Pete’s Saturday Competition Boys Report

4xMile Relay: Collegiate Track Club blitzed the field with a 17:19.42 victory, thanks to splits of 4:20.8, 4:22.2, 4:20.9 and 4:15.5 by Dylan Trotzuk, Itse Begho, Dwayne Alexis and Chris Williams.

Collegiate's biggest challenge was the year-old meet record of 17:18.33. The performance was the second fastest in the history of the Nike Outdoor Nationals and the year's fastest prep time

Collegiate, is actually a New York City prep school at 78th and Broadway, about halfway between Central Park and the Hudson River in the shadow of the Museum of Natural History. Collegiate Prep was founded in 1628 and, said Trotzuk, the lone junior on the squad, "We're older than Harvard."

Begho is heading for Yale this fall, while Alexis will attend Dartmouth and Williams is bound for Villanova.

The Dutchmen won handily over Glastonbury (CT) High School. Glastonbury finished second in 17:24.49 while third place went to Jackolope Track Club (Pinckney, MI) in 17:28.03.

"It's tough to do a 4x1 mile in the morning," said Williams. "It wasn't so bad though. There wads a little breeze, but we knew if we didn't panic and kept our composure when someone made a push, we would be fine. We couldn't take anyone for granted. Some of the best milers in the country were here today. Most of their PRs were comparable to ours."



800m Medley Relay (100-100-200-400): Willingboro (NJ) High School registered its fastest time of the year en route to victory. Anthony Coleman, junior Marc Biersinger, Antonio Abney and Jason Boyd brought the baton around in 1:30.09.

DeMatha Catholic High School (Hyattsville, MD) got off to a quick start, and heading into the final 400m it was DeMatha, Willingboro and Teaneck (NJ) High School. Willingboro dropped to third on the backstretch, but coming around the final turn Boyd moved the South Jersey squad into second. On the homestretch, Boyd powered into first place and stayed there through the finish.

"When I got the stick, we were behind," said Boyd. "When I saw the guy from DeMatha in front of me, I decided I was going to run as close to him as I can before I made my move. I knew over the last 100 I had to give it all I had."

DeMatha was second in 1:30.42, with Bethel (VA) High School moving up for third in 1:31.18. Fourth was Teaneck in 1:31.21.

"I really didn't have a strategy until I got the stick," Boyd continued. "I just knew if I got in front, the next move was to run for my life. Everybody was on the same page today, and everyone had that eagle's eye."



Hammer throw: Walter Henning (St. Anthony's, South Huntington, NY) has been the king of the prep ranks this year, setting a national high school record and dominating the annual performance list.

But sophomore Conor McCullough (Chaminade, West Hills, CA) is the son of a two-time Irish Olympian, and Erin's sons have never been know to treat royalty with respect. McCullough, a late entry for this meet, gave Henning a battle fit for . . . well, a king.

Henning opened with a toss of 243-5, but then fouled on his next four attempts. McCullough's first attempt went 240-3, and in the second round his throw was measured at 240-11. Just like Saturday's temperatures, the competition in Greensboro began heating up.

In the final round, Henning finally tucked away the win with a throw of 249-0. McCullough wound up second, with Wesley Wright (Marietta, GA) third at 214-10. "Today I had to go up against the No. 2 in the world [McCullough], which is always exciting," said Henning. "I really struggled all day. It wasn't a good day for me at all. My last throw, the crowd really got into it. I finally let one go that didn't go foul and it was good enough to win."

Henning's best this year, the prep record 255-11, came on May 5. McCullough's best, a sophomore class record 243-11, came thirteen days ago.

Henning plans to spend more time in North Carolina in the future. He'll enter the University of North Carolina this fall. "Next year I'm going to redshirt and just train to make the World Championships," said Henning. "So it was good to win, because I won't be competing for a while.

"It gets better and better every year," said Henning, who placed third here in 2004 and second in 2005 before winning last year.



2,000m steeplechase: Ryan McDermott (Chaminade, Mineola, NY) and Miles Svoboda (Marietta, GA) opened up a slight lead on the field on the first lap, and on the second lap Phil Cawkwell (Bedford, NY) pulled ahead of Svoboda.

