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BURKE, VA -- While several meets across the state had to succumb to the power of mother nature by cancelling or postponing due to inclement weather, the Allen Johnson Invitational hosted at Lake Braddock High School was able to avoid the brunt of the storm and complete the meet just in the nick of time. As the meet was about to conclude with only a couple occassions of steady rainfall during the day, a strong downpour came down in the final sections of the final event of the day in the boys 4x400 meter relay. Many outstanding performances were recorded throughout the day thanks to the graces and luck of fairer weather than first predicted.
Kicking off the meet after the morning sections of the 1600 meter run, the seeded sections of the 3200 meter run saw two of the state\'s top distance runners coming away with impressive victories.
W.T. Woodson\'s Sarah Hadiji, the Group AAA state champion in the event this past indoor season, set a blazing pace early on as she made an attempt at taking down Erin Swain\'s meet record of 10:52.71. Swain set in the record in 1999 with sunny skies and temperatures in the low 60\'s. Hadiji was not given such pleasant conditions as steady rain and wind greeted the Woodson star throughout the race as she pressed on. Hadiji hit 800 meters in 2:30 and 5:15 at 1600 meters. She slowed considerably in the second half of the race for a 5:38 second half to just miss the meet record, but set a nine second personal best time of 10:53.92. Her time ranks the W.T. Woodson junior second in the state behind Catherine White of Northside as she is only the second athlete in the state to break 11 minutes this spring. Hadiji will be competing with White and Lake Braddock\'s Erin Klein as Virginia\'s representatives in the 3000 meter run at next week\'s Penn Relays.
West Springfield\'s Mike Spooner also was willing to chance it with a hot pace in the boys\' race with a 2:14 first 800 meters and crossing the 1600 meter mark in a time of 4:34. Spooner was able to gap the field and familar rival Brad Siragusa of Chantilly as Siragusa ran in second in the middle of Spooner and a chase pack for three-fourths of the race. At the halfway mark, Siragusa was six seconds behind Spooner at 4:40. However, those six seconds vanished in the next 700 meters as Siragusa seized the lead with little under 900 meters in the left. Siragusa then started to open up the lead on the early leader Spooner with 600 meters left and finished strong over the next lap and a half to finish in at a winning time of 9:18.84 to finish just off a state and personal best time by a second. Spooner would take second place after a gutsy run in 9:25.58. Not a bad effort for someone that spent their vacation in Hawaii last week.
Washington-Lee\'s Chris Tyson finishing third in a personal best time of 9:29.25 is worth noting considering not only that his previous best time was over 20 seconds at slower at 9:50, but he also missed the entire indoor season and virtually all of the cross country season due to injury.
The Northern Region\'s great sprinting hope in Sean Holston did not disappoint in the 100 meter dash as his 10.74 easily burned the field in his first major meet in the event. A state champion at 300 meters indoors and All-American in the 55 meter dash, the Robert E. Lee junior is certainly making lots of noise in his first year of track. His raw talent is unquestionable.
Hayfield swept the girls 100 and boys 110 meter hurdles as Asia Odum posted the top time in the girls race at 15.37, while Mike Westbrook\'s 15.32 clocking was the fastest among the boys. Westbrook also came back to win the 200 meter dash in a time of 22.84.
What team will surface as the state\'s next dynasty after the bedrock of the Bethel girls\' recent run of state titles graduates in the form of Francena McCorory this spring? Odds are good to bet on the Osbourn Park girls and especially after their showing at the Allen Johnson Invitational. Lake Braddock may have won the meet team title with 108 points in comparison to Osbourn Park\'s 81 points, but come state meet time, the Coach Feldman\'s girls should earn a high team placing. Osbourn Park was outstanding in the relays as their 4x400 meter relay broke a meet record in a fairly solo effort at 3:55.69, while their 4x100 meter relay also took first in a 49.56 clocking. Osbourn Park had three separate individual winners in the sprints and hurdles on the day as well with the Hyter twins picking up one win each with Bethany in the 400 meter dash (58.26) and Brittany in the 300 meter hurdles (46.77). Jasmin Peterson Hassan also had a first place finish in the 200 meter dash in a 26.19 clocking, while teammate Jamie Laatsch finished second to Bethany Hyter in the 400 meter dash at 58.74.
