Senior Chuck Banks broke his personal record in the shot put by a foot and a half, throwing it 43 feet, five inches, finishing seventh overall in the 25-team meet. Banks was just two inches out of fifth place.
``I think he got really pumped up,’’ Young said. ``Watching him warm up, you could see he had some adrenaline going. He was excited to compete; he looked really good.’’ Banks scored two of the boys’ team’s six points.
The other four were won by junior Terrence James, who was fifth in the 300 meter race, finishing in 36.93 seconds.
``It really was a bit of a surprise,’’ Young said. ``He hasn’t run the 300 a whole lot, and has not had a lot of experience in big races either, but he was another athlete who was really pumped up.’’
Young said that James approached him and coach Nathan Herchenroeder with his strategy for the race – to go out fast in the first 50 meters, slow a little in the next 50, and pour it on in the last 75. ``He did just that,’’ Young said. ``It was really exciting for all of us. The whole team was cheering him on. I was really proud of the strategy he came up with and that he stuck to it. TJ been up and down, but now he’s turned things around; this may be a turning point for him in his running career.’’
In other boys’ races, the 4 x 800 meter team, which had struggled much of the season and finished many races in over 9 minutes, beat their best time by more than 20 seconds, finishing in 8 minutes, 45 seconds. They were 10th overall; the runners were Trevor Stephens, Eric Damtoft, Nick Richter, and Chris Henderson.
For the girls’ team, sophomore runner Hallie Jester had a banner day.
Jester ran three races: the mile, 4 x 800 relay, and 4 x 400 relay. In the mile, she ran 5:29, easily beating her earlier PR of 5:40 and finishing fourth overall, good for five points. ``She ran a really tough race, and didn’t have a lot left in the end,’’ Young said. ``She ran about the same pace in the last lap as in the first three. She was working very hard the whole time.’’
The girls’ 4 x 800 team finished third overall, winning six points. The team – composed of senior Paige Donnelly and sophomores Jester, Grace Reingruber and Ava Farrell – ran a combined 9:55, or roughly 20 seconds faster than earlier races. All four ran either 2:28 or 2:29 times.
In the girls’ 4 x 400, Hannah Levin, Jester, Caroline Leuba, and Laila Shehata ran 4:25 – their best time this season for a 9th place finish.
In the 3200 meter race, Farrell stayed with the lead pack, which set a fast pace in the first mile, running 5:45. She slowed in the second mile, but still finished in 11:52, or good enough for fourth place, or five points.
In a day of mostly good surprises, perhaps the best was senior Kate Leuba’s performance in the shot put. Leuba, whose strength had been in middle-distance and distance races, has been injured much of the year, and at first tried the shot put for fun.
She threw it 21 feet, 8.25 inches – or 12th overall. ``It was a kind of fun thing to watch her,’’ Young said. ``She has a bit of potential there. One thing is for sure – she’s really a competitor.’’
Overall, the boys finished 15th in the meet, the girls 12th.
On Feb. 3, the team will competed in the 4A West regionals, starting at 4 p.m. in the Baltimore Armory. ``I’m looking forward to it,’’ Young said. ``We are rounding into form.’’
Photographs by by Kevin Milstead, mocorunning.com
GO NEPHEW!! (Terrence)
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