On the third lap, McDermott and Cawkwell began moving away from the rest of the crowd. At the bell, it was McDermott and Cawkwell with daylight between them, and Svoboda well back in third.

McDermott left no doubt about the outcome on the final lap, leaving Cawkwell behind and finishing in 5:52.63 " the year's fastest prep time and the No. 8 mark all-time.

"It's an amazing feeling," said McDermott, "because I came in today a little nervous because this was my last chance to win a national championship. Plus, I lost my state meet last week because I was a little under the weather. It helped me focus more. I ate healthy this week, I got a slot of sleep, and I came here ready to compete. I wanted to come out hard and not get tripped up early. I knew the last 800 meters had to be mine. I had to dominate the last 800 to win."

Third place went to Section 1 winner Kevin Schwab (Mustang, OK), whose time of 5:57.55 had taken over as the year's No. 1 prep time " at least until McDermott's heroics.



200 meters " qualifying: Four heats, with winners and next four fastest advancing to the final

1st heat (-0.5): Mychal Dungey (Austin, TX) cruised in first in 21.51. Terrell Wilks (New Haven, CT) was a non-qualifying second 21.75 followed by Adrian Bentley (Chattanooga, TN) in 21.71.

2nd heat (-1.5): Whitney Prevost (Texas City, TX) won in in 21.47, with 100m champ Trenton Guy (Charlotte, NC) second in 21.42 to advance.

3rd heat (-2.6): Ryan Bailey (Salem, OR) powered home first in 21.48 followed by Edward Alexander (Charlotte, NC) in 21.75.

4th heat -2.1): Brandon Byram (Station Camp, TN) was first in 21.62, Trevor Graham (Raleigh, NC) second in 21.68 and Antonio Sales (Chapel Hill, NC) third in 21.74.

Advancing to the final are Prevost, Bailey, Dungey, Byram, Guy, Graham, Sales and Alexander.



400m hurdles: Jeshua Anderson (Northridge, CA) scratched, and midway through the race Johnny Dutch (Clayton) clobbered a hurdle " but none of that fazed William Wynne (Kennesaw, GA) and Reginald Wyatt (Riverside, CA).

Spencer Adams (Matthews, NC) got out of the blocks quickly, but Wynne gained control by the midway point with Wyatt taking over second place. Wyatt surged coming off the final hurdle, but Wynne " a junior who scored a hurdles double earlier this year at the Georgia state meet " held on to win by the slimmest or margins, 50.09 to 50.10.

Wynne and Wyatt moved into No. 8 and No. 9 on the all-time prep list. Their times are the two best on the high school charts for 2006. Wyatt's time is also a sophomore class record.

"I had to focus getting under 50 [seconds] to win this race," said Wynne. I knew what I was up against, because these guys have put together some great times this year. You know, no matter what, that after you get past the last hurdle I had to come on strong. I knew he [Wyatt] would be there. I just had to give it all I have."



4x100m relay: Excellent stickwork propelled Team Texas to victory in 40.99. The Texans were ahead at the first, second and third exchanges. Four teams were dead-even at the last handoff, but Cahokia (IL) managed to shade East St. Louis (IL) and South Shore (Brooklyn, NY).

Clyde Lee ran the anchor leg for the victors, who posted a time of 40.99. Lee also ran the fourth leg for Team Texas's triumphant 4x200 relay squad Friday. "We came in with ultimate confidence," Lee said. "We didn't come here to have a letdown. We knew we were running pretty good coming in, but if we didn't showcase it this weekend, hoe we felt fifn't matter."

Cahokia's time was 41.42 to 41.52 for East St. Louis and 41.56 for South Shore.

While Friday's cool weather in Greensboro turned warmer Saturday, it wasn't warm enough for the Texas team of Isaiah Sweeney, Cleon Davis, Robert Simmons and Lee. "We don't see this weather as hot," said Lee. "I'm cold. It's great to run in cool weather like this. When I got the stick, I just wanted to pull away."



800 meters: Cory Primm (Westlake, Westlake Village, CA) surged past Dylan Ferris Kernersville, NC) three-quarters of the way into the race and flew home in 1:48.63, the year's fastest prep time.

