Reflections on seniors, part two

This is the second of two parts on the B-CC track team coaches' reflections on their senior class members. This post highlights the girls team.

Girls team:

Paige Donnelly, captain

Chad Young: ``On the team four years, obviously she’s a great leader. Seniors as a whole have a great core of leadership, and there are a few people like Paige who have been on the team a long period of time and they are able to communicate to others what they have learned and that has made my job easy as coach. She was able to lay back as a freshman and sophomore and didn’t have to dominate the field. The last two seasons she has run extremely well to get to a state championship. But what has been really impressive is her leadership, especially this year. She has done more than she has to. Sometimes she gets a little out of her comfort zone, but recognizes it will mean a lot to the team, all on her own. It’s an accumulation of smaller things, leading a group run, or talking to some of the younger runners, that goes above and beyond what she has done in the past.’’

Nathan Herchenroeder: ``She’s served a great purpose with the young sophomores on the team this year. Most of the top girls on the team now are sophomores, and they definitely wouldn’t be there right now if it wasn’t for Paige.’’

Nia Harrington

NH: ``She is new to the team this year. She’s from a strong program in Oregon, and I think she really brought a lot of knowledge to a really young team in general. She brought that knowledge of success they had – her team had won a state championship in Oregon. She has a lot of technical knowledge, lot of running knowledge, skill knowledge, and a lot of great leadership to young sprinting team. She definitely wants to see good things come out of this season for her and her teammates.’’

Kate Leuba, captain

CY: ``She had a couple of great experiences with her running over the past few years. She was on the 4 x 400 team that went to the states. She has had a tough time in the last year or so with injuries. But she is fully committed to the team, she loves track, loves everything about it, dying to be a meaningful contributor to the team. She is so determined she is still scoring points in every outdoor meet. Physically, emotionally, and mentally, she’s extremely strong. She’s kind of our social leader to the team. She organized our T-shirt order, got people’s names on back of shirts, and that was a great way to bring the team together.

NH: ``It’s like Kate Leuba won’t be leaving the team next year, because her little sister Caroline is exactly like her.’’

Rachel Meltzer

CY: ``She ran cross country before, she joined track, and decided she wanted to throw shot put and discus. She has been very determined to continue to improve. As a senior her attitude has been extremely positive, and she has done a good job with some of the younger girls, helping orient them and helping them get settled.’’

Darcy O’Connor

CY: ``She is a distance runner and has improved a lot. She is more quiet, especially with the coaches. She organizes the runs with the girls, and a lot of the girls feel really comfortable talking with her. She is also very encouraging to them as well. I think her role on the team is so important for the way she deals with all the girls and helps me manage things.’’

Racing `like some crazy freshman'

Eric Damtoft, a B-CC senior distance runner, wasn’t exactly sure of his strategy as he lined up for his 1600-meter heat Saturday at the Viking Invitational at Whitman High School. But when the gun sounded, he went out at a near sprint, quickly opening a 20-meter lead in the first 200 meters.

After the first lap, he had a 30-meter lead, running it in 62 seconds, or a 4:08 pace.

On the track, B-CC track coach Chad Young said to Damtoft as he passed, ``Are you sure this is what you want to do?’’

On the sidelines, his coaches and teammates couldn’t believe their eyes. ``Can he keep that up?’’ one of Damtoft’s fellow runners asked no one in particular.

``Gonna be tough,’’ replied Nathan Herchenroeder, assistant head track coach.

Damtoft didn’t keep the same pace, and the pack caught up to him by the third lap. But in the fourth and final lap, he poured it on again, running it in 66 seconds. ``That’s all mental,’’ Herchenroader said as he watched Damtoft surge a second time. ``He’s really pushing himself.’’

The senior finished in 4 minutes, 37 seconds, seven seconds faster than his PR.

``Unbelievable,’’ Herchenroader said. ``That was great.’’

``I was uncertain about what I was going to do,’’ Damtoft said later. ``Then I went out fast. I thought everyone would think I was some crazy freshman who didn’t know how to race.’’

