Mcdonogh School was on top of nearly every female event after day one of the Draper Invitational.
Amanda Kimbers of McDonogh and Danielle Williams of St. Stephens & St. Agnes were clearly the top two sprinters on day one, but even Williams could not compete with Kimbers' 11.96/24.12 double. We will have to see if Williams was saving anything for tomorrow.
Candice Hendricks and Moriah Young of McDonogh took the top two spots in the discus, each with throws over 120 feet. Autumne Franklin leads all athletes in the 300 hurdles (45.49) while Kristin Brown ran a prelim time (14.63) nearly a second faster than the next fastest competitor in the 100 hurdles. Leading the competition in the girls 400 is Jasmine Robinson (57.88), also of McDonogh.
Anneka Wilson of Potomac has not run many races this spring and was nervous about her first big 3200 of the season at the Draper Invite. Watching the race you would think it was an elimination race as one runner dropped off the lead pack almost every lap until it was just Wilson and O'Connell's Megan Fitzpatrick on the last lap. Wilson is grateful she had the energy to kick it in in 11:04.93. Video
Billy Ledder of Gonzaga won the 3200 in the most effortless 9:34 you will see this year. It was his first ever 3200 race and he says he was trying to pace his teammate for the first part of the race and just used it as a workout. The real challenge for him will come next week at the Southern Track Classic. Nine boys under under 10:00 uncluding Kyle Graves of Good Counsel who ran 3000 meters of the race with only one shoe on. Video
The final section of the boys 400 prelims saw Cortlandt Harris of GC run 49.34, Leland Pittman of Landon run 49.22, and Michael Green of Jeb Stuart run 48.92. It will be exciting to see if Green can match his extraordinary finish again tomorrow.Video
There are several other candidates to take home the sprint titles tomorrow. Eric Saleh of Flint Hill ran all three sprint races with times of 11.17/22.33/49.33. Sean Sutton of Good Counsel and Leo McLaughlin of Gonzaga finished in the top three in the 100 and 200. Sutton ran 11.27/22.09 and McLaughlin ran 11.07/22.42.
Three athletes can be expected to fight it out for crowns in the 110/300 hurdles tomorrow. St. Albans' Seck Barry ran 14.65/38.61, McDonogh's Justin Gross ran 15.44/39.27, and Gonzaga's Aaron Shepherd ran 14.63/40.53.
St. Albans is scoring big in the field events with wins by Efosa Guobadia in the high jump (6-02), and Glen Thomas in the shot put (48-00.75).
Archie Odenyo of Episcopal won the triple jump in 44-05.50.
Draper Invitational Day Two Notes
Day two was more domination by the McDonogh girls won won with 147 points, nearly double the point toal of second place Herndon. Kristin Brown was named the meet MVP for winning the long jump in 18-01.50, winning the 100-meter hurdles in 13.99 (Race Video), and running on the winning 4x1 and 4x2 relays. In total, McDonogh won 10 of the 17 events including meet records in the shot put by Moriah Young (43-08.00), in the discus by Candice Hendricks (127-04), in the 100 hurdles by Kristin Brown(13.99), and in the 200 by Amanda Kimbers (24.12).
Danielle Williams made sure the 100 and 200 races were memorable by running stride for stride with Kimbers, but in the end it was Kimbers winning both races. While the races were tighter than yesterday, neither girl ran as fast on Saturday. 100 Final Video200 Final Video
Sidwell Friends set the meet record in the 4x800 relay with a great run of 9:31.07 (4x800 Video). They ran out in front from the start and topped their time from Penn Relays a week ago by nearly 15 seconds. Anchoring the relay was the outstanding freshman Kara Wilson, who later won the open 800 in 2:19.83 with a negative split. She was caught in the pack for 350 meters before breaking out and coming through 400 meters in 1:11. She brought it home in about 1:09. 800 Video
Anneka Wilson got the distance double win by once again defeating Fitzpatrick with a big kick.
