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Over 80 teams gathered at Todd Stadium in Newport News today to open the southeastern region’s invitational season at the Conn-Madden Relays. The meet kicked off today with three relay events and the open 400 meter hurdles.
The meet, named after legendary Newport News coaches Julie Conn and Thad Madden, has been a fixture on many teams’ schedules for decades. Although the number of participating teams has dwindled some in recent years, the meet still has enough firepower to draw teams from Northern Virginia and even upstate New York (see Tri-Valley).
Today’s highlights included a Peninsula District sweep in the 400 hurdles. Hampton’s Lavell Handy (pictured left by John Herzog) edged Booker T. Washington’s Cordarel Madison (56.54 to 56.91) to win the boys event, while Menchville’s Maia Wise easily won the girls race with a 64.98 clocking.
However, the Eastern District led the way in the 4x200. Booker T’s girls set the pace with a strong early season time of 1:41.73, while the Lake Taylor boys blazed to a 1:29.53, defeating second place Hampton by almost a full second.
The Conn-Madden meet is unique in its separation of large and small schools, holding all events in an A and B division. The B division usually includes single and double A schools, as well as private schools. At times, the best performances come from the B division, and today was no exception as the top boys and girls times in the 4x1600 relay came from the B division. Jamestown’s boys won their race in a swift 18:28 (avg. mile of 4:37), a full 93 seconds ahead of A division winner McLean. Jamestown’s girls completed the sweep with a narrow victory over New York’s Tri-Valley (23:31.38 – 23:32.58), but their time eclipsed A division winner Hampton by 37 seconds.
After the first day, the Booker T. Washington girls (15) and McLean boys (21) lead the A division, while Norfolk Academy (20) and Jamestown (21) are ahead in the B division girls and boys contests. The meet starts up on Saturday with the running events beginning at 8:30 AM.