HOWARD COUNTY INVITATIONAL

by Brad Jaeger

Most people were expecting a warm and comfortable morning, but the clouds at race start had not burned off and most people had wished they had brought a sweatshirt.  Meet director Norm Belden of Reservoir High School was frantically running around at 9:30am.  “I hope my officials show up,” said Bolden, but luckily they all arrived on time.

During the week Belden was fielding calls from coaches trying to get into the meet, but the meet was completely filled. The TC Williams invite was abruptly cancelled in Virginia and many of those teams were scrambling for an alternative.

The first heat of the girls 100 trials started with a recall. The timer banged the sensor and the computer recorded two starts.  The first heat then went to Charlene Fowler of Park View (Va) in 12.6. Second heat  won by Thea Smith of Milford Mill in 13.1.  Third heat – Christina Johnson, Wilde Lake. 12.40. 4th heat – Amanda Washington – Gaithersburg  12.9.  5th heat – Krystin Lawson, Wise – 13.4. The final heat and rerun of the original first heat went to Sha Nea Robinson of Milford Mill in 12.8.

The boys 100 trials had Spencer Wilkins of Mt Hebron winning in 11.3. Russ Forte of Howard took the second heat in 11.2. Peter Ndiang of Wilde Lake just held off AJ Bonavitacola of Howard in the third heat in 11.2. Antione Johnson of Gaithersburg led a blanket finish with Sam Ndiyo of Wise and Donovan Brown of Wilde Lake in 11.2. The last heat went to Patrick Balderson of LInganore in an eased up 11.1.

Lyndsie Ludwig of CM Wright won the opening heat of the girls 100 hurdles in 16.7. Thea LaFond of Kennedy took the second heat in 15.9. So far in the first two heats, three lanes minimum have been missing of athletes. Christina Johnson of Wilde Lake in the third heat in 15.9 with Jen Bates of Eastern Tech in second.  The last heat had Taylor Butler of Bishop McNamara winning in 15.9 despite stutter stepping the last two hurdles.

At the start of the boys 110 hurdle trials at 11AM, the sun was trying to poke through the clouds as Owen Cain of Gaithersburg won in 15.2.  Ernest Cooper of Wise won the second heat easily in 15.2 and once again with many no shows in the race. Blake Pomeroy of Linganore took the third heat in 16.7. The last heat went to Jackson Jordan of Mt. Hebron in 14.65.

In the girls 3200 relay, Dunbar went out to a very fast last with Howard and Hereford about 10 meters back after the first 400. Howard reeled her in at the 600 mark and handed off in the lead. Atholton moved up to second at the handoff with Hereford third. Park View and Long Reach followed.  After the first lap of the second leg, there was a tight pack of five team with Atholton taking over the lead.  Hereford moved into the lead at the handoff with Atholton about five meters back. Dunbar went back into the lead as they, Hereford and Atholton separate themselves from the rest of the field. Dunbar is increasing their lead at the handoff for the anchor leg.  Jenna Cimino of Hereford has a seven second deficit to make up on the anchor leg. Wilde Lake with a strong kick moves into third.  Hereford and Atholton has cut the lead in half after one lap and Cimino catches her before the 600 mark and is pulling away in the last 150. Cimino anchors in 2:19.72 as Hereford wins in 9:59.43. SPLITS GIRLS 3200 RELAY.

A small field in the boys 3200 relay as the top two seeds LInganore and Loyola do not show up on the starting line leaving Gaithersburg and Mt. Hebron as the favorite. Gaithersburg takes the early lead with Mt. Hebron and Hereford following. Both Hebron and Hereford pass Gburg with 100 left in the leg. Hereford hands off first in about 2:03. Hereford is leading Hebron  coming into the second handoff as Kennedy passes Gaithersburg for third.  Hebron quickly takes the lead from Hereford on the backstretch. Tom Gorman has put 25 meters on Hereford coming into the handoff. Ryan Chelton of Hereford has closed it to two meters on Zach Weinstein of Hereford after a lap and Antonio Palmer of Gburg is trying to close on Kennedy. Coming into the finish Chelton just holds off Weinstein for the win in 8:17.6 with Ryan Chelton anchoring in 1:58.4. Palmer gets Kennedy at the line for third for Gaithersburg. (Sorry about the splits – messed up).

Ernest Cooper of Wise beats Jackson Jordan of Hebron by a step in the boys 110 hurdle finals. Taylor Butler of McNamara over Christina Johnson of Wilde Lake in the girls 100 hurdles in 15.09. Patrick Balderson of Linganore over Javarie Johnson of Dunbar in the boys 100 dash final (11.2) and Amanda Washington of Gaithersburg and Charlene Fowler of Park View in almost a dead heat with Washington winning in 12.71.

