| 25th National Scholastic Indoor Champs March 14-16, 2008
The New Balance Track and Field Center at The Armory, NY NY 400 Meters Results | Boys | Girls | |
Christian Taylor GA 47.42, Nadonnia Rodriques NY 52.85
Sensationally deep and brilliant races.
photos by John Nepolitan
| 
| Taylor knew he could win it in last 100 meters.
by Matt Soja, DyeStat correspondent
This event was the most anticipated race of the weekend, with an extremely deep field. It certainly lived up to the expectations. Its quality was so high that some national-level stars did not even make it out of Saturday’s qualifying round, including Dominick Roberts from Colorado, who last month won Simplot Games in Idaho with US#2 time of 47.98. On Saturday he only managed a 49.65, which left him twelve hundredths of a second short of qualifying for the 12-man final. Another casualty was Coloradoan Kyle MacIntosh, 4th at Simplot, finishing even further back, along with the hometown favorite Dennis Scruggs, who before this meet was US#9. All the other favorites, including Georgia superstar Christian Taylor, aiming for a triple gold after winning the long jump on Friday and with triple jump still to go on Sunday afternoon, qualified for Sunday’s final. Taylor posted the fastest qualifying time with his clocking of 48.28, ahead of Robert Simmons’s 48.42 and Khalid Featherstone’s 48.57. The only major surprise was the fact that William Wynne, who had the fastest indoor time in the nation this winter (47.82) only posted a 49.46 qualifying time, behind eight other competitors, which knocked him out of the seeded heat in Sunday’s final. As expected, Wynne won the unseeded section handily in 48.75, but his mark was unlikely to withstand the assault of several speedsters in the faster section. Right after the gun went off, Pennsylvania star Khalid Featherstone surged into the lead from lane 4, going through the first lap in 22.5, but Taylor was right on his heels. On the back straightaway the Georgian went around Featherstone and pulled away around the last turn. He would win his second gold by an impressive margin in 47.42, easily improving on Wynne’s US#1 time. Featherstone faded to third in 47.96, also defeated by Texan Robert Simmons (47.80). Wynne would end up fifth overall. After the race, Taylor said, “after winning this I feel more relaxed and confident about getting three golds. I was nervous about the 400 because I knew this would be the most difficult of the three to win. When I saw Featherstone take it out so hard, I knew he set a good pace for me, and I knew that no matter what, I would get him on the last 100 meters. I have been working on the final 100 with my coach, and it’s definitely paying off. Now I can just focus on the triple and try to break some records there.” And indeed, two hours later Taylor would grab another gold on the triple jump runway, completing his remarkable achievement.
| New York wins East vs. West battle
by Tony Jones, Illinois PrepTopTimes, a DyeStat site
1. Nadonnia Rodriques Sr. Boys and Girls; Brooklyn, NY 52.85 [24.9]
2. Turquoise Thompson Jr. Gardenia, CA 54.33 [25.5]
3. Zoey Russell Sr. Bronx, NY 54.71 [25.3] Summary: it was billed as East vs. West and New York vs. California. Ten of the twelve finalists were from these two states. However, it quickly and simply became “the Nadonnia Rodriques Show” as soon as the starting gun went off. Rodriques, whose no nonsense running style simply dazzled the crowd as she crossed the halfway mark in a blistering 24.9. Russell and Thompson stayed relatively close with respectable 25.3 and 25.5 200m splits but it wasn’t good enough… then Rodriques reached down for something extra and with additional assistance from the standing room only crowd raised the already deafening decibels one extra notch. Rodriques, off the far last turn, powered home for the convincing victory. In the process she achieved a goal of winning a national championship: “my goal was to win a national championship… I wanted to make my coach and family proud.” Shortly afterwards, Rodriques announced a surprise that most observers wanted to hear: “I have announced my plans to attend the University of South Carolina.” The future Gamecock most definitely gave those in attendance something extra… the two section final was incredibly deep. It featured all 12 runners running under the very respectable :57 mark and six were under the magical :55 barrier. |
Results
Girls
Boys
