The West Potomac boys and the Lake Braddock girls have the early leads after day one of the Patriot District Championships held at Episcopal High School on Wednesday evening, February 6.
West Potomac did not win any of the five events completed on the boys side but did finish in second place in four of those events with seniors Emmanual Koduah in the triple jump (41-6.75), Nick Schaum in the pole vault (12-0) and Kerem Ertekin in the shot put (46-6.5).
The Wolverines were also the runnersup in the 4x800 relay (8:19.34) and received a pair of third place finishes by senior Chris Newkirk in the triple jump (41-0.25) and high jump (5-10).
T.C. Williams sits squarely in second place with 42.33 on the strength of first place finishes by senior Frank Afriyie in the shot put with a personal best and region leading throw of 52-7.25; senior Tommy Clark in the pole vault (12-6) and by junior Jamal Ford, who also posted a region leading effort with his win at 6-3 in the high jump.
Lake Braddock is currently in third place with 28.5 points and had an individual winner in the triple jump with senior Keon Robinson (41-11.5) while Annandale's foursome of sophomores Daniel Blasser and Michael Ejigu, junior Ki Lee and senior Daniel Ejigu on anchor won the 3,200 relay in 8:18.54.
The Lake Braddock girls lead with 33 points after the completion of four of the fifteen events. Senior Melanie Akwule won the triple jump at 36-6.75 and the Bruins received an additional ten points in the shot put from junior Kendra Baity (3rd; 33-4) and senior Anna Brionez (4th; 33-0).
T.C. Williams and West Potomac are tied for second with 24 points apiece. The Titans produced two victories yesterday evening with junior Tynita Butts winning the high jump at 5-3 and senior Amanda Hopson achieved a personal best in winning the shot put at 35-8.75.
West Potomac got a solid second place effort from senior Kat Lee in the triple jump (36-3.25) and also won the 4x800 relay in an extremely exciting race.
The Wolverines squad of seniors Elizabeth Heath, Brooke Regensburg and Mara Cate along with sophomore Kelsey Rosenberg (2:19 anchor split) ran 9:35.14 to just hold off West Springfield (9:36.14) and anchor Rosemary Barber (2:18) and also Lake Braddock (9:36.54) with a 2:18 anchor from Liana Epstein, as all three teams broke the old district meet record.
Final day of the Patriot District Championships is this Saturday, also at Episcopal High School's Flippen Field House. Doors open at 7:00 a.m.
The boys long jump begins at 8:00 a.m followed by the girls long jump. The girls pole vault starts at 8:45 a.m. and the running trials for the 55 hurdles and 55 dash begin at 9:10 a.m. with running finals slated for a 10:30 a.m. start.