Damtoft wasn’t the only top performer at the meet. Chris Henderson, a fellow senior 1600-meter runner, also ran a personal best, finishing in 4:51 in an earlier heat.

In the boys 200 meter race, Terrence James won the event in 22.59, the fastest time posted in the county so far this season. Earlier, James, a junior, had false started and was disqualified for 100 meter race.

``So he was a little fresher for this one, which is good,’’ Young said. ``Even in the 200 meter race, they had to restart it. He must have had some nerves. He hasn’t had a lot of work in the starting blocks, and he was the only one in final heat who didn’t use blocks. If he learns how to use them properly, he will drop a little bit of time. But he looked great. He had a fairly large lead coming off the turn, and was determined not to let anyone come close to him.’’

The boys 4 x 200 relay – featuring seniors Alex Barrett (23.82), David Segun (24.66) and Brendan McClafferty (25.08), and James (21.5, all unofficial splits) – won the second fastest heat in 1:34.99

The boys 4 X 400 relay also ran well, posting its best time of the year, 3:42. ``That’s encouraging,’’ Young said. ``We’ve had some runners step up now.’’ The team consisted of Barrett, Segun, James, and sophomore Julien Dorsey.

In the girls competition, the 4 x 800 relay finished third in 9:56. The runners were Hallie Jester (2:29), Grace Reingruber (2:26), Paige Donnelly (2:29), and Ava Farrell (2:29).

``They ran well,’’ Young said. ``I’ve been switching their order, allowing each of the girls to learn something different. Hallie led off and got a little boxed in, and she learned something from that. Grace had a lot of room to run and was able to bridge a gap with the frontrunners. Paige tried to go for the lead and made a lot of ground in the first lap and faded at the end but still held second place. Ava ran well to close it.’’

Farrell also ran well in the 3200-meter race, finishing in 11:51.

In the 4 x 200 relay, the B-CC team finished fourth in 1:50.26. The runners were senior Nia Harrington (28.9), freshman Caroline Leuba (28.2), sophomore Jasmine Holmes (27.3), and freshman Brittney Wade (25.6).

Wade also ran in the fastest 200 meter heat, finishing in 26.5.

Julia Hardgrove, a junior, qualified for and ran in the finals in the 100-meter hurdles, finishing seventh. ``It’s very difficult to make it to the finals,’’ Young said. ``It’s a very technical run. Any one thing that goes wrong, and you’re out.’’

In the shotput, sisters Ruth and Naomi Orevba both set personal records. Ruth, a freshman, threw it 28.5 feet, while Naomi, a sophomore, threw it 23 feet.

``It was really good for both of them. They are brand new to this and both are learning,’’ Young said. ``They are challenging each other as sisters do. At the end of one meet recently, Ruth got some pointers from the Stone Ridge coach, and I think that carried over to this meet.’’ Ruth beat her personal record by more than five feet.

Reflections on seniors, part one

During a ceremony before B-CC's home track meet Tuesday, the team and dozens of fans cheered the squad’s 16 seniors. In interviews afterward, Coaches Chad Young and Nathan Herchenroeder gave more personal assessments of the seniors, talking about not just their performance on the track, but their role off it as well.

This is the first of two parts, highlighting the boys team. The post on the girls team will go up on Sunday.



Boys team:

Chuck Banks

Nathan Herchenroeder: ``He has been on team past couple of years, started out as a sprinter, and then we felt like we could have used him as a shot putter or discus thrower. It’s something he took on himself. We have no shot put or discus coach. He’s been very successful in picking up tips at meets. He made it to states in indoor track, and done a really good job this season, taking a lot of the girls and guys who want to throw and teaching them what he has learned. He’s definitely a lively one on a workout, an outspoken person as well.’’


Alex Barrett

Chad Young: He’s our high jumper and also he’s a 400 meter runner. His highlight was qualifying for the states in high jump in the indoor season last year. He is a good leader as well; a lot of kids look up to him. He bridges that gap between sprinters and distance runners. When I started coaching there was a divide -- we had some groups on our team, and Alex has done a good job in bringing the groups together.

