split about 22 seconds in the 4x2.

Olivia Ekpone had no challenge in the 300-meter dash, but still ran a very fast 40.5 all alone. The boys 300 was one of the best races of the day with Haughton and Graham facing off for the second time of the day. In the mocorunning preseason poll, fans chose Haughton over Graham to win the 300 county title, but it was Graham looking strong and healthy at this meet. Graham won 35.3 over Haughton in 35.8.

QO's Maddie Kelly and Churchill's Alex Giedd led early in the girls' 1600, but B-CC's Addie Tousley took over a few laps into the race. Giedd held on tightly, but Tousley went on to win in 5:21. Giedd was second in 5:24.

The boys' 1600 went out slow. All the runners knew that Andrew Palmer was the one to beat, but he refused to take the lead. After two laps, WJ's Sean O'Leary pushed the pace when no one else would. Palmer sat comfortably behind O'Leary and whoever else wanted to run in the front until RM's Sam Martin took over the lead with two laps to go. Martin separated from the field with Palmer following. Unfortunately, it appeared that Martin thought he was done when he reached the finish line. Palmer blew by him for the final lap and got the win in 4:34. Sean King worked his way up over the final two laps to get second in 4:36.

Excitement built throughout the meet as rumors swirled about Olivia Ekpone running her first 500-meter dash. Not only was the rumor true but she was also up against Wolf of Churchill. Ekpone looked so comfortable when she started you'd never guess it was her first. Wolf on the other hand looked sluggish and the race quickly turned into a race for second place between Wolf and Morrison. Ekpone won in 1:18 while Wolf edged out Morrison in 1:21.

In the boys' 500, QO's Wayne Bartholmew came through the 200 in 27 and took off. He separated from the field and got an easy win in 1:07. He ran about 54 seconds for 400 meters en-route.

The girls 3200 was a rather bizarre race. It was a small field which should have been easily dominated by Tousley, but Tousley ran a very slow first mile (intentionally). Rockville's Amy Ferro held the lead for much of the race until Tousley began to race and took over the lead with a half mile to go. Tousley got her second win of the day in 12:41, while a pair from Damascus, Courtney Mason and Megan Patton, took second and third respectively.

Sherwood's Kyle Balderson must have been feeling pretty good because he created a large lead in the first few laps of the boys 3200. But he hit the wall and wasn't able to finish the job. WJ's Roni Teich took over in the second mile and spent the remainder of the race with no one to run with except those who he was lapping. He got the win in 10:08. With Balderson a distant second in 10:20.

Blair swept the girls and boys 4x2's. The girls ran 1:50.3 with a 26 second anchor leg from Sarah McMillian. The boys ran 1:35.

In the girls 800, Alex Carroll of Damascus opened up a large lead from the field on the second leg, but Churchill's Alex Giedd tracked her down and passed her on the fourth lap. But it was Clarksburg's Lauren Sumner who emerged in the final 50 meters and moved to the front at the finish line for the win in 2:30.

Bartholomew was just as dominant in the 800 as he was in the 500. Whitman's Andrew Palmer and Damascus's Thomas Arias tried to stick with him, but Bartholomew had too much speed and won in 2:01. Palmer and Arias were very close for second place in 2:02.

Damascus girls and boys swept the 4x4's. The Damascus girls ran 4:24 and featured a leadoff of about 62 or 63 from Lakayja Alston. The boys ran 3:35 with a leadoff split of 52 from Devante Thomas and a 53 split from anchor Cecil Jonas.

Blair's Victor Wang became the fourth Montgomery County athlete to join the 50 foot club in the shot put this season.






NameComments

SBtrack
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
07:47:12 PM
It was a very exciting meet, lot's of eyes need to be on the new QO sprinter, he's very talented, him and Mitchell Pollard should make an interesting mix at counties for Avery, Johnathan and others. However, in the 4x800, Damascas B did skip a lap as on the fourth leg they received the baton behind Springbrook by over 30m, and they did not pass us the entire race... It is highly possible that Ekpone will triple the 55, 300, 500, considering their lack of relays this year. Great meet everyone.

Sbtrack
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
07:48:44 PM
this is the second time i've spelled your name wrong, Jonathan. My Bad.

Embrassed
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
07:50:37 PM
DAMASCUS is OMG wow

Anonymous
Thursday, January 01, 2009
03:02:58 AM
to be honest i think that they are ok like i have felt in the past pg is the greatest and no one can mess with them but moco got some iight sprinters but states lets go

MUSCLES BABE
Thursday, January 01, 2009
10:47:06 AM
Wow! Olivia Ekpone has suprised me so far this year with her first win in the 500. In fact, my former Damascus team is doing REALLY amazing w/ so many new people this year like Lakarja,(hope i spelled that right!) Alex Carroll, Jen Carillo, & so many other new faces. I'll say that my sister & i are HUGE fans of TRACK, so, we watch basically everyone & cheer on everybody. All you talented runners/jumpers/hurdlers out there, GOOD LUCK W/ EVERYTHING, & Olivia, keep suprising everyone, because you have amazing talent, & you make my sister & i smile everytime you show us your speed!!

Anonymous
Saturday, January 03, 2009
09:29:20 PM
Wayne wasnt the only one in the 500 you know


Contribute to the Discussion
- Add A Comment


Email | About | Misc