Armory HS Sports Foundation - Site License
2008 National Scholastic Indoor Championships
New Balance Track & Field Center, The Armory
New York City - 3/14/2008 to 3/16/2008
Event 20 Boys 400 Meter Dash
===============================================================
Name Year School Finals
===============================================================
Section 1 Finals
1 Wynne, William SR Marietta, GA 48.75
2 Ellis, Garrett SR Scotch Plains, NJ 49.02
3 Darden, Toddrick JR Wayne, PA 49.32
4 Talley, Keyth SR TX, TX 49.41
5 burt, andrew JR forked river, NJ 50.05
Section 2 Finals
1 Taylor, Christian SR Atlanta, GA 47.42
2 Simmons, Robert SR Missouri City, TX 47.80
3 Featherstone, Khaliff SR Philadelphia, PA 47.96
4 Adam, Johnson SR Toronto, ON 47.97
5 Faulkner, troy SR New York, NY 48.93
6 Goodwyn, Bernard SR Newark, DE 49.17
===============================================================
Name Year School Finals
===============================================================
Finals
1 Taylor, Christian SR Atlanta, GA 47.42
2 Simmons, Robert SR Missouri City, TX 47.80
3 Featherstone, Khaliff SR Philadelphia, PA 47.96
4 Adam, Johnson SR Toronto, ON 47.97
5 Wynne, William SR Marietta, GA 48.75
6 Faulkner, troy SR New York, NY 48.93
7 Ellis, Garrett SR Scotch Plains, NJ 49.02
8 Goodwyn, Bernard SR Newark, DE 49.17
9 Darden, Toddrick JR Wayne, PA 49.32
10 Talley, Keyth SR TX, TX 49.41
11 burt, andrew JR forked river, NJ 50.05
Girls
by Tony Jones, Illinois PrepTopTimes, a DyeStat site
1. Nadonnia Rodriques Sr. Boys and Girls; Brooklyn, NY 52.85 [24.9]
2. Turquoise Thompson Jr. Gardenia, CA 54.33 [25.5]
3. Zoey Russell Sr. Bronx, NY 54.71 [25.3] Summary: it was billed as East vs. West and New York vs. California. Ten of the twelve finalists were from these two states. However, it quickly and simply became “the Nadonnia Rodriques Show” as soon as the starting gun went off. Rodriques, whose no nonsense running style simply dazzled the crowd as she crossed the halfway mark in a blistering 24.9. Russell and Thompson stayed relatively close with respectable 25.3 and 25.5 200m splits but it wasn’t good enough… then Rodriques reached down for something extra and with additional assistance from the standing room only crowd raised the already deafening decibels one extra notch. Rodriques, off the far last turn, powered home for the convincing victory. In the process she achieved a goal of winning a national championship: “my goal was to win a national championship… I wanted to make my coach and family proud.” Shortly afterwards, Rodriques announced a surprise that most observers wanted to hear: “I have announced my plans to attend the University of South Carolina.” The future Gamecock most definitely gave those in attendance something extra… the two section final was incredibly deep. It featured all 12 runners running under the very respectable :57 mark and six were under the magical :55 barrier.
Armory HS Sports Foundation - Site License
2008 National Scholastic Indoor Championships
New Balance Track & Field Center, The Armory
New York City - 3/14/2008 to 3/16/2008
Event 19 Girls 400 Meter Dash
===============================================================
Name Year School Finals
===============================================================
Section 1 Finals
1 Joseph, Jasmine JR Long Beach, CA 54.91
2 Snapp, Nijgia JR NJ, NJ 54.94
3 Brown, Michelle SO NJ, NJ 56.04
4 Johnson, Ahtyana FR New York, NY 56.17
5 Mellor, Janet SO NY, NY 56.78
6 Francis, Chamique FR st. albans, NY 56.89
Section 2 Finals
1 Rodriques, Nadonnia SR New York, NY 52.85
2 Thompson, Turquoise JR Gardena, CA 54.33
3 Russell, Zoey SR Bronx, NY 54.71
4 Mott, Elizabeth SR New Rochelle, NY 54.81
5 Houp, Kristen SR San Jose, CA 55.71
6 Ndipagbor, Akawkaw FR Long Beach, CA 56.22
===============================================================
Name Year School Finals
===============================================================
Finals
1 Rodriques, Nadonnia SR New York, NY 52.85
2 Thompson, Turquoise JR Gardena, CA 54.33
3 Russell, Zoey SR Bronx, NY 54.71
4 Mott, Elizabeth SR New Rochelle, NY 54.81
5 Joseph, Jasmine JR Long Beach, CA 54.91
6 Snapp, Nijgia JR NJ, NJ 54.94
7 Houp, Kristen SR San Jose, CA 55.71
8 Brown, Michelle SO NJ, NJ 56.04
9 Johnson, Ahtyana FR New York, NY 56.17
10 Ndipagbor, Akawkaw FR Long Beach, CA 56.22
11 Mellor, Janet SO NY, NY 56.78
12 Francis, Chamique FR st. albans, NY 56.89
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