NH: ``He has made major strides last four years. In ninth grade, he wasn’t too serious, he probably didn’t attend practice much, and maybe ran one meet his freshman year. Sophomore year, he was a little more serious; he probably ran in two meets. Junior year he realized he did have some talent and he could help the team and he got really successful as a runner. It’s been great watching him develop into one of the leaders of the team now as a senior.’’

Andrew Crouch, captain

CY: ``He’s a very good student, extremely hard working. He hasn’t been happy with what he has done so far, but he wants to continue to improve. He’s making his way to the group of the faster guys. He’s so determined. He does a great job with the boys team in bringing them together for runs on the weekend. Distance guys are a rare bunch, and are more to themselves a bit, and need encouragement to run together on the weekends. If they are going to improve they need to run together, and Andrew does a good job in bringing them together.’’

Eric Damtoft

CY: ``He had that long, long streak of never missing a day running, but he has missed days now. He took time off after the indoor season because he was feeling extremely run down and needed a rest. He loves running, and fully committed to running and help his team and try to improve, but I think it’s smart he took that time off and regrouped and prepared for his senior year. One of top four guys in the 4 x 8, I think he’s going to have a good strong finish to the season. He does a good job keeping things interesting for the guys. He’s very outdoorsy. I was on a run the other day and I saw him climbing a building. Another day at practice they were repelling from the baseball field down to the track. He provides a little bit of excitement.’’

Ben Dixon

CY: ``It’s his first year running track, running shorter distances, 100 and 200 meters, extremely quiet. He was on the football team, and in the past it’s been difficult with the changing of football coaches to get players to come out for track team. He’s part of that group who decided to come out for track and work on their speed. ‘’

NH: ``He’s a hard worker and when we’ve needed him for races, he’s more than willing to step in. That’s a great personality trait – that he is willing to help.’’

Max Dudek

NH: He’s been on the team for three years or so, and I think Max was kind of stuck in between that spot not knowing if he was distance or sprinter. In track, he always liked sprinting events, and he has stuck to running the 200. He has made a lot of personal progress in his 200 time-- probably taken over the past two seasons about five seconds off his 200 time, which is huge. I know he is very vocal about those improvements, he gets excited.

Chris Henderson

NH: ``He had been playing soccer, but he made switch to run cross county in the fall the last two years, and that has helped his track performances. He’s now the top 800 on team, a big improvement from the past few years. He was over 2:20; he has worked his time down to 2:06. You could see something click with him the last year, being a lot more committed to running. He’s developed a passion for running and that has rubbed off on his teammates.’’

Brendan McClafferty

NH: ``He was a soccer player that joined the team last year for indoor track, and this year decided to do indoor and outdoor. He has stepped up to as a leader on the team, and has been leading workouts for the younger kids at practice. He’s had to really switch roles as far as races he is running. He had been running 400, now he is running 200 and 100, and think he has found his niche on the team.’’

Nick Richter

CY: ``Funny story about him -- and he shakes his head every time we tell it: He was a very small freshman. He was with three other guys, also small freshmen, at one big invitational meet, and we had a 4 x 400 team that was really great but at the last minute, somebody couldn’t run and we were going to scratch the relay. So there’s these freshmen out here, and not thinking much of it, and they wound up being in the fast heat in 4 x 4. They looked like little boys running against grown men; they were barely over 5 feet tall. We gave them an award, the Fearsome Foursome. That race they got lapped, and I had never seen that before in a 4 x 4 relay. He still continues to enjoy being on the team – he runs the mile, two mile and 800. Everyone on team calls him `Bonecrusher,’ for whatever reason. Maybe when he was a little freshman, everyone used to call him that because
he was a smaller guy, and so they gave him a name that made him feel bigger than he was.‘’

NH: ``He’s always been quiet on the team, and it’s interesting to see Nick Richter in his senior year really come out of his shell. He’s really outgoing, lively, social. It’s interesting to see, a great thing.’’