The girls 1600 had two heats. The first heat had Maya Little of Dunbar in the lead at the 400 in 1:22.7. Smith still in the lead at the 800 (2:52.8/1:30.2). Smith at the 1200 (4:25.7/1:32.9). Smith stays on for the win in 5:53.2. (1:27.4). The fast heat had Sara Bailey of CM Wright, Jenna Cimino of Hereford and Kathryn Franke of Loch Raven as the favorites with Elyse Borisko of Howard also expecting to be in the lead pack. Angela Bonham of Dunbar goes out fast but at the 400 all the leaders had reeled her in passing the 400 in about 1:16.0. Bailey took command on the backstretch of the second lap putting 10 meters on the field at the 800 passing in 2:34.0. Cimino, Borisko, Franke and Abby Spitler of Gaithersburg were all following now 20 meters back at the 1000. Cimino is moving on the backstretch as Franke tries to pass on the outside with 200 to go. Coming down homestretch Bailey holds off a fast charging Cimino in 5:11.4. Borisko holds off Franke for third and Spitler takes fifth. GIRLS 1600 SPLITS

Boys 1600
1st heat leaders –  400 Matthew Feather, Bishop McNamara (1:07.7); 800 Kenny Link, Eastern Tech (1:14.4/2:22.3); 1200 David Eastman, Howard (1:14.7/3:37.0); 1600 Eastman (1:14.7/4:51.7).
2nd heat leaders – 400 Mike DeVanzo, Perry Hall (1:07.9); 800 Adam Rudy, Linganore (1:13.2/2:20.7); 1200 Devanzo (1:15.3/3:36.1); 1600 Matt Erford, Loyola (1:07.7/4:43.0).
Seed heat – Graham Bazell, Sumath Kuppalli and Joey Thompson are looking to make this a fast race. Kuppalli said before the race that he does not want to lead for a change and with Thompson liking to sit and kick, it could either be up to Bazell to push the pace or have a slow first 800.

Surprisingly Thompson took the lead and Bazell and Kuppalli sat in behind him. Coming through the 400 Thompson had the lead in 1:04.3. Kuppalli took over at the 600 as the pace started to lag and Bazell went with him. At the 800, Kuppalli had the lead at 2:14.4. Thompson has fallen off by three meters. At the 1000 Bazell takes over the pace and Kuppalli sits in behind. At the 1200 in 3:19.4. Bazelll starts to get some distance on the backstretch, but Kuppalli is staying with him. Coming down the final stretch they are side by side, in the last 50 Kuppalli pulls away by two meters for the win in 4:18.9. Bazell also under 4:20 and Thompson third.  BOYS 1600 SPLITS

Girls 400 heat winners – 1st heat - Paris Scott, Dunbar 59.2; 2nd heat - Danielle Scott, Gaithersburg 1:05.7; 3rd heat – Alexis Stroman, Bishop McNamara 1:01.80; 4th heat - Sha Nea Robinson, Milford Mill 1:01.1; 5th heat – Alissa Jewell, Gaithersburg 57.8.
Boys 400 heat winners – 1st heat – DeaAngelo Boomer, Dunbar 54.2; 2nd heat – Akeel Alleyne, Perry Hall 56.2; 3rd heat – Everett Palmer, Loyola 54.4; 4th heat – Rusty Martin, Linganore 52.4; 5th heat – Antonio Palmer, Gaithersburg 49.9.
The girls 3200 had Elyse Borisko of Howard as the favorite. Two CM Wright runners, Shannon Rafferty and Hannah McKenzie were the next highest seeds as Abby Spitler and Keri Wilson were no shows. Maya Little of Dunbar went out to the lead and was caught by Borisko at the 600. Borisko passed the 800 in the lead and the two CM Wright girls had gone by the Dunbar runner. Borisko hit the 1200 in 4:18 with a three second lead over Rafferty. The 1600 had Borisko in the lead at 5:46.4. With a lap to go Borisko has a 13 second lead over Rafferty. The Howard runner comes in for the win at 11:37.0. Shannon Rafferty second at 11:53.4.  GIRLS 3200 SPLITS

Boys 3200 1st heat leaders – 400 Rylan King, Atholton (1:16.1); 800 Gamika Perrera, Kennedy (1:23.04/2:39.5); 1200 Andrew Parlette, Atholton (1:20.96/4:00.5); 1600 Parlette (1:24.8/5:25.3); 2000 Parlette (1:28.3/6:53.6); 2400 Tommy Vereb, Park View (1:25.7/8:19.3); 2800 Vereb (1:25.3/9:44.5) 3200 Vereb (1:15.3/10:59.5).

