The forecast called for storms, and the clouds threatened to produce, but no precipitation fell from the sky at the Katie Jenkins Invitational on Saturday. It did, however, rain PRs.
In the first final of the day, the girls 4x800 relay, Sophomore Laila Ismail nervously stepped to the line to lead off for B-CC. A newcomer to the 800, Ismail wasn’t sure what to expect during the race, but she handled the pressure like a veteran, running a smart race and handing off the baton to Junior Caroline Leuba in second place. Her split of 2:24 is almost unheard of for a runner with such little experience in the 800.
After receiving the baton from Ismail, Leuba kept B-CC in contention for the win, battling back and forth with Largo’s runner for the lead. Leuba handed off to Junior Laura Nakasaka who solidified the lead for the Barons, a lead that Junior Brittney Wade was able to easily maintain as she cruised her way to the finish line more than 10 seconds ahead of runner-up Largo.
Ismail later dominated her heat of the 200 to finish second in a time of 26.24. She also teamed-up with Wade, Leuba, and Freshman Chelsea Folkes in the 4x400 to run a time of 4:06, the fastest time by a B-CC team this year, and the fastest time by a B-CC team in all of Coach Young’s years as a coach.
Wade, who anchored both the 4x800 and the 4x400, also won the open 400 in a time of 58.47.
In the girls mile, Senior Ava Farrell and Freshman Caroline Beakes made quite a statement, finishing first and second respectively. Beakes recorded a personal-best time of 5:26.
Not to be outdone by his female counterparts, Sophomore Peter Horton also made his presence known in the mile, finishing second with a PR of 4:32.
In the boys 800, Senior Aidan Hennessey clocked a three second PR of 2:12, and Sophomore Nolan Ebner ran a PR of 2:03, a time he had split in the 4x800 relay but had yet to officially record in an open race. In the girls 800, Freshman Abby Fry took command of her heat after getting caught in the shuffle at the start. She regained her composure, calmly worked her way to the front of the pack, and maintained her lead for the remainder of the race. The initial results for the event were flawed, and even after revision her official time and place are still questionable; however, there is no mistaking the fact that she ran significantly faster in the event than she has all season.
In the 3200, Junior Nick McGreivy (10:29) and Freshman Sam Baker (10:38) ran their fastest times ever in the event.
But distance and mid-distance runners weren’t the only ones to make a statement. In the 300 Hurdles, Junior Eugenia Wilson finished fourth in a season-best time of 48.56. She also finished fifth in the 100 Hurdles.
Freshman Orlando Pinder also lowered his 300 Hurdles time to 51.42. Pinder and fellow Freshman Liam McGowan both jumped new lengths in the triple jump, recording marks of 33’ 1.5” and 30’ 11.5” respectively.
Junior Luidgi Morton also ran and jumped his way to PRs on Saturday, running 12.1 in the 100 meters and jumping 17’ 4.75” in the long jump.
Many of the throwers also had a record-breaking day on Saturday. Freshman Olea Rugamayo threw a new best of 61’ 8” in the discus, Senior Mike Nyarko threw a season-best 42’ in the shot put, and Junior Anthony Royster improved in both, throwing 38’10” in the shot put and 92’ 4” in the disc. Also establishing a personal record was Freshman Justine Berard who threw the shot 20’ 6”.
The Barons will compete this week at the county championships. The championship meet is at Walter Johnson on Wednesday at 3:30pm. The county B meet is on Saturday at Wootton beginning at 8:00am.
