AOC Raleigh
adidas Outdoor Championships
June 18-19, 2004 at NC State U., Raleigh NC
presented by the National Scholastic Sports Foundation

a DyeStat featured meet

Boys Day 1

by Pete Cava

Mile walk: Zach Pollinger ( Mahwah, NJ) wrapped up the win after one lap, winning easily in 6:30.86. Early on, the defending champ put daylight between himself and lanky Troy Clark ( Lisbon, ME), who wound up second in 6:38.20.

This left a battle for third place, with Michael Kazmierczak ( Plainview, NY) and Padric Gleason ( Dresden, ME) neck-and-neck until the final lap. Kazmierczak finally pulled in front to finish in 7:43.73. Gleason’s time was 7:48.21.

Pollinger, a member of the U.S. junior national team at the IAAF World Cup in Naumburg, Germany, last May, looked unstoppable. “I knew going out I was in pretty good shape,” he said. “I wasn’t expecting that great of a time.”

Oddly, Pollinger didn’t compete for the track squad at his alma mater, Northern Highlands High School in Allendale, N.J. Instead, he ran cross country and played tennis. The 17-year-old will take a year off from school before entering Harvard in the fall of 2005.

 

100 meters – heats: With only the four heat winners assured of a berth in the final, J-Mee Samuels (Winston-Salem) gave national leader Walter Dix (Fort Lauderdale, FL) a scare in the opener. After a false start charged to the field, Samuels finished first in 10.48 – the fastest qualifying time – with Dix second in 10.50.

Marcus Pugh (Tulsa) won heat two in 10.45 with sophomore class record holder Ivory Williams (Beaumont, Texas) cruising to first in heat three in 10.57. The fourth heat went to Trell Kimmons ( Coldwater, MS) in 10.69.

All four heats were run into a headwind.

Samuels, a junior at Mt. Tabor High School in Winston-Salem, admitted to pre-race butterflies. “Yeah, I was a little nervous,” he said. “And it was a hundred percent more, running against the top one in the nation – not No. 2, but No. 1.”

Dix made the final on time. Coming into this weekend, the senior from Coral Springs High School owns the nation’s fastest prep time with a 10.28 clocking.

Rounding out the field for Saturday night’s final are junior Edino Steele ( Brooklyn, NY), Michael Ray Garvin ( Upper Saddle River, NJ), Sherron Bullock ( Camden, NJ) and Michael Grant ( Snellville, GA).

About 90 minutes later came an announcement that Dix had scratched from the final, with no further explanation. With Dix out of the picture, Willie Perry ( Lenoir, NC) advanced to the final. Perry finished behind Samuels, Dix and Bullock in heat one.

110m hurdles – heats: The six heat winners were Jeremy Jackson (Round Rock, TX) in 14,23, Julius Jiles-Tindall (Kansas City, MO) in 13.86, Ted Ginn (Cleveland, OH) in 13.62, Jason Richardson (Cedar Hill, TX) in 13.70, David Whitehurst (Tinton Falls, NJ) in 14.08 and Verrol Jackson (Schenectady, NY) in 14.47.

Whitehurst and Jackson provided the biggest surprises of the qualifying rounds. Whitehurst finishing ahead of Said Ezike ( Staten Island, NY) in heat five, while Jackson zipped past Dominic Berger (Mitchellville, MD) off the last hurdle in the final heat. Ezike advanced on time, but Berger did not.

Also qualifying for Saturday’s final were Brandon Brown ( Anderson, SC) and Ryan Fontenot ( Baton Rouge, LA).

All six races were run into headwinds.

“I had a rough start,” said Ginn, slated for relay duty with the vaunted Glenville squads. “But it was pretty good.”

Richardson, a double hurdles winner at the 2003 IAAF World Youth Championships, said he’s not sure what will happen in Sunday’s final. “I’ve never raced against some of these guys before,” he said. “Do my best is all I can ask for.”