David Segun, captain

NH: ``He has run all four years, and I don’t think there’s anyone on the sprinting side these four years who has been a harder worker than David Segun. I think this season, he was finally put in this leadership role as captain and he has naturally fit that role. He is coming out of his shell as a good captain. I can see him pushing himself and leading by example and a lot of freshmen and sophomores are receptive to it. He is encouraging others constantly. Like Alex, he’s kind of a bridge between distance and sprinting. Also get along with anyone on the team. He’s going to be friendly to anyone on team no matter who you are.’’


Casey Shamma, captain

NH: ``He started off as a sophomore with a lot of talent as a sprinter. He really saw when he was a sophomore from the older guys what it is to be successful as a high school runner and has carried that on the last few years. He has fallen in love with running. He was a football player until this year, when he switched to cross country. Now he’s using it in his senior seasion to teach others, whether it is starting off on blocks, or handoffs, trying to demonstrate to others we can be successful but it takes a lot of hard work – all comes from that love of running from his sophomore year.’’

Knees bloodied, finishing first

In the first race Tuesday at B-CC’s second and last home meet – the girls’ 100 meter hurdles -- junior Julia Hardgrove crouched for the starter’s gun. A slow, steady rain had dampened the track, making the footing less sure. The gun sounded and Hardgrove shot to a commanding lead, but halfway through her leg caught a hurdle and down she went on her knees.

Wobbily at first, then regaining her stride, Hardgrove finished first in her heat – and first overall – in 19.30 seconds. At the finish line, she looked down at her bloodied knees and wondered if her day was over.

It wasn’t. ``She was banged up a little bit,’’ said Coach Chad Young. ``She skinned both her knees and then went and cleaned them up a little bit.’’ And then she kept competing, finishing second in the 300 meter hurdles (56.3); third in the triple jump; and fourth in the high jump.

``She’s tough,’’ Young said.

The meet against Blair, Landon’s boys and Stone Ridge’s girls featured other gritty performances – as well as some hard moments. Overall, the B-CC girls ended up winning the meet, while the boys finished second, behind Blair.

Rain fell intermittently. Temperatures dropped to near 50. Runners and field athletes, many wearing coats, were shivering only minutes after their races.

Among the highlights:

• A 1-2-3 finish in the boys’ 1600 meter race -- senior Chris Henderson (4:54); junior Eliot Gerson (4:57); and senior Eric Damtoft (4:59) – and a 1-2 finish in the boys’ 3200-meter, with Gerson winning in 10:47, and junior Trevor Stephens right behind in 10:56;

• Freshman Brittney Wade finished second in the 100 meters (13.4) and 200 meters (27.8);

• In the high jump winners in both girls and boys: junior Ariana Braganza cleared 4 feet 6 inches, while senior Alex Barrett cleared 5 feet 6 inches. (In a lonely scene with just two officials watching at the end of field, Barrett, the only competitor in the boys event, gamely attempted 5 feet 8 in the pouring rain but nicked the bar.);

• And in the shot put and discus, dual winners for boys and girls: senior Chuck Bank (41 feet in shot put and 94 feet in discus) and freshman Ruth Orevba (23 feet shot put for third and 63 feet discus for first).

In addition, the girls distance runners continued to dominate.

In the 4 x 800, the B-CC `A’ and `B’ teams finished first and second among five teams. In the 1600 meter race, Grace Reingruber (5:44) outlasted Hallie Jester (5:46) to finish 1-2. ``They were pushed by a girl from Stone Ridge,’’ Young said. ``They were surprised when the girl passed them, and so then they put their heads down and got going. Both are very competitive; it’s always fun to watch them race.’’

In the 3,200 meter race, senior Paige Donnelly and sophomore Ava Farrell ran together in the lead by themselves until the very end, when Donnelly held off Farrell. Donnelly finished in 12:18, Farrell a fraction of a second behind.

