MILFORD, VA -- It was a surprise that the top boys' and girls' team in the northern region, Lake Braddock wasn't competing at the T.C. Williams Invitational this weekend where many of the top athletes and teams in its area as well as throughout the state were competing, but the Caroline Invitational offered the Bruins the quality of competition it was looking for. However, the strong Lake Braddock squads were too much as the girls won with 159 points, way ahead of second place Caroline with 85. The boys were also just as successful, winning the boys title with 145 points.
While the Lake Braddock girls' squad lacked a real superstar winning all of the events, their depth was too great for the other teams as they had many individuals chipping in here and there.
There were many great female individual performances nonetheless.
The girls' 400 meter dash was an excellent race as it was an early preview of what the AA State Meet will be like as the three of the best 400 runners in the state (also all AA athletes), Latoya Anderson of Caroline, Ashley Gore of Jamestown, and Jennifer Nelms of Spotsylvania. Anderson just beat out Gore and Nelms in a close race as she broke her own meet record with a time of 57.13 with Gore and Nelms also going under the previous meet record time (59.13) with times of 57.93 and 58.53 respectively.
North Stafford senior Kristyn Shiring who last month at the CNU Captain Classic broke the 11 minute barrier in the 3200, made a valiant attempt to take a shot at breaking the 5 minute barrier in the 1600, but fell off pace the last lap but still finished with a meet record breaking time of 5:06.83.
Lafayette senior Amy Hundley was probably the most active and versatile athletes at the meet. Hundley was a winner in the 100 meter and 300 meter hurdles with meet record breaking times of 15.47 and 46.13. She also won the the high jump (5'02.00") and went on to win the triple jump as well as set a new meet record with a mark of 35'00.50". Not to mention, she finished second in the long jump (16'03.50"). In all, she was able to produce an incredible amount of 48 points for her team.
Instead of lacking a big individual point scorer and getting more points from great depth, the Lake Braddock boys' squad was able to rely on the extraordinary efforts of a couple of individuals.
One of those individuals was Frank Francois. The Lake Braddock senior set a new meet record with a great time of 48.89 in the 400 meter dash. He also anchored the winning 4x100 meter relay squad and finished second in the 200 meter dash.
The athlete that he finished second to in the 200 meter dash, Sherrod Lewis of Patrick Henry, had an exception day as well. Not only winning the the 200 meter dash in a time of 22.08, he won the 100 meter dash as well with a time of 10.84.
Lake Braddock also got solid efforts from sophomore hurdler Craig Gallimore who won both the 110 meter hurdles (14.85) and 300 meter hurdles (40.17).
Also scoring for Lake Braddock in the hurdles was senior Garrett Brickner, who finished 3rd in the 110 meter hurdles with a time of 15.75. He really got the crowd going though when he won the high jump in a new meet record mark of 6'09.00".
Jamestown junior Bryce Ruiz easily won the 1600 meter race with a time of 4:22.38. Leading from the start, Ruiz went out quick with a 62 for his first quarter. He then came back with a 64 as he went through the 800 mark at 2:06-2:07 which put him at 4:12-4:14 1600 pace. He fell off pace though as he did his next 800 in 2:15. Even with the positive splits, Ruiz easily set a new meet record and shows the capability of running a sub 4:20 1600.
The host school Caroline, also had a star to showcase in the meet, as Caroline junior Matt Gutridge ran a big PR and set a new meet record in the process, winning the 3200 in a time of 9:37.83.
The male athlete of the meet went to Huguenot senior Colby Hall who dominated the throwing events winning and setting new meet records in the shot put and discus. His throws of 52'00.50" (shot) and 152'00.00" (discus) shattered the previous meet records.
MILFORD, VA -- It was a surprise that the top boys' and girls' team in the northern region, Lake Braddock wasn't competing at the T.C. Williams Invitational this weekend where many of the top athletes and teams in its area as well as throughout the state were competing, but the Caroline Invitational offered the Bruins the quality of competition it was looking for. However, the strong Lake Braddock squads were too much as the girls won with 159 points, way ahead of second place Caroline with 85. The boys were also just as successful, winning the boys title with 145 points.
While the Lake Braddock girls' squad lacked a real superstar winning all of the events, their depth was too great for the other teams as they had many individuals chipping in here and there.
There were many great female individual performances nonetheless.
The girls' 400 meter dash was an excellent race as it was an early preview of what the AA State Meet will be like as the three of the best 400 runners in the state (also all AA athletes), Latoya Anderson of Caroline, Ashley Gore of Jamestown, and Jennifer Nelms of Spotsylvania. Anderson just beat out Gore and Nelms in a close race as she broke her own meet record with a time of 57.13 with Gore and Nelms also going under the previous meet record time (59.13) with times of 57.93 and 58.53 respectively.