 

Sprint medley relay: Fueled by a 1:51.0 anchor leg, Cinco Ranch High School ( Katy, Texas) finished first with a national leading time of 3:25.69.

Cinco Ranch’s team of Trevor Gerland, Queito Teasley, Tomaz Williams and Kyle Miller dueled Iowa City for much of the race. Iowa City’s 3:28.18 at the Drake Relays last March had been the U.S. leader.

The Texans had a slight lead after two legs, but Iowa City moved ahead before the final exchange. It came down to man-to-man combat between Miller and Iowa City’s Colin Swaney on the anchor leg. At the bell, Miller moved into first place and gradually increased his lead. Iowa City settled for second place in 3:27.78 with Chaminade ( Mineola, NY) third in 3:28.67.

“If I would have gotten the baton in the lead, I would have gone out too fast,” said Miller, a Texas recruit who’ll run the open 800 on Sunday. “Instead, I was able to work off him (Swaney) and pace myself for the final 200 meters. After that, I knew we were in great shape to win.”

Queito Teasley said it had been a while since Cinco Ranch had been working out.

“We haven’t had any hard core practices since school ended,” he said.

Miller’s teammates like his chances in the 800. “He’ll win,” Trevor Gerland said succinctly.”

 

100 meters – final: Ivory Williams (Beaumont, TX), third in this race as a sophomore, overcame a sloe start to finish first.

The recall gun sounded, and the Central High School senior thought it was his fault. “On the first start, the guy to the right moved before the gun, and so did I,” he said. “I thought maybe I jumped, but they didn’t call me for it.”

After that, Williams said he sat in the blocks “to make sure I was safe. That second start, I was nervous.”

Williams overcame the slow start to finish in 10.41, with Trell Kimmons ( Coldwater, MS) second in 10.46 and Marcus Pugh ( Tulsa, OK) third in 10.50. “I came out badly and had to come from behind,” said Williams. “The time wasn’t my best, but to come from behind and win – I was very happy!”

Fourth place went to junior J-Mee Samuels ( Winston-Salem, NC), the fastest qualifier. Samuels’ time in the final was 10.54.

The wind reading for the race was -0.9 meters per second.

 

4x100 relay – heats: Fast preliminary times raised expectations for Saturday’s final.

The first heat went to Penn Relays winner Glenville ( Cleveland, OH) with a time of 40.65 – the year’s fourth-fastest time.

If that wasn’t enough, coach Ted Ginn Sr.’s ‘B’ squad won the second heat in a speedy 41.13 – the fastest-ever time by a B-squad, according to Doug Speck of the National Scholastic Sports Foundation. “It’s all about being our best and taking care of the stick,” said Glenville ‘B’ anchor Jamario O’Neal. “We want a Glenville sweep.”

The third heat went to Lancaster (TX), the current national leader. The black-clad Texans showed they mean business with a time of 40.49 – not far off their best of 40.28 at last month’s state meet. “There’s a big rivalry (with Glenville),” said Lancaster anchor Rodrick Stewart. “We respect what they do. I hope they respect what we do. It’s going to come down to handling the stick. If we bring our A-game and they bring their A-game, someone is going to break the national record.”

Ted Ginn Jr., who anchored his father’s ‘A’ squad. Said Sunday’s final “should be sweet. There’s no predictions – may the best men and the best team win. It’ll be fast!”

Rounding out the final will be Camden (NJ), Brainerd (MN), Lincoln ( Tallahassee, FL), Uniondale (NY), DeMatha ( Hyattsville, MD) and Thomas Dale ( Chester, VA).

 

4x800 relay: Saline (MI) High School, competing asSpirit of Pre Track Club, bettered their own U.S.-leading mark with a 7:40.68 triumph. The Michiganders, who fielded a team of junior Carter Bishop, Alex Muhs, Dustin Voss and Neil Atzinger, came into Saturday’s final with a season best of 7:41.27.