And in the girls 800, BCC swept the top five places: Reingruber (2:37); Jester (2:39); sophomore Alison Thomas (2:43); senior Darcy O’Connor (2:45); and freshman Laura Nakasaka (2:46).

But the day wasn’t all about wins.

In the boys 4 x 200 relay, senior Casey Shamma, running the first leg, went to ground in pain with an apparent hamstring injury. ``We’re trying to figure out the problem,’’ Young said. Shamma has been a standout sprinter so far this season.

And the B-CC girls 4 x 200 relay team never got to race because one sprinter couldn’t remove an earring. State competition rules prohibit wearing jewelry of any kind, and sophomore Jasmine Holmes couldn’t remove an earring in time.

Afterward, Young was philosophical.

``As horrible as it is not to run a race, it is a lesson learned,’’ the coach said. ``I’d rather learn it here at a dual meet, than at a bigger meet when it will be a big deal. Things are not going to be perfect every time, and so we have to learn these lessons.’’

Team-building: Cheering Laila

At the Woodward Relays on Saturday at Georgetown Prep – a meet featuring about 25 schools from Maryland, Virginia and District of Columbia – the top scorers for B-CC were an elite group of girls running the 800 and 1600 relays. The 4 x 800 team finished second, while the 4 x 1600 team finished first.

But the most fun of the day, spurring the whole team to gather at the track’s edge, was watching sophomore Laila Shehata compete in the steeplechase. The 2,000-meter, five-lap race features four hurdles on each lap, including one in which the runners try to get over a pool of water (and often don’t succeed).





Coach Chad Young has to find a volunteer for this once-a-year race, and he approached Shehata, a long-limbed athlete who also plays field hockey at B-CC.

``I ran it by her, and I think she was secretly excited, a little nervous about it,’’ Young said. ``It’s brand new and she was a little intrigued and agreed to give it a try. She’s a good athlete and I have a lot of faith in her.’’


Shehata, one of about 15 runners, started out well, nearly clearing the water pit the first few times around.

``Most people get pretty wet, and the some of the competitors in this race were not good at it, almost had to swim out of it,’’ Young said. ``But Laila was a natural.’’


She finished fifth, to the cheers of her team.

In the girls’ 4 x 800 relay, sophomore Ava Farrell went out quickly and put the team in second place. Her teammates – senior Paige Donnelly and sophomores Grace Reingruber and Hallie Jester – kept that position throughout, finishing second in 10 minutes flat.

Later, in the 4 x 1600 meter race, the competition had more drama.

Donnelly led and initially stayed with the pack as a runner from Sidwell Friends went out exceptionally fast. Donnelly broke from the group and closed the distance some, putting the team in second place. Jester followed and lost more ground, staying in second, but the team was 100 meters behind. Reingruber, determined to close the gap, finished her 1600-meter leg just 50 meters behind.

Farrell went out hard. ``She caught the first-place girl after the first lap, and then gave the team a large lead, running away with it,’’ Young said. Their times: Donnelly, 5:30; Jester, 5:46; Reingruber, 5:44; and Farrell, 5:34.

``It was not our greatest performance – they have all run faster -- but they competed well, and came out with a win,’’ Young said.

The boys relay teams did not place in the meet, but Young said one runner – senior Chris Henderson – had a particularly strong day.


Henderson also got a good workout, running four events. He opened the 4 x 800 relay; he then led the DMR with a 1200-meter leg (the DMR is 1200, 400, 800, and 1600 meter legs); he ran the 800 leg of the SMR (400, 200, 200, 800); and he ran a leg of the 4 x 1600. For his 800-meter runs, he finished with identical times, 2:08, close to his personal best.

The last race of the day was a co-ed relay.

The B-CC team consisted of Farrell (400 meters), senior Casey Shamma (200 meters), freshman Brittney Wade (200 meters) and sophomore Julian Dorsey (400 meters).

``Our goal was to medal – finish in the top three,’’ Young said of the race, which B-CC won last year.

