At state meet, victory and heartbreak

One won by a step. The other lost by a hair’s breadth.

B-CC junior Brittney Wade led from start to finish in the girls’ 800-meter race at the Maryland 4A high school state indoor track championship Tuesday, winning in two minutes, 17 seconds.

Later in the state competition, senior Ava Farrell (No. 2 in the picture below)

took the lead in the last 300 meters in the 1600-meter race, only to finish in a virtual tie with Churchill runner Lucy Srour. Cameras on either side of the finish line helped determine that Srour finished first by 0.004 of a second.

Srour’s time: 5:15.371.

Farrell’s: 5:15.375.

The bottom line from the competition overall was that B-CC girls’ team finished fourth in the state. Every girl who competed scored points for the team. The boys’ team, after a strong year, did not have any athletes qualify for the meet.

Wade’s victory was especially impressive, said Coach Chad Young, because it was her third competition of the day. She ran the 500-meter race, winning her heat in 1:17. That was good for sixth overall, as the large field was divided into two groups with Wade seeded in the slower field.

In the 4 x 800 girls’ relay team, junior Caroline Leuba led off in 2:30, putting the team in fifth place. Senior Hallie Jester (2:27) (pictured below) and junior Laura Nakasaka (2:24 for her fastest time of the year, pictured second below), picked up the pace slightly, passing a few teams. Wade, the anchor, ran 2:20, but she was unable to catch Northwest’s anchor. B-CC ran strong and well, finishing second in 9:42, or three seconds faster than its earlier record.

“We’re a pretty deep team,” Young said. “We just stayed calm and got ourselves back in the race. Northwest was just a little bit out of reach. You have to give a lot of credit to them. They also ran a very smart race.”

In the 800-meter race, Young said he wasn’t sure that Wade would have enough energy to win.

“I hoped she would still have the legs,” he said. “We were all waiting to see how she would feel. She went out and ran the fastest time of the year. She decided she would lead the race from the beginning. Toward the end of race, a girl from Severna Park came on her shoulder, but Brittney held her off for the last lap. Mentally, she was extremely determined to win the 800. She had a lot of confidence.”

Farrell did as well. Young had made the tactical decision not to place her in the 4 x 800 relay, even though Farrell was the team’s second fastest 800 runner. He wanted her fresh for the two longest races of the meet – the mile and two mile.

In the mile, the pack started at a 5:20-minute pace, slow enough so that eight girls hung together for several laps. Young had talked to Farrell before the race about not waiting until the end to start her kick.

Farrell did just that, breaking away from the field with 300 meters to go.

“In that last lap and a half, she took off, and built and maintained a nice lead,” Young said. Srour, the Churchill runner, started closing the gap, gradually erasing the distance, and caught Farrell right at the finish line.

No one knew who won.

Twenty minutes passed. Farrell gave an interview on the sidelines. Coaches and teammates watched and waited. Finally, the judges ruled Srour the winner.

“I guess it shows you have to lean at the finish line,” Young said. “Sprinters always do, but distance runners run to the line. It was a great race. Ava ran beautifully. Tactically, she ran a great race, too. It was her best race of her high school career so far.”

In the 3200-meter race, Farrell and freshman Caroline Beakes entered for B-CC.

“Caroline has been our freshman star of the indoor track season,” Young said. “There have been a lot of freshman stars this year, and she is yet another.”

Beakes (pictured left) passed Farrell a few laps into the race, and continued to pass other runners, finishing in 11:45, for fifth overall. Farrell finished seventh in 12:01.

There was one letdown at the end. The team’s 4 x 400 relay was set to go, waiting for Wade after she finished her 800 meter race. Wade started cramping a bit near the starting gate and signaled to Young that she couldn’t run. Young quickly tried to substitute her with Jester, but the officials wouldn’t allow it.

Young said he felt terribly for the team, especially sophomore Laila Ismail, who had waited all day for the race. The other team members were Leuba and Nakasaka. “It was a real debacle,” Young said. “Everyone was confused. The officials were confused. The girls were confused. Sadly, it didn’t work out. I felt so badly for Laila. She really cared a lot, and wanted to put on a great performance at the end of the season.”

Fortunately, the indoor season’s end comes just a week before the outdoor season’s start. Practice starts March 1. The first meet is at home on March 21, against Churchill (possible redemption for one senior) and Gaithersburg.

“We just had a great group of girls and boys on this team,” Young said. “Every one had such a great attitude. It was so easy to coach these kids. It’s a shame that the boys didn’t qualify for the states, but I have high hopes for both teams next year.”

Regionals: B-CC girls race to 2nd place finish

By Chad Young

Every two years the 4A West Regional meet changes its location between the familiar PG Sportsplex and the less familiar— and less glamorous—Baltimore Armory. The seniors, having run at the armory as freshmen, explained the horrors of running there: There is no actual track (it’s more of a gym floor), the floor is dusty and slippery, the lighting is dim, there are no pits for long or triple jump (hence the reason those events are not contested at the state meet), and shot putters throw onto mats.