The top three seeds in the boys 3200 have opted out of this event, so Mike Glassman of Loch Raven is the top seed followed by Steve Otradovec of CM Wright and the Jones brothers of Linganore.  At the 800 there are 10 runners together at 2:30.6. Coming into the 1600 there still is a pack of six runners together. The favorites plus Constantine Maroukis of Hebron and Paul Otradovec of Wright. The 1600 splits was 5:03.8.  Glassman has fallen off the pace after five laps and  seems done for this race. Maroukis has taken the lead with Roy Jones and the two CM Wright brothers right on his shoulder.  Glassman has pulled it back together and is passing Tim Jones for fifth. At the gun lap, the four runners are all together – literally. Roy Jones starts his kick with 200 left and is leaving the field behind. Jones holds on for the win in 10:06.4. BOYS 3200 SPLITS

Girls 300 Hurdles – 1st heat – Tarnisha Hood, Dunbar  57.4; 2nd heat  - Kathy Lehew, Perry Hall 52.1; 3rd heat -  Julia Anyaugo, Park View 52.3; 4th heat – Taylor Butler, Bishop McNamara 47.2

Boys 300 Hurdles – 1st heat – Abdul Taylor, Dunbar 44.1; 2nd heat – Blake Pomeroy, Linganore 43.8; 3rd heat – Luke Durkin, Hereford 41.7; 4th heat – Ernest Cooper, Wise 37.8.

Girls 200 heat winners – 1st heat – Tarnisha Hood, Dunbar 27.6; 2nd heat – Nicole Jenkins, Kennedy 28.2; 3rd heat – Brittany Lough , Eastern Tech – 27.6; 4th heat – Monet Patterson, Perry Hall 25.3; 5th heat – Funmi Alabi, Long Reach 25.00

Boys 200 heat winners – 1st heat – Clifton Johnson, Dunbar 22.8; 2nd heat – John Williams, Perry Hall 23.9; 3rd heat – John Davenport, Loyola 22.7; 4th heat – Russ Forte, Howard 22.5; 5th heat – Obi Ukwama, Long Reach 22.1

Girls 800
Heat One – 400 Katelyn Heydt, Perry Hall (1:19.8);  800 Heydt (2:49.3)
Heat Two – 400 Caroline Parris, Cavlert (1:10.6); 800 Abby Spitler, Gaithersburg (1:18.6/2:29.3)
Heat Three – Sarah Bailey and Kathryn Franke are back for the seeded 800. Franke has a little more speed, so it will be interesting to see if she can hold off Bailey. Franke goes out to a 8 meter lead after the first 200 with Bailey sitting in the middle of the pack.  Franke passes the 400 in 1:08.6 with a 5 second lead over Deiona French of Bishop McNamara.  At the 600 Alex Guinn of Wilde Lake tries to go into second, but Megan Barnes of Park View goes by them both. Franke is all alone coming down the stretch and wins in 2:22.6 (1:14.50). Barnes and Guinn follow and Bailey finishes fourth.

Boys 800
Heat One –  400 Nathan Carriere, Wilde Lake (1:02.1); 800 Jordan Owens, Park View (1:07.6/2:10.6)
Heat Two – 400 Tom Gorman, Mt. Hebron (1:00.5); 800 Gorman (1:03.2/2:03.7)
Heat Three – Sumanth Kuppalli is back after his 1600 win and Antoinio Palmer is here after his 400 win.  Add in 50.0/1:57.2 runner Joe Orsulak and depending on everyone’s motivation, the race could be quick. Palmer gets out quick, followed by Brett Fleury of Loyola, Kuppalli tucks in behind Palmer and Orsulak goes on the outside. Palmer passes 400 in 56.4 with Orsulak and Kuppalli on his tail. Those three are kickikng down the backstretch, Palmer still holding the lead. Coming down the homestretch, Palmer looks the tightest and wins in 1:54.8. Kuppalli second in 1:56.1 Thompson sneaks past Orsulak for third.
 
Girls 400 Relay   Heat One – Long Reach, 50.7; Heat Two -  Park View, 51.99; Heat Three – Milford Mill, 50.8.

Boys 400 Relay Heat One – Dunbar, 45.2; Heat Two – Mt. Hebron 45.0; Heat Three – Long Reach 43.9

Girls 1600 Relay SPLITS
Boys 1600 Relay SPLITS