Ferris, a junior, took the field through most of the first lap-and-a-half, but Primm zipped by at 600m in 1:19.9. Primm, the Arcadia champ and a future UCLA Bruin, powered through the final 200 to ice the win as James Gilreath (Bartlett, TN) passed Ferris in the waning meters of the race. Gilreath was the runnerup in 1:49.98 with Ferris settling for third in 1:50.12, just head of Abdin Hassan (Seattle, WA) in 1:50.77 and Jason Apwah (Ledgewood, NJ) in 1:50.85.

"It"s great to win a national title," Primm said. "I just really wanted to get it going in the last 200 meters. I felt like if I could kick it around that turn I had a chance.

"There is some great competition here. But I came in knowing I had to turn it on at the right time or I would get caught."



Long jump: Marquise Goodwin, a talented sophomore from Rowlett, Texas, took the lead with his first jump and improved on his fourth try en route to the victory.

His first time up, the Texas 5A champ rode an aiding wind of 3.1 meters per second to a 23-10 measurement. In the fourth round, aided by a 2.1 mps breeze, Goodwin stretched his lead to 24-8.5.

Meanwhile Zedric Thomas (New Iberia, LA), in second place since round two, mustered a legal fourth-round jump of 24-5.5 to ice the runnerup spot. Thomas was the third-place finisher in Friday's triple jump final.

Third place went to Jakar Hamilton (Edgefield, SC) with a windy 23-7.25 measurement.

"Finishing seventh yesterday in the triple jump really motivated me," said Goodwin. "Even though I use it to get reday for the long jump, I felt like I didn;t compete the way I'm capable Yesterday. So it put a chip on my shoulder."

Goodwin said he came to the Nike Outdoor Nationals expecting to win this event. "When I came out here it was cold, but it didn't affect my speed," he said. "Speed is all you need/ My speed got me into a flow and it just took me from there."



400 meters: Gil Roberts (Oklahoma City, OK) and Sean Holston (Springfield, VA) got quickly out of the blocks and heading into the final turn it was Roberts in the lead.

Holston, a 200/400 double winner at the Nike Indoor Nationals last March, couldn't keep up with the taller Oklahoman, who finished first in 46.16 " the year's third-fastest high school time.

Holston followed Roberts in 46.64, with Brandon Bing (Wyncote, PA) overtaking Danzell Fortson (Fort Worth, TX), the Texas 5A winner, for third in 46.71. Fortson's time was 46.89.

400 meter men

"I wanted to get out the way," said Roberts. "I"m accustomed to getting out. It really mattered today because I feel like I didn"t have it until the last 10 meters of the race. Once I got on the final 100 meters, I was feeling the pressure from the other guys. I knew if I had it left, I had to give it.

"It"s a great feeling to be a national champion. There is no other feeling like it. It means all the hard work paid off."



Mile: Despite a workmanlike effort by Ben Hubers, Sam Borchers walked off with all the glory. Borchers (Yellow Springs, OH), winner of the Nike Indoor mile title last March, added the outdoor title to his credits.

Hubers (Marietta, GA), third here last year, gave a blue-collar performance. The Indiana recruit took the field through a fast opening lap in about 58 seconds, and led at the halfway point. Hubers' valiant effort had meet announcers talking about a sub-4 time.

Hubers was still in control on the backstretch when Borchers began to surge. Borchers passed Hubers around the final turn and began to pull away down the straight. Borchers finished first in 4:03.33 " the year's fastest prep mile time " with Hubers second in 4:04.98 " the No. 3 time this year.

Third was Evan Jager (Algonquin, IL) in 4:05.68, with Matthew Cameron (Hattiesburg, MS) fourth in 4:07.32.

After his race, the exhausted Borchers said he didn't have anything left and wasn't able to talk to North Carolina A&T SID Brian Holloway, who served as NSSF's quoteman this weekend.



110m hurdles: This race featured a defending champ " Johnny Dutch (Clayton, NC) " and the newly-crowned intermediate hurdles champ " William Wynne (Kennesaw, GA), but the big story turned out to be relatively unknown sophomore Wayne Davis III (Raleigh, NC).