Cardinal O’Hara ( Springdale, PA) took the lead and stayed there through the first two legs. Syosset (NY) moved ahead with about two and a half laps to go. At the bell, Cardinal O’Hara was back in first . . . but only mometarily. Atzinger dashed to the front on the backstretch and was never headed, finishing the race with a 1:50.9 split.

Second went to Syosset in 7:42.85 with Cumberland Valley ( Mechanisburg, PA) moving up for third in 7:46.82.

 

2-mile: Trailing most of the race, Shadrack Kiptoo ( Albuquerque, NM) put on a kick to win in 8:45.44.

Josh McDougal ( Peru, NY) and Kiptoo took an early lead. The pair came through the first 400 in 63-seconds with McDougal in front and Kiptoo on his shoulder.

McDougal and Kiptoo began pulling away from the pack. At 800 meters they settled into a 2:09 pace with McDougal in front. Stuart Eagon ( Portland, OR) led the rest of the pack. At around the 1000-meter mark, the gap began to close. At about 1200m, it was still McDougal and Kiptoo with about a 12-meters lead. =.

At the halfway mark it was still McDougal and the Kenyan-born Kiptoo. Hakon DeVries (Hopewell Junction, NY) made a bold move to pull within five meters of the leaders. The field went through the mile in 4:23.,5.

At 3000m DeVries caught up with McDougal and Kiptoo. They came through in a pack of three as some runners in the second back began to drop off the pace.

At 2400 McDougal and Kiptoo still held the lead and DeVries began to fade.

Kiptoo, the New Mexico recruit, took over just before bell. He finished in 8:45.44, with McDougal second in 8:48.11. Christo Landry ( Falls Church, VA) was next in 8:48.25 with Chris Barnicle fourth in 8:51.26. Landry took over third place on backstraight. Barnicle had to hold off a fast-closing Mohamed Khadraoui ( Paterson, NJ), who was fifth in 8:53.74. DeVries failed to finish.

 

4x200 relay: Lancaster (TX) and Glenville ( Cleveland, OH) hooked up again for a second time Saturday night, this time for all the marbles. This time it was the Cleveland squad that lit up the capacity crowd at Paul Derr Track with a win in 1:23.78.

The Clevelanders lined up with Freddie Lenix, Stephon Fuqua, Jamario O’Neal and Ted Ginn Jr. It was Ginn’s great anchor leg that put away the race.

“Freddie popped it off, then Fuqua did his thing,” said Ginn, who qualified for Sunday’s 110m hurdles final earlier in the day and anchored Glenville’s relay team in the heats of the 4x100m. “Things were pretty equal on the backstretch. Then when I got the baton, I knew it was showtime.

Lancaster and Glenville square off again Sunday in the 4x100 final. “ Lancaster’s a good team,” Ginn added. “They run hard.”

Rodrick Stewart, who anchored the Texas quartet, called the Lancaster-Glenville matchups “a rivalry” and said Sunday’s 4x100 final “will be something to see.” Lancaster is the national leader in the event with a time of 40.28.

“I’m not going to guarantee a victory,” added Stewart. “But it’ll be a race.”

 

Pole vault: Adam Sarafian (Ocean, NJ) had just two clearances, but his second – 16 feet, three-quarters of an inch – was enough for the win.

Sarafian made the height on his second try, and claimed victory when Donell Hill ( Mobile, AL), Zach Burrington ( Muskegon, MI), and James Martzall ( Fort Wayne, IN) failed on their third attempts. Hill, Burrington and Martzall settled for a three-way tie for the runnerup spot with clearances of 15-9.

Sarafian entered the competition at 15-5, clearing it on his first effort. He passed at 15-9, then took two tries to make 16-0.75.

The clearace was well below the Georgia recruit’s season best of 17-4.5, set last month in a conference meet.

 

Long jump: Dexter Adams ( Greensboro, NC) had just two fair jumps Saturday, but one of them was measured at 24 feet, seven and three-quarters inches – a