Farrell (1:07) put the team in third place, and Shamma (23.9) kept it there. Then freshman Wade (25.7) burst through the field, vaulting the team into first place. Dorsey (55.5) fell back into second, but the team still reached its goal to earn a medal.

The next meet will be Tuesday, at B-CC, the second and final home meet of the year. One special part of it: The school will recognize the team’s 18 seniors in a ceremony at 3 p.m. Competition starts at 3:30 p.m. and will finish at around 6:30 p.m.

Beating allergies -- and her competition

The temperature had soared past 90 degrees. Pollen dusted the B-CC track. And sophomore Alison Thomas looked in pain, her face red, her eyes bloodshot from allergies. Still, the B-CC sophomore took her place for an 800-meter race against Watkins Mill on Wednesday.

She ran so hard that she won. Finishing second and third were teammates Darcy O’Connor, a senior, and freshman Laura Nakasaka. Thomas’ winning time was 2 minutes, 44.8 seconds, but for Coach Chad Young the most impressive thing was simply that she ran.

``She didn’t look so well because of her allergies,’’ he said. ``But she ran very well – it was maybe the highlight of the meet because she wasn’t feeling so great and still managed to do so well.’’

The meet – the second of the outdoor season, following a competition against Gaithersburg earlier in the spring – produced an unusual result: B-CC girls won handily over Watkins Mill’s girls (111-22), while Watkins Mill boys won just as handily over B-CC’s boys (100-30).

For the girls, the stars seemed endless.

O’Connor, the senior who finished second in the 800, won the mile in 6:08; junior Minna Jacobson was second in 6:15; and Thomas finished fourth in 6:18.

In the triple jump, O’Connor was the only entry in the girls’ competition, netting a first place in a 26 foot, three inch jump. For Young, the result was important for the five points, but also for the point that O’Connor made: She wasn’t afraid to try a new event, especially if it helped the team.

``It’s a technical event, so some people are too scared to try it,’’ he said. ``So because Darcy wasn’t shy, we came out with five points. I credit her for trying something new.’’

In the high jump, B-CC took the first four places: Junior Ariana Braganza, new to the team, won in clearing 4’ 8’’; junior Alanna Diggs cleared 4’ 6’’; junior Julia Hardgrove cleared 4’ 4’’; and sophomore Naomi Orevba cleared 4’ 2’’.

Kate Leuba, a senior, won the shot put with a throw of 21 feet 1.5 inches, while Ruth Orevba came in second with 21’ 1’’.

In the 200 meter sprints, B-CC swept with three newcomers to the team: Freshman Brittney Wade (26.72); senior Nia Harrington (27.88); and sophomore Jasmine Holmes (28:01). The three also joined with Katie Williams, a junior, to win two relay events, the 4 x 100 and 4 x 200.

``The new girls jumped right in and helped our team right away,’’ Young said.

Hardgrove also had a great day, winning the 100 and 300 meter hurdles races.

In the boys’ competition, despite the lopsided overall score, Young saw several positive outcomes.

One was Chris Henderson’s two races – narrowly finishing second in both the 800 and 1600 meter competitions. In the 800, senior Eric Damtoft finished third, close behind Henderson.

``Chris learned a lot about race strategy and tactics,’’ Young said. ``He said the Watkins Mill runner was really skilled in holding the inside of the track. He wasn’t happy that he lost, but he was satisfied with the competitive nature of the race.’’

In the sprints, Watkins Mill dominated – with one exception: Senior Casey Shamma finished third in both the 100 and 200 meter races.

Elsewhere, junior Elliot Gerson, who had not raced since the cross country season, won the two-mile in 11:13, with junior Trevor Stephens finishing second, just a second behind (11:14).

And in field events, senior Alex Barrett won the high jump, clearing 5’ 6’’, while senior Chuck Banks finished second in the shot put (42 feet, one inch) and third in discus (95 feet, two inches).

B-CC now has two meets in rapid succession: a large invitational competition Saturday at Georgetown Prep, and the second and last home meet of the year Tuesday against Blair and Landon.