National Scholastic Athletics Foundation

NCRunners Holiday Invitational
JDL Fast Track, Winston-Salem, NC -- Dec. 21, 2014
NCRunners.com Coverage | JDL's own meet homepage (Runnerspace.com network)

Photos by Jeff Sides (from top, Murphy winning the girls' 55, final handoff for Parkland girls' 4x2, Greene winning the girls' HJ), courtesy of Jeff George, NCRunners.com (Milesplit network)

US Top 5 Performers

• US#1 19-2.75 girls’ long jump and US#2 7.05 PR girls’ 55m dash (prelim) for Sydnei Murphy (Apex, NC senior).  The LJ mark, on her first attempt, was the 1st 19-footer of the season nationally and held off the 18-9.5 of Olivia Walker (Hopewell, NC senior).  In the 55, she had the fastest time by .13 in the prelim, then won a photo finish final as she and Gabrielle Cunningham (Mallard Creek, NC senior) were both timed in 7.11.  Murphy, a Duke signee, had her big breakthrough this past summer at NBNO when she was 2nd in the triple jump and 3rd in the LJ.
• US#1 7.88 girls’ 55m hurdles by Anna Cockrell (Providence Day, NC junior), ahead of two other sub-8.20 efforts: 8.17 by Ariel Davis (Northern Guilford, NC senior) and 8.19 by Kylie McMillan (Southern Guilford, NC senior).  The 7.88 was just .01 off her PR, which she set en route to her 8.48 60H last March at NBNI (8th), and she ran 8.00 in her prelim.  Cockrell, who was also 2nd in the 300 and 3rd in the 55 dash here, had a great meet at NBNO last June, too: 13.46 in the 100H for 3rd and 59.69 in the 400H for 4th.
• 4:49.78 girls’ 1,600m from defending NBNO mile champ Ryen Frazier (Ravenscroft, NC senior), who is already the national leader in the mile (with converted 1,600s) with her 4:44.20 last month.  Two others broke 5:05: Nevada Mareno (Leesville Road, NC soph) at 5:00.63 and Libby Davidson (E.C. Glass, VA soph) at 5:04.06.  Frazier and Davidson just got back from San Diego, where they were 2nd and 6th at last weekend’s Foot Locker Finals.  Frazier, an NC State signee, had been runner-up to Davidson in the Great American ROC girls’ race back in October, as well.
• US#1 1:40.21 girls’ 4x200m relay and US#3 3:54.64 4x400m relay from Parkland NC.  McKinley McNeill, Ebony Williams, Katlin Sherman and Erin Morrison were listed in the 4x2, where they were followed by Cary NC at 1:43.94 and Wakefield NC at 1:44.32.  In the 4x4, it was the Parkland quartet of McNeill, Williams, Kimani Davis and Morrison who were tabbed, beating Wakefield at 4:01.54 and Cary and 4:05.96.  Parkland was 2nd in the 4x2 at NBNI last March, then won the event at NBNO.
• US#1 5-10 girls’ high jump by Nicole Greene (Ponte Verda, FL), who added some exciting out-of-state energy to what was her first-ever indoor meet and was just ¾ inch off her PR.  The UNC recruit was also 2nd in the TJ – contesting that event for the first time – at 38-0.5 and 3rd in the LJ at 18-3.5.  She was 8th at NBNO last spring and 5th in the Youth Olympic Trials.
• US#1-tying 16-0 boys’ pole vault from Drew Pedersen (Apex NC senior), topping another Floridian, David Bell (Bishop Kenny senior) at 15-6.  Two others were over 15-0: Tristan Shaver (Lexford NC senior) and Pedersen’s teammate Michael Utecht.   Pedersen is the defending NC 4A state champ outdoors and Utecht was the NBNO Emerging Elite (EE) runner-up last June.
• US#2 7.29 boys’ 55m hurdles and US#5 23-0 long jump by Marcus Krah (Hillside, NC junior).  Krah was pushed in the 55H by Emmanuel Jackson (Sanderson, NC senior), who hit US#3 7.40, while the LJ featured two others within six inches in Jeremy Davis (Ben L Smith, NC senior) at 22-9 and Jamie Brown (Knightdale, NC senior) at 22-7.  Krah also ran 7.29 in the prelims and in the LJ won on his first attempt and fouled the remaining jumps.
• US#2 8:06.80 boys’ 4x800m and 3:29.14 4x400m relay double by South View NC, winning both with plenty of room to spare.  The 4x8s listed included Rontrel Felton, Michael Staples, Javier Alejandro and Philip Hall, while the 4x4 was RaKesh Page, Felton, Staples and Hall
• US#2 2:29.97 boys’ 1,000m run by Elijah Inuwa (Central Acad. of Tech NC), winning a fine battle over Vincent Crisp (North Mecklenberg, NC senior) at 2:30.76 and Philip Hall (South View, NC senior) at 2:31.74.  Inuwa was 4th in the NBNO EE 800 last spring, as well as the state 1A/2A 1k champ and state 2A outdoor 800 champ, but has clearly improved to pull the upset.
• US#2 6.41 boys’ 55m dash by Jonathan Avery (Cary Academy, NC senior), winning a very tight race as four others broke 6.50.  Following Avery were Daniel Estrada (Platinum Sports, NC junior) at US#3(tie) 6.43 and Juwan Crowder (Forest Hills, NC junior) at US#5 6.44.  Avery was also 4th in the 300.
• US#2 1:06.22 boys’ 600m run by Bryce Ailshie (Dobyns Bennett, TN senior), edging Tom Bleicher (Fuquay-Varnia, NC senior) at US#3 1:06.37.  Ailshie was 15th overall in the NBNO 800 last June with his PR 1:52.42
• US#2 38-8.5 girls’ triple jump by Brittany Bowald (Atlantic Coast, FL senior), topping fellow Floridian Nicole Greene (see above)
• US#5 1:16.93 girls’ 500m dash by Tia Robinson (Wakefield, NC senior), winning by more than three seconds over Nevada Mareno (Leesville Road, NC soph) – who was also the 1,600 runner-up

