The B-CC indoor track and field season just turned serious.
At the Montgomery Invitational’s meet Saturday inside Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex, the elite competition drew 70 teams from Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. Competitors had to meet qualifying times and standards in order to participate.
Coaches Chad Young and Nathan Herchenroeder brought about 15 B-CC competitors (a third of the team) to the nearly 12-hour meet, and both saw it as a good measuring stick for the athletes.
The top performers: the girls’ 4 x 800 relay team, comprised of senior Paige Donnelly and three sophomores -- Hallie Jester, Grace Reingruber, and Ava Farrell. They finished in 10 minutes, 15 seconds, placing 6th out of 45 teams.
``With this elite meet, they had an incentive to run a little faster, and they competed extremely well,’’ Young said. ``Their goal is to get under 10:08, which is the qualifying time for the state meet, and they are on the right track to get there.’’
The girls’ distance runners form one of the deeper parts to the team. Young noted several others not on the A team were just a ``step behind this group, and a couple of them would run on a 4 x 8 team for just about any other school.’’
Three of the four girls on the 800 team ran individual events. Donnelly ran a competitive 5:32 1600-meter race, finishing 14th out of 70 runners; Jester went out aggressively with the top pack in her 1600-meet, finishing with a strong 5:43, 36th out of the 70; and Farrell competed in the championship 3200-meter run, finishing in 12:05, or 14th of the 15 elite runners who finished her heat.
Young said Farrell competed well. ``She was nervous going into it,’’ he said. ``Based on previous times, she was the slowest in the heat, and she was worried she was going to be last. We talked a little bit before the race about hanging in the back of the pack in the first part, hang with three or four girls. A couple of other girls finished only one or two seconds ahead of her. So she hung in there.’’ Her finish was only seven seconds slower than her personal best, set at the end of the outdoor season last year.
For the boys’ competition, shot putter Chuck Banks, also a B-CC football player, threw the shotput 39 feet six inches. He finished 28th out of 34 throwers.
The boys’ 4 x 800 team ``had a pretty good day,’’ Young said. The team – comprised of two holdovers from last year, Chris Henderson and Eric Damtoft, and two newcomers, senior Nick Richter and junior Lucas Morrison – finished in 9:02, placing 36th out of 49 teams. ``They are where the team was at this time last year, and I hope we’ll continue to improve,’’ Young said.
The boys 4 x 200 also competed well, finishing in 1:39, or 41st out of 65 teams. The team consists of Terrence James, Brendan McClafferty, Casey Shamma, and Amin Sijelmassi.
On the boys’ 4 x 400, the team had to adjust to running without top performer Ben Gold, who is out four to six weeks with a torn ligament in his ankle. ``They didn’t run as they hoped,’’ Young said. Their finish: 3:53, or roughly 10 seconds slower than their normal times.
``I know they are missing their top guy, but it shouldn’t be a 10-second difference,’’ Young said. ``I think part of it is having the winter break, and they still are getting their feet back.’’
The effect of the break, he said, was felt team-wide.
``So many people go away, and it’s easy for them not to get out,’’ he said. ``Now they are back, and there is a focus on county championships coming up, as well as regional and states, and we have outdoors after that. Saturday’s meet is kind of a wakeup call. If they are not running well, I hope they get a little motivated and are ready to go.’’
The next competition is a scrimmage at Georgetown Prep this Tuesday. The county championship is Jan. 25, just two weeks away.
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