Coaches Invitational Meet Summary
Video click on 2014 Outdoor inside link (shot by Taylor ford)
Friday
Girls
Ashlan Rosier of Lakeside Evans had an impressive win in the long jump with an 18-5.5 victory. The girls 4x1600 was quite impressive as the top three teams, Brookwood, Walton, and Northview, all had top 10 times nationally! Lindsay Billings of Northview took it out hard with Pope, Lakeside, and Walton leading the chase pack. These teams evened it up in the 2nd leg, with a large pack of other teams starting to join them. Brookwood eventually took the lead going into the 3rd leg in which they never looked back. The race had started for second place as Brookwood had over a 100 meter lead on the next girl. Walton’s Avery Bussjager closed the gap to about 30 meters to take 2nd place along with a strong 3rd out of Northview, all 3 teams averaged under 5:30 a mile!
Boys
Preston Williams of Lovejoy had an impressive first day by jumping 22-7 in the long jump. John Rudd of North Atlanta had an awesome battle with Hayden Williams of Auburn where each boy jumped 14-0 in the pole vault. The highlight of the first day was definitely the 4x1600 where distance powerhouses of Brookwood, Mill Creek, Peachtree Ridge, Auburn, and Walton were set to battle. The show started on the last leg that pitted some tough competition together. Brookwood and Lagrange took the early lead stretching out the pack. The 2nd leg saw Brookwood take the lead, and throw Auburn and Walton into the mix. Kenan Farmer of Walton who was in 4th place when he received the baton for the 4th leg, he took off and started closing on the other teams. With one lap to go Kenan threw it down and passed Brookwood and never looked back closing in 59 seconds (4:13 1600) to win in 17:51 with Brookwood in 2nd.
Saturday
Girls
Bailey Weiland started off the day with some impressive jumping by clearing 5-11! In the triple jump the girls from out of state (Opelika and Auburn) took the stage. Jakayla Hand and Camille Franks were 1st and 2nd with jumps of 40-0.5 and 38-8 respectively. In the 2000 meter steeplechase Savannah Carnahan won in 7:29. The speedsters came out and Westlake did what they do best, run fast and win. Westlake girls 4x100 ran an amazing 47.07 to best Opelika by .67 seconds! After this a packed field of 1600m girls came out with Morgan Isle taking a lead and never letting up to win in 4:59.47 over Addy Lippitt of The Ridge, Alex Cameron of Dunwoody, and 4 other girls who all broke 5:15. Brookwood’s freshman phenom Caitlan Tate took over the 100 by winning in 12.24 over a stacked field. In the 100 hurdles Shanel Burr from North Cobb took the win in 14.05 (13.94 the night before) over Chinyere Njoku of Fayette County. Brookwood again gave a clinic on distance racing when their 4x800 team ran a 9:36.52 to record the 10th fastest time in the nation this year over Smiths Station and Blessed Trinity. Finally the final event the 4x400, which looked to be Westlake’s to lose. Westlake looked strong until a baton exchange fumble set them in catch up mode. Then in the last 100 meters Westlake took the lead for good over Grayson to win in a time of 3:51.36 over Grayson’s 3:52.66.
Boys
The main field event Saturday was the boy’s triple jump, and it did not disappoint with 5 jumpers over 45 feet. Jeremy McDuffie of Shiloh took the win by 5 inches over Preston Williams of Lovejoy. McDuffie’s jump of 48-6.75 is currently 3rd in the nation with Williams’s jump ranked 6th. In the steeplechase, Daniel Ellis had his hands full when Etowah’s Sam Donley took them through the first lap in 68 seconds. But Ellis proved stronger winning in 6:13 pulling away in the last two laps. Westlake and Auburn had their highly expected duel in the 4x100 in which Westlake ran 41.49 to win by half a second over Auburn. The distance boys took the track in the 1600, where Daniel Navarro of Marist took the early and commanding lead. With multiple runners including Bryan Kamau, Christian Bowles, Logan Hughes, and Kevin Mills chasing him he just kept churning. Kamau of Shiloh took it on himself to catch Navarro which he did in the last 10 meters to win by .18 seconds in a time of 4:17.63. Back to the speedsters, Ryan Clark of Banneker High School won the 100 in a convincing 10.54 over Rashaad Pollard of Westlake, which is the 20th fastest time in the nation this year. In the 110 hurdles McDuffie the 3rd best triple jumper in the nation took another win over Daniel Roberts of Luella High School in 14.21 (17th nationally), edging Roberts by .05 seconds. In one of the most excitingly close races of the day Brookwood’s 4x800 team held off late charging Milton and Walton to win the 4x800 in 8:04.18. These three teams are all currently ranked in the top 20 in the nation. In the last race of the day Westlake and Auburn had their final showdown in the 4x400. Auburn closed on the last leg but just did not have enough to pass Westlake as they took 2nd in 3:19.61 to Westlake’s 3:18.76.
MileSplit National Elite Marks/Times
Below are the performances entered for the meet that met the national silver standard.