A classic match up between two outstanding runners was one of the many highlights from the 2006 Gwinnett County Championships this week. Brittany Hall, from Meadowcreek and Jackie Drouin of Collins Hill hooked up in a battle of the ultra talents that lived up to its billing. Brittany won the race in a meet record time of 2:13.35 to Drouin\'s 2:14.43. Hall\'s accomplishment was even more amazing when one considers that an hour earlier she also broke the county 400m record in 56.05. The girls came through the first lap in a little over 63 seconds with Drouin in the lead and Hall trailing. As they came off the last turn, Hall used a tremendous burst of speed to take the lead finishing a full second in front of Drouin to take the title. Not to be outdone, Billy Mateker used a strong 1st lap, coming through in a little over 54, to open up a 10m gap into the last lap. The group tried to close the gap over the course of the last lap but Mateker was able to hold off Justin Schneider of GACS 1:55.39 to 1:56.32, in a race that saw 5 runners go under 2 minutes. Mateker just missed the county record by twenty four hundredths of a second. Miles Ottinot, on the other hand, did not miss the county record, running a 48.40 to break Stephen Harris's meet record from 1998. Shannon Wilson, of Buford, ran an impressive 12.16 and 25.45 double to take the wins in the 100 and 200m races. On the boys side, Brandon Erwin ran an impressive 21.97 to take the 200m title while Caleb King, of Parkview took home the boys 100m title in 10.94.
In the hurdle races, Nicole Okolo, of Collins Hill ran an impressive 14.20 to break her one year old county record of 14.28. Lindsey Luce, also of Collins Hill, picked up the silver with her 14.90 effort. In the 300 hurdle race, Bethany Ullrich of Mill Creek took advantage of a slip by Lindsey Luce in the last straight away to momentarily take the lead, only to see Kristi Vester of Parkview come on strong in the last 10m to take a 45.11 to 45.13 win. Luce finished 3rd in 46.69. On the boys side, Sam Henley, of Brookwood was a double winner taking the 110 and 300 hurdle races to give Brookwood very valuable team points. The boys race came down to the 4x400m relay as Brookwood and Parkview battled it out for the team crown. Norcross finished 1st in the race but was disqualified for throwing the baton at the end of the race. Brookwood finished 2nd in the race but moved up to 1st and Parkview finished 18 hundredths of a second back to lose the team title to Brookwood by 3 and a half points! It was a tremendous two days of racing that saw 58 elite female performances posted as well as 37 elite boys performances for an amazing 95 elite performances posted.