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.