Dutch, the highly-touted South Carolina recruit, wasn't even around for the finish. Spencer Adams (Matthews, NC) jumped the gun, and officials charged the field with a false start. Moments later, Dutch appeared to false start. After a moment's discussion, an official walked to Lane 4 " Dutch's lane " and raised a red flag.

With Dutch out of the picture, Adams, Wynne and Davis got the best starts. Adams, running in Lane 3, appeared to have a slight lead at the tenth hurdle. But in the closing moments, Davis surged in Lane 6. Davis's time of 13.65 made him the year's fourth-best performer. Adams was second in 13.74, followed by Wynne in 13.76.

The wind reading was -0.7 meters per second.

"I don"t feel good about winning it," Davis said afterwards. "I didn"t win it the way I wanted to win and I beat a senior who doesn"t have another chance to win it. I don"t know. I just don"t feel right about this one. If I ran my best, I probably would feel better about it."

"I"ve been working on hurdles for five years " since I was 10 " so I"m at the point where no one can beat me to the first hurdle. I haven"t had someone beat me to the first hurdle all season . . . that"s big.

"I need to work on my speed in the race. Getting to the hurdles is not a problem, but I have to work on finishing."



Shot put: Jimmie Pacifico lived up to his billing as the nation's top prep shot putter. Pacifico (Dayton, OH), the top prep on the current charts. went into the fifth round trailing Michael Putman (Miami, OH). Putman had been out in front since the second round thanks to a 64-8 heave.

Pacifico responded with a 64-8 heave in round five to move into the lead. Putman improved to 63-11 on his last toss, but fell to third when Colin Boevers (Murray, UT) got off a 64-2.5 throw on his final try.

Fourth was defending champion Benjamin Stephen (Liberty, IN), whose best was 62-8.5.

"Well, I won the indoor national championship, so naturally I wanted to win the outdoor title too," said Pacifico. "I didn"t throw nearly as well as I wanted to. I feel like I could have thrown it a lot farther, but I don"t think we approached the weekend the way we should have. We got here on Thursday and just kind of sat around for a day. It was hard to get going today. I was looking to throw 72-feet, but it just didn"t happen today.

"I think I can not have my best and still win because I"ve been here before. Some of these other guys don"t have the experience I have. I know how to win and some of the guys I was competing against today are still trying to learn how to win."



200 meters: Whitney Prevost (Texas City, TX) emerged the victory in an even field, edging fellow Texan Mychal Dungey, Antonio Sales (Chapel Hill, NC) and Ryan Bailey (Salem, OR).

Prevost's time was 21.15 to 21.25 for Dungey, weith Sales third at 21.27 and Bailey " the runnerup in Friday's 100m final " ever so close behind in 21.29.

Finishing fifth was NON 100m champ Trenton Guy (Charlotte, NC), timed in 21.32. T.J. Graham (Raleigh, NC), the 100m third-placer, was sixth in 21.45, with Brandon Byram (Station Camp, TN) seventh in 21.49.

The wind reading was -0.7 meters per second.

"I came in with the fastest time," said Prevost, "so it felt great to close it out with a national championship. I knew I had great shot because I got off to a great start. I had a feeling when I got to the turn I needed to kick. It"s a good thing I did because I don"t think he was expecting me to. I knew I had the strongest kick, so I once I got into it no one was going to beat me.

"Trent Guy beat me in the 100 yesterday, so my morale was down. But the thing I had going for me is that this is my race."



Distance Medley Relay (1200-400-800-1600): Craig Forys ran a valiant 4:04.0 leg to bring Colts Neck (NJ) High School up from ninth place, but it wasn't enough as Spencer Knight anchored La Sierra High School (Riverside, CA) to first place in 10:01.79.

Colts Neck was second in 10:14.15 with Byram Hills (Armonk, NY) third in 10:04.20.

Knight put La Sierra ahead on the final leg and, with a lap to go, six teams were still within reach. Forys " who turned in splits of 60.3, 63.2, 61.7 and 58.9 " had the New Jersey squad in second place by the final turn. But Knight's lead was insurmountable, and La Sierra rode home first.

La Sierra's first three runners were Dylan Knight (Spencer's twin), Jared Drinkard and Steve Norton.

"We did the 4xMile this morning and we really stunk," said Spencer Knight. "I mean, coach didn"t even want to talk to us because he was so disappointed in our performance. All day we were talking about what we needed to do."

"We all wanted to produce our best times and we lost position, get it back, pace ourselves, and then get it back. We had to remain consistent. It"s so unbelievable to win this, I"m just so happy."



High jump: It took three tries, but Grant Lindsey (Mansfield, TX) cleared 7-3 to equal his career best and claim first place. Lindsay, the Texas 5A champ and a Kentucky signee, iced the victory at 7-1, a height that finished off runnerup Daniel Kirkpatrick (Mission Viejo, CA), Nicholas Frimpong (East Hartford, CT) and Tomarris Bell (Rochester), who finished second through fourth at 6-11.

Lindsay had three whacks at 7-4.5 " a height untouched in the prep ranks this season " but couldn't clear the height.

National prep leader Randy Carter (Papillon, NE) finished in a tie for 13th place with a clearance of 6-5. Carter missed his first attempt at 6-7 and withdrew from competition.

"You know," said Lindsay, "it was hard to get into a rhythm today. I know I won by four inches, but I missed my first two opportunities at 6-11. That's something you should never do. You shouldn"t miss heights you normally clear."

"It"s hard to be dissatisfied with winning a national title, but at some point it"s about the height and doing your personal record and not the titles. I have to be careful not to beat myself up, but if I get my personal record and finish in second it might not be as bad as finishing a foot below your personal record and winning a title. I think today is bittersweet for me."



Pole vault: Spencer McCorkel (Bryant, AR) passed through the first three heights, entering the competition when the bar reached 16-3.5. McCorkel, the national prep leader, promptly missed on his first two attempts. He made it on his final try, then cleared 16-7.5 on his first try.

By now, only McCorckel and Casey Roche (Mountain View, CA) were the last men standing. Michael Uhle (Powell, OH) had gone out after clearing 16-3.5, with Jason Pelletier (McCorkel's teammate at Bryant, Ark. High School) locked up in fourth at 15-9.75 on fewer misses.

Roche had two misses at 16-7.50, and when both vaulters failed on all three tries at 16-11.5, McCorkel wrapped up the title. "I really didn"t jump as well as I would like," he said. "It was one of those meets when things didn"t go right for me. T he fact I won was amazing to me. I was able to make a couple of good jumps that were good enough to win, I guess.

"Everyone comes in thinking that you"re automatically going to have it because it"s a national meet. But when you win despite being a foot off your PR, I guess it"s all bittersweet. Getting the gold makes it worthwhile."



4x400m relay: Michael Shaw gave Trotwood-Madison (Trotwood, OH) the lead with little room to spare, overtaking South Shore High School (Brooklyn, NY) with about 50 meters left as the Ohio squad won the conclusive event of the Nike Outdoor Nationals in 3:13.96.

Donte Lyons, the third man on the Trotwood-Madison lineup, put his squad into second place Lyons was part of a group that began to reel in Western Branch (Chesapeake, VA), the frontrunners since the second leg, when Javanti Sparrow put the Virginians in the lead.

By the final exchange, South Shore moved in front. Heading into the final turn it was South Shore, Willingboro (NJ) and Trotwood. South Shore held the lead coming into the straightaway, but with 50 meters to go Shaw accelerated and passed everyone in sight.

A 46.2 split for Chris Cox moved Monmouth (NJ) TC into second place at the finish in 3:14.07. South Shore held on for third in 3:14.20.

Fourth place went to surprising Mounds View (MN) High School, winners of an earlier section in 3:14.47. Willingboro wound up fifth in 3:14.79 with Western Branch relegated to sixth in 3:14.91.

The Trotwood-Madison lineup was Derricus Purdy, William Henry, Lyons and Shaw,

"Before I took the baton," said Shaw, "mu coach told me to get the stick and stay with the pack. I figured if I could stay with the ack, In had a chance to push at the end.

"We didn't run well in the 4x2, so the only shot we had was to tin the 4x4. It It didn"t look good for a while there, but our middles did a good job of closing the gap and when I got it and just ran as strong as I could."

"Winning a national title hasn"t set in yet. To say you"re the best in the nation in the 4x4, no way that has set in yet.


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