The top four places at the regional meet qualify for the state meet and athletes not in the top four can still qualify if they hit a predetermined qualifying time, distance, or height. The team goals at the regional meet are not necessarily to win the meet, but rather to qualify as many athletes for the state meet as possible to increase the chances of winning a state title.

Despite the less than adequate facilities, the athletes remained competitive and determined. The girls surpassed their performance from the county meet, where they finished fourth overall, to get second place. They beat Clarksburg and Wootton, who had beaten them at the county meet a few weeks earlier, but they were still outmatched by Northwest who won the meet. The boys performed very well and placed 12th overall out of the 17 teams in the region.

The day began with sophomore Lucas Beck competing in the pole vault, an event that has not featured a BCC athlete in many years. Lucas awed his teammates with his new talent as they gathered to cheer him on as he attempted to clear the opening height of 9 feet. With just one other competitor from Quince Orchard, Beck needed only to clear the bar to score eight points and to advance to the state meet. Unfortunately, nine feet was just out of reach, but his performance was surely a highlight of the meet.

The girls 4x800 was the first race of the day and BCC shined. Caroline Leuba (2:34) led off with confidence. She set a fast tempo from the beginning, which showed from the single file line that formed behind her. She handed the baton off to Hallie Jester (2:33), with a Richard Montgomery runner not far behind. Hallie surpassed the RM runner and held off a charging Northwest girl to hand the baton off in first place. Laura Nakasaka (2:40), running the mile shortly after this race, ran with a sense to conserve, but did not wish to relinquish the lead to NW who would not agree to keep the pace slow. Brittney Wade (2:33), received the baton just behind the NW team, but took over the pace making and held off the field for the win in 10:22. (The team is pictured, minus Laura Nakasaka.)

Wade continued to have an impressive day, edging the fifth place runner in the 500 to get fourth and qualify for the state meet by just .17 seconds. She then went on to become the regional champion in the 800 in 2:29. It was her third race of the day, and she admitted to feeling a little tired. She sat near the back of a pack of six runners, and with each of the four laps she gradually moved her way up to the front. A lap and a half from the finish she took the lead and made fighting off a group of six runners for the win look easy.

Wade was not the only athlete to book a trip to states in multiple events. Now a senior, Ava Farrell last ran at the armory when she was a freshman, and a lot has changed since then. She has run many races and learned a lot about her abilities and about how to race. One thing that hasn’t changed – she’s still really fast. During the 1600, a race she wasn’t originally planning to run, Ava sat behind the leaders for the majority of the race. When Churchill’s Lucy Srour pulled away from the field, Ava didn’t panic, but instead gradually reeled Srour in and set herself up for an exciting last lap where she decisively passed Churchill’s star runner and pulled away to win the race in 5:26.

Farrell had little time to enjoy her 1600 success. With her next race, the 3200, quickly approaching, she was forced to turn her cool down into a warm-up. Two of Farrell’s toughest competitors would be doing the same, which would keep the race close. What none of these three girls realized though, is that BCC freshman Caroline Beakes would look to steal the spotlight.

A pack of five runners circled the track together until Caroline Guiot, the Whitman senior and 4A state cross country individual champion, took off with two laps to go. Farrell and Beakes closed the gap and Beakes sprinted during the final lap to challenge Guiot for the win. Guito edged her out by a mere one second, but Beakes’ 2nd place finish was more than enough to earn her a trip to the state meet. Farrell, also sprinting and challenging Guiot in the final lap, crossed the line one second behind Beakes for a third place finish and her second qualifying mark of the day. Beakes and Farrell finished in 12:01 and 12:02 respectively.

The girls 4x400 was the last group to qualify. Sophomore Laila Ismail (1:05), Leuba (1:06), Nakasaka (1:05) and Wade (1:05), finished in 3rd overall in 4:25.

Although the boys had no qualifiers, they had a number of notable performances. Sophomore Nolan Ebner showed that a slow surface doesn’t always result in a slow time. The boys’ 800 was separated into two sections and Ebner ran in the slower seeded section. He sat back early, but surged ahead on the final lap and ran away with the win. His time, 2:12, tied his personal best and earned him a fifth place finish - just one place from qualifying.

Sophomore Peter Horton ran the same tough double as Farrell – the 1600 and 3200. He performed well in both finishing 8th in the 1600 in 4:50, and 6th in the 3200 in 10:29, just missing the qualifying standards.

The boys’ 4x200 relay of Julien Dorsey (26.26), Alessandro Lallas (25:35), Chris Bonilla (26.03), and Weyimni Dorsu (25.72) showed the most improvement, finishing 7th overall in 1:44. The boys 4x400 team, Ebner (58.55), Lallas (56.27), Dorsey (58.97), and Dorsu (59.60), finished in 8th place overall in 3:53.

Boys' 4x800 team: Matt Boden, Sam Hainbach, Aidan Hennessey and Kyle Nakasaka.


State qualifiers will compete next at the 4A State Championships that will be held at the PG Sportsplex on Tuesday February 21st at 4pm.

Race videos from regionals can be found on the Running Maryland website: http://runningmaryland.com/index.php?option=com_jomtube&view=videos&Itemid=70

Full regional results can be found on mocorunning.com: http://www.mocorunning.com/meet.php?meet_id=2321