Fitzpatrick did not go down without a fight. Wilson took over the lead with 600 meters to go, and with 400 meters to go started her drive to the finish. The rest of the pack dropped off, but Fitzpatrick went with her and even took over the lead with 200 meters to go. Wilson re-took the lead on the final curve and kicked it in for the win in 5:11.92. 1600 Video
The boys sprint events turned out to be the Leo McLaughlin show. McLaughlin posted times of 11.26 and 22.41 to win the 100 (Video) and 200 (Video) individually, and he also anchored his 4x100 relay to first place with a time of 44.13. Gonzaga's 4x200 ran a season best time of 1:31.97 in a winning effort and also got another victory out of Ledder in the 1600 on day two. Gonzaga won the team title with 115 points over Good Counsel (80 pts).
St. Albans picked up more points in the field events on day two through Efosa Guobadia who won the high jump (on day one), placed fourth in the long jump with a 20-05.75, and placed second in the triple jump with a 42-08. Guobadia was named the meet MVP for scoring the most points individually, but it is more likely that the most outstanding performer of the meet was Seck Barry. Pushed by Aaron Shepperd of Gonzaga, Barry ran 14.54 to capture the 110 hurdle crown. He came back and dominated the 300 hurdles in 38.68 (0.07 slower than his day one time). St. Albans finished third with 71 points. 110 Hurdle Video300 Hurdle Video
Gonzaga did not run their 'A' team in the 4x800 relay which left Paul VI and Good Counsel to go after each other in a close WCAC matchup. The two teams raced out front and exchanged leads several times. It wasn't until the last lap that Paul VI opened up a large lead. PVI anchored in 1:58 for a time of 8:02.57 while Good Counsel closed in 2:00 for a time of 8:04.64. For PVI, it was about seven seconds faster than they ran at Penn Relays a week ago. Boys 4x800 Video
The 800 was another exciting event. Earl Hamilton of Gonzaga, Thomas Tallerico of Good Counsel, and Will Fleury of Gonzaga took turns leading the race while Reid Nickle of Episcopal sat back in the pack. With 200 meters to go Nickle made his move to the front and charged home to the finish for a winning time of 1:57.82. It was a breakout race for the runner better known for his abilities at longer distances. 800 Video
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Coach Foreman
Monday, May 04, 2009 03:08:25 PM
The weather didn't want to cooperate, but the athletes still provided a great meet of competition. Way to go McD girls!!!!
Great mid-distance "fights" in the open 400m and the 4x400m. I look forward to more to come at the end of the season!
Best wishes all!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anonymous
Tuesday, May 05, 2009 06:19:23 PM
Watch out for Reid Nickle. This kid is on the rise in his first year of Track as a SOPHOMORE
Anneka Wilson of Potomac has not run many races this spring and was nervous about her first big 3200 of the season at the Draper Invite. Watching the race you would think it was an elimination race as one runner dropped off the lead pack almost every lap until it was just Wilson and O'Connell's Megan Fitzpatrick on the last lap. Wilson is grateful she had the energy to kick it in in 11:04.93. 
Day two was more domination by the McDonogh girls won won with 147 points, nearly double the point toal of second place Herndon. Kristin Brown was named the meet MVP for winning the long jump in 18-01.50, winning the 100-meter hurdles in 13.99 (
The boys sprint events turned out to be the Leo McLaughlin show. McLaughlin posted times of 11.26 and 22.41 to win the 100 (
St. Albans picked up more points in the field events on day two through Efosa Guobadia who won the high jump (on day one), placed fourth in the long jump with a 20-05.75, and placed second in the triple jump with a 42-08. Guobadia was named the meet MVP for scoring the most points individually, but it is more likely that the most outstanding performer of the meet was Seck Barry. Pushed by Aaron Shepperd of Gonzaga, Barry ran 14.54 to capture the 110 hurdle crown. He came back and dominated the 300 hurdles in 38.68 (0.07 slower than his day one time). St. Albans finished third with 71 points. 