Wade breaks meet record in 800 meters

By Emily Young

 By her own admission, Junior Brittney Wade hasn’t been feeling particularly sprightly on the track these days. The combination of grueling mid-season workouts and late nights doing schoolwork has left her feeling tired and her legs feeling heavy and sluggish. Her first race of the day at the Viking Invitational seemed to reflect this fatigue.

Arriving to the meet with only a few minutes to warm-up, Wade ran the anchor leg of the 4x800 looking and feeling tight and labored. So as she stepped to the line for the open 800, she didn’t know what to expect. She knew she wanted to win and that she was facing one of her toughest competitors in Severna Park’s Ashley Hayes, but what she didn’t know was how her legs would respond.

When the gun went off, Wade and Hayes took an immediate lead, running stride for stride for the first 400 meters and opening up a large lead on the rest of field. Around the 400 meter mark, Hayes took a slight lead, but Wade kept her within striking distance, and with a little over 100 meters to go, Wade made her move, sprinting past Hayes and creating an insurmountable lead.

 Wade crossed the finish line in 2:12.26, nearly 4 seconds ahead of Hayes. The time was a 3 second PR for Wade and a Viking Invitational record.

 Also in the 800 was B-CC Sophomore Helen Webster who has been outstanding this season. After getting boxed at the beginning of the race, Webster broke out and ran an impressive 2:23.1.

 Other notable 800 performances came from both the boys and girls’ 4x800 relay teams. Junior Caroline Leuba, Senior Ava Farrell, Senior Hallie Jester, and Wade ran an extremely competitive race and earned a victory in the event with a combined time of 9:36.26.

 Sophomore Peter Horton, Junior Nick McGreivy, Sophomore Matt Boden, and Senior Aidan Hennessey competed for B-CC in the boys’ 4x800. While each of the boys competed extremely well, Boden in particular showed a great deal of confidence and determination as he hunted down runners en route to a monstrous 10 second PR of 2:15.

 Also running a personal-best time was Caroline Beakes in the 3200 meter run. Beakes employed her usual strategy of maintaining a comfortable position before starting her gradual but dangerous kick towards the end of the race. Her time of 11:40 was good for 4th place in the event.

 Freshman Chelsea Folkes ran an exciting open 400 meters, finishing 10th out of 45 competitors. Her time of 61.7 was a personal-best for the promising young runner. In the 300 hurdles, Freshman Sisan Dorsu ran a personal-best of 51.47, and Junior Eugenia Wilson won her heat and finished 7th in 49.06, her fastest time of the season.

 A number of personal records were also set in the field events. Both Sophomore Kenny Norris and Freshman Kyle Nakasaka recorded their farthest jumps in the triple jump, leaping 39’8” and 32’11 ½ ” respectively. Norris finished 6th in the event.

 Junior Nick McGreivy tied for 4th in the high jump with a leap of 5’ 6”. His previous best jump of 5’4” was set just last week at Wootton. He is making quick progress in the event and scoring valuable points for the Barons in the process.

 There are no local meets this week or weekend. Coach Young and Coach Emily will be traveling to Philadelphia on Thursday with Webster, Farrell, Wade, and Junior Laura Nakasaka for the Penn Relays, one of the most prestigious high school, college, and professional track meets in the country. The girls will compete in the 4x800, an event that they had to run a qualifying time for. Make sure to wish the girls luck!