Thomas Edison\'s Devan Clark had an impressive meet in the throws as he was given honors as the top field event athlete in the meet for the boys by winning both the shot put and discus throw with impressive marks of 53\'4\" and 162\'1\" respectively despite the wet and slipperty conditions.
Clark is not the only outstanding individual on Coach Chirinos\' roster as he had several winners in the meet to help the squad to the team title (85 pts) over James Robinson (60 pts). Courtney Conley clocked a 12.78 to win the 100 meter dash, while Ed Baldwin kept up his strong spring in the jumps with a leap of 22\'8\" to take the long jump competition. Edison also had the best 4x100 meter relay on the day with a respectable 43.54 win.
James Robinson\'s Mark Hussa wanted to run a fast time on Saturday at Allen Johnson and he took the task on alone as he ran a hard first 400 in 55 seconds with the rest of the field a few ticks behind him. Hussa led wire-to-wire to finish in a time of 1:56.83, which ranks him fourth in the state. Edison\'s Mohammed Yousuf finally dipped under two minutes officially in the open 800 with a second place time of 1:56.83.
Hussa was also featured on the Rams\' 4x400 meter relay, which dominated the event with their winning time of 3:23.63 as their performance at Allen Johnson gives them the fourth fastest time in the state currently.
Midlothian junior M.C. Miller turned some heads in the 1600 meter run as last year\'s Group AA state runner-up won the event by seven seconds over a strong field in a personal best time of 5:03.03. Known as an 800 meter specialist, the longer distance event is looking to have an even brighter future for Miller. In a tight race for second, three runners crossed the line at 5:10 with Westfield\'s Kerry Hartman (2nd, 5:10.41) and the Lake Braddock duo of Erin Klein (2nd, 5:10.84) and Michelle Presley (3rd, 5:10.99).
Miller was also a member of the first place 4x800 meter relay for the Lady Trojans as they finished ten seconds ahead of the second place finisher in a time of 9:51.29.
The girls\' 800 meter run featured several of the state\'s top middle-distance runners including Virginia Tech Invitational 1000 meter winner Tasia Potasinski of Westfield and defending AAA state 800 meter champion Christi Harsha of Douglas Freeman. Potasinski took Harsha and the field through 400 meters in roughly 67 to 68 seconds. Potasinski continued to lead down the backstretch and onto the homestretch as she fought off a challenge from Harsha to the outside and Oakton senior Kayley Byrne on her heels to win in a time of 2:16.82. Harsha finished second at 2:17.16, while Byrne ran a personal best of 2:17.89 to take third place.
Fort Defiance came to Allen Johnson mainly for this event alone in the 4x800 meter relay to give them the competition to push them to a strong time and they certainly were provided that push from the homestanding Bruins of Lake Braddock. The Lake Braddock boys took the event on their home track with a winning time of 8:11.70 as the AA state indoor champions Fort Defiance finished right off of them in second at 8:13.58.
As a distance crew, Fort Defiance ran exceptionally well in earlier distance events with Daniel Alonso (9:40.49) and freshmen Alex Ott (9:42.22) in the 3200 meter run and Matt Bailey (4:21.78) all solidifying their individual standings in Group AA.
With the great depth found in the boys\' 1600 meter run at Allen Johnson, Bishop Ireton\'s Robert Sagar finishing third in the event could have been overlooked, but his time of 4:21.65 cannot be as only All-American Axel Mostrag of Fork Union has ran faster among the private school ranks in the event. Sagar had a previous best of 4:29 from last spring.
Hayfield\'s Christopher Richardson continued his string of sub 50 clockings this spring in the 400 meter dash as he won the event at Lake Braddock in a time of 49.60. Richardson is the favorite for the 400 meter Northern Region title.
Fellow Hayfield track star Nakeisha Wineglass won the triple jump competition by more than two feet with a mark of 37\'9\", while Lake Braddock\'s Anna Noguchi edged her out by two inches in the long jump at 16\'11\".
Lake Braddock\'s Theresa McCoy and Westfield\'s Aimee Kodat traded wins in the throws as McCoy won the shot put with a toss of 38\'0\" with Kodat in second at 36\'11\", while Kodat evened the score in the discus with a best throw of 116\'7\".
In the high jump, McLean\'s Megan Ney cleared a height of 5\'3\" to best Katie Trizna who cleared 5\'2\" to give eight points towards the versatile Osbourn Park squad.