Other winners

• 35.38 boys’ 300m dash by Kymani Dula (Southern Alamance, NC soph) over Jeremiah Brown (Southwest Guilford, NC soph) at 35.40
• 40.62 girls’ 300m dash by Lauren White (Leesville Road, NC junior), ahead of the above-mentioned Cockrell at 41.04
• 3:00.41 girls’ 1,000m run by Malia Ellington (Community School of Davidson, NC senior), triumphant by more than seven seconds.  She was also 2nd in the 3,200
• 4:29.52 boys’ 1,600m run by Henry Pehr (Green Hope, NC junior)
• 9:54.88 boys’ 3,200m run by Corbin Boyles (Maiden, NC senior)
• 11:13.73 girls’ 3,200m run by Sophie Ebihara (Cardinal Gibbons, NC junior)
• 1:34.79 boys’ 4x200m relay by Berry Academy NC, just nipping North Mecklenburg NC and Milbrook NC at 1:35.02
• 9:51.79 girls’ 4x800m relay by Cary Academy NC, prevailing by more than 30 seconds
• 6-6 boys’ high jump and 45-9 triple jump by Steve Fossi-Nuve (Mallard Creek, NC junior), earning the only boys’ double of the meet.  In the HJ, Jordan Dale (Northwest Guilford, NC junior) also cleared 6-6, but lost on misses
• 12-0 girls’ pole vault by Zoe Early (Apex, NC junior), winning over Alina McDonald (Carolina Homeschool senior) at 11-6
• 50-9 boys’ shot put by Russell Corbett (Ashley, NC junior)
• 42-4.5 girls’ shot put by Hassana Clark (Southeast Raleigh, NC senior), beating fellow senior teammate Tiffany Dunham at 40-6.5.  Another 45-footer, Alycia Springs (Mallard Creek, NC junior) was 3rd at just 39-2.5
• 49-6.75 boys’ weight throw by Neil Blanken (Bluffton, SC junior)
• 39-8.5 girls’ weight throw by Courtney Brooks (Cherokee, TN junior)