The 6th Annual UAGTCA Youth Invitational came to a close on Sunday July 17, 2011 but not without some spectacular performances from many of the 1325 athletes who attended the event.
Video courtesy of Maurice Broadwater
PHOTOS BY PATTY MORGAN
Without a doubt, one of the most exciting races of the day was the Youth Girls (13-14) 800 Meter run final which featured Danae Rivers of the New Haven Age Group track club out of New Haven, CT and Brooklynn Broadwater of the Ivy Hill Track club from Philadelphia, PA.
Rivers had already won the 1500 Meter title on Friday afternoon in a blistering time of 4:44.17 and certainly did not expect to be challenged in the 800 meter, an event that she has owned for the last few years. But Broadwater never got the memo. She came to her hometown meet looking to triple in the 200, 400 and 800 meter runs.
Broadwater would eventually secure two legs of her personal triple crown by taking the 200 and 400 meter dashes later in the day, but as mentioned, Rivers has owned the 800 meter run over the past few years – beating back all challengers and facing no serious threat to her dominance until Sunday.
The race started as expected with Rivers taking an early lead and Broadwater, never a shy performer, keeping pace in a stride for stride performance. It quickly became obvious that something very special was about to unfold. Both athletes went through the first 400 meters in under 63 seconds. Surely someone would give in under those conditions. Athletes this young and under this spotlight just don't always live up to the hype or the expectations of their coaches. What was going to make this race any different? The athletes themselves – that’s what.
These girls didn't have an ounce of quit between them. Running step for step, side by side over the final 300 meters it became obvious that only the laws of physics would separate these two competitors. No two objects can occupy the same space at the same time or so they say. Urged on by a stadium crowd of over 3000 athletes and spectators, Danae and Brooklynn crossed the finish line a mere one hundredth of a second apart in unbelievable times of 2:10.04 for Danae Rivers and 2:10.05 for Brooklynn Broadwater in what can only now be called a race of a lifetime.
The bottom line is you had to be there to appreciate or believe it. As the stadium announcer so adeptly noted, "that's how we do it at the UAG".