Westfield boys show plenty of promise and potential at F.I.T. Relays

LANDOVER, MD -- A battle was waged at the F.I.T. Relays between schools from Northern Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Colombia and as a result, some exciting track and field action was found at the Prince George County's Sports and Learning Complex. Though no team scores were kept, it was clearly obvious that the Westfield boys have the most talented track team in Northern Region and quite possibly in the entire state. Despite sitting out their distance studs David Groff and James Scheiner, the Bulldogs saw plenty of strong performances from their athletes in other events.

Westfield posted the state's leading time in the 4x400 meter relay with their second place finishing time of 3:28.54 as the relays, the 4x400 and 4x800 meter relays especially will figure to be major point scorers for the Bulldogs this season as they will figure to be in contention for the state team title in March.

Westfield senior David Lewis has asserted himself early as the top current pole vaulter in the state as he won the event at the F.I.T. Relays with a state best clearance of 14 feet. The next best mark in the state is a full foot lower than Lewis' height at Prince George. The height tied an indoor best for Lewis, but Lewis still has room to reach his outdoor best of 15-0.25.

Another point scorer emerging that was not expected for Westfield this season is sprinter Eddie Royal as he notched a victory in the 55 meter dash (6.53), which ranks him second fastest in the state for the season.

Westfield's Chris Courson was another individual on the day for the Bulldogs who stood out as he took runner-up honors in the 500 meter run with a time of 1:08.35 as teammate Phillippe Tondereau was not far behind in third place at 1:08.41.

West Potomac's Jeremy Beal continues to perform at another level compared to his fellow Northern Region horizontal jumpers as he was victorious in the triple jump at Prince George with a mark of 42-6.50.

Beal's teammate, Christian Johnson broke out onto the scene at the F.I.T. Relays by becoming the first Northern Region thrower to crack the 50 feet mark in the shot put this season with his winning throw of 50-3.25. The mark ranks him second currently in AAA and obviously puts him in strong contention to finish high at the state meet in March.

Brentsville's Dustin Whitlow came out ontop in an exciting close 1600 meter race with his winning time of 4:39.97. Chantilly's Doug Palmer was not too far behind Whitlow with his time of 4:40.03.

While the 1600 meter race was watered down in terms of competition, the 1000 and 3200 meter races had plenty of it. Coming out on top in both events were Oakton Cougars as Kris Cruz won the 1000 meter run with a state best time of 2:36.59, while Karl Lang won the 3200 meter run in a state qualifying time of 9:40.73. The 1000 meter race saw five runners dip under 2:40 with Cruz, Hayfield's Brian Fussell (2:36.61), Centreville's James Heiner (2:36.81), Thomas Jefferson's Christo Landry (2:37.88), and Oakton's Chris O'Keefe (2:39.67). Meanwhile, Lang will have two other fellow Northern Region runners joining him in the state meet 3200 meter race in March as both Lake Braddock's Brad Clark (9:41.49) and Thomas Jefferson's Chris Mocko (9:45.17) ran to state qualifying times.

Despite finishing fourth in the Maryland and D.C. dominated 300 meter dash, Thomas Edison's Roy Coles still managed to post the state's fastest time in the sprint event with his 36.83 clocking.

Both Herndon boys and girls dominated the distance medley relay as the team of Heather Fisher, Hannah Green, Karen Wilson, and Jenny Miller won the girls' race in 12:55.14, while the team of Shane Young, Wayne Gore, Jared Hatch, and Danny Gordon won the boys' race in 10:55.54.

In the girls' long jump, only a jump over 16 feet was needed for the win and that was exactly what Lake Braddock's Jessica Preko did in her winning leap of 16-4.

The Westfield duo of Carmen Meade and Karen Woolley took a 1-2 finish in the girls' triple jump as Meade (34-1) won the event and Woolley (33-9) was a close second.

Lake Braddock had a similar tandem finish in the high jump with Ashley Haislip and Meg Seay both clearing a height of 5-2 with Haislip taking the win.

The girls' shot put was a hotly contested event as Thomas Edison's Georgina Owino (32-4) narrowly defeated Westfield's Aimee Kodat (32-03.75).

Robert E. Lee senior Latheria Lewis finished second in the 55 meter hurdles behind Good Counsel's (MD) Kaitie Rogus (8.63) with the state's second fastest clocking of the season at 8.82.

Lake Braddock junior Kelsey Snowden notched her second major invitational win for the season in the 1600 meter run after winning the event at the F.I.T. Relays with a time of 5:23.32. Snowden was a winner earlier in the month in the 1600 meter race at the CNU Winter Frolic.

While Hayfield's Murielle Ahoure finished third in the 300 meter dash behind Maryland and D.C. competition, her time of 42.47 now currently ranks her second in the state.

Ahoure was also a runner-up in the 55 meter dash (7.37) as Westfield's Carmen Meade, who won the triple jump earlier in the day, won her second event of the meet with her 7.36 clocking.

James Robinson junior Susan Brooks took a close second in the 500 meter run behind H.D. Woodson's (MD) Ayana Jackson (1:19.40) with her time of 1:19.52 as she now ranks with the second fastest time in the state currently.

Oakton's Danielle Light ran away from the field in the 3200 meter run en route to her 11:54.32 win. Washington-Lee's Ellen Childress completed a strong distance double in finishing runner-up to Light in the 3200 meter run (12:03.20), while also taking second in the 1600 meter run (5:30.78) earlier in the day.

The 4x200 meter relay team of Jennifer Geldermann, Sara Kanamine, Jasmine Nelson, and Adeola Abisogun for Chantilly ran an impressive time of 1:48.76, which was good enough for a third place finish in the event.