Quotes from Nicole Leach following her record-setting 400
Nicole Leach astounded the crowd and herself with a historic 52.19 US #2 all-time and new Junior National Record. Cardinal O'Hara challenged the who way, and finished 4th in the 4x800 in 7:53.74. And two more National Records went down on Day Three at NSIC.
Two more records left jaws open and eyes popping at the Armory on the last day of the National Scholastic Indoor Championships. And those were just class records. The other two were national marks that left even the veterans of the sport looking for comparisons. The four records on Sunday left a staggering total of six National Records and five Class Records for the three-day meet.
Xavier Carter, aka The X-Man, a Florida senior who is headed to LSU as a star football player, lined up in lane five with the crowd quiet with anticipation The music blared as the announcer extolled Carter's accomplishments along with those of his competitors in a great 200 field. The race was over as soon as it started. As Carter crossed the line and stop watches clicked in unison, there were sideway glances to see if somehow everyone was wrong. They weren't. In an instant, the scoreboard confirmed the first prep one-lapper under 21 seconds, 20.69 to be precise. And as Walt Murphy noted, it was as impressive a performance, relatively, as Michael Johnson's WR 19.32 in 1996. "Johnson broke the existing record by .34. Carter broke the existing record by .33. Those are big numbers."
With one event remaining, the hot heat of the girls' 4x400 lined up. Long Beach Poly was competing against some tough teams, but the toughest was their 2003 US Record-setting squad. The 2004 race proved the better of the two and established a new National Record of 3:38.91, a new mark by over two seconds.
Nicole crosses the line well ahead of the competition.
The class records came in the 400 and the 800. Almost as impressive as Carter's 200, was the over two-second PR by West Catholic's Nicole Leach. The Philly junior was the top American at the Penn Relays in 2003 in the 400 Hurdles in 59.00. And her 54.35 earlier this season proved she was going in the right direction. But a PR that comes within .09 of the US record of Sanya Richards was totally unexpected by everyone there, even Nicole. "I was nervous before the race. And I was scared during the race. After a lap (which she toasted in an unearthly 24.1), I was afraid someone was coming, so I just tried to keep it going. Now that I know it can be done I am going to go for it next year." The time? 52.19. Again, jaws on the floor. The junior class record she erased was the 53.25 set in 2001 by Angel Perkins. Ever the humble champion she also added: "I talked to my West Catholic teammates last night, they won 1600 Spring Medley relay and I was so happy for them."
The freshman 800 record was also obliterated. Maryland's Devon Williams stayed with the pack through 500 meters and then simply took off. The result was a blistering 2:06.48, erasing the 20-year-old record of 2:08.04 set by Shola Lynch, Hunter College, NY. An interesting note is that it also was better than the junior record set by one Joetta Clark in 1979. Oh, and it was the 9th fastest high school 800 of all-time.
There were a myriad of other performances not to be lost in the brilliance of Sunday's records.
In the 400, Elzie Coleman posts the 3rd fastest time ever, 46.12. He holds the National Record of 45.92, set earlier this year.
Gavin Coombs, CT, merely doubled in the distance races, taking the Mile in 4:10.93 and the 2-mile in 9:13.08 after a 59-second final quarter.
1)Gavin Coombs(CT) 4:10.93
2) Michael Banks(MA) 4:11.00
3) Brian McCabe(NY) 4:14.03
Splits:
62
2:07.7
3:11.5
Boys 2 mile:
Gavin Coombs (Griswold, CT) wins in 9:13.08. Justin Scheid(NJ) was second in 9:18.68. Alex Genest was third in 9:25.51. Brian Goldberg (Haddonfield, NJ) was fourth in 9:25.90. Coombs led from the gun, being overtaken briefly during the 6th lap before taking over with a lap to go and closing in 59 seconds, with Banks right on his heels to the line. Coombs time is the 2nd fastest in the country this year.
Francois Gatson of Lousiana also won both his events, taking the Long Jump Friday with a leap of 24-03.50, then completing the double by taking the Triple (Jump) by over a foot with a great jump of 47-06.25.
Boys 4x400:
Newburgh NY won with a 3:16.71. That is the fastest time in the country this year, and #7 all-time. Second was Dewitt Clinton with a time of 3:17.55, the second fastest time in the country this year. Third was Transit Tech NY with a 3:18.13, the third fastest time in the country this year.
Newburgh's splits:
Jason Pearson 50.2
Ed Jackson 50.5
Justin Pearson 49.3
Elzie Coleman 46.7
The day began with Westfields lead-off, Chris Courson getting spiked on the first turn and losing his shoes. The race was delayed until after the second heat ran. But the news wasn't good. Courson was out with a puncture wound in his heel. Philippe Jondereau, a 400 specialist who had never run in a 4x800 volunteered to replace his injured teammate and split 2:02.3 to start the team's victory 3200 meter relay run. Their time of 7:50.44 was the 2nd fastest this year.
Boys 4x800 results:
1) Westfield 7:50.44
2) Shenendahowa 7:53.19
3) South Shore 7:53.51
4) O'Hara 7:53.74
Westfields splits:
Philippe Jondereau 2:02.3
James Scheiner 1:54.9
Chris Black 2:00.7
David Groff 1:52.5
South Shore's splits:
2:01.6
2:00.5
1:55.6
1:55.8
O'Hara's splits:
Steve Hallinan 1:56.4
Greg Thomas 1:59.0
Matt Willard 1:59.7
Jack Braconneir 1:57.7
Girls 4x800 Relay:
1)Boys & Girls(NY) 9:19.32
2) Bronxville High School(NY) 9:22.83
3) Baton Rough Elite(LA) 9:25.27
Boys & Girls splits:
Makiela Mogil 2:20.7
Jamela Dunbar 2:25.7
Chanelle McGregor 2:13.7
Adreenee Sterrett 2:19.2
Girls Mile Results:
1) Samantha Gawrych(RI) 4:53.02
2) Allison Keiffer 4:53.37
3) Heather Iatauro 4:53.4
4) Brittany Sheffey(NY) 4:54.5
Samantha's time is the 4th fastest girls mile run this year.
Girls 60 meter Hurdles:
1) Dashanta Harris(CA) 8.60
2) Marie-Eve Dugas(CAN) 8.70
3) Mycaiah Clemons(PA) 8.71
Girls 200:
Shalonda Solomon(CA) ran 23.44 to win. 2nd was Courtney Champion with a 23.73. 3rd was Nicole Leach with a 24.10. 4th was Lauren Burns with a 24.31. Shalonda's time was the fastest run this year.
Boys 800:
First place was Gregory Gomez(Franklin HS, NJ) 1:52.83
Second place was Bryan Scotland 1:52.88
Boys 4x200:
Newburgh NY won the race with a time of 1:27.76.
Camden High NJ initially appeared to have won with a time of 1:27.55, but they were disqualified due to being out of the exchange zone on the last hand-off due to a bungled hand-off.
Girls 4x200:
F.T. Marshall (TX) won in 1:39.58, and Wilson, Long Beach(CA) was second in 1:40.00
Girls 2 mile:
Aislinn Ryan (Warwick Valley, NY) won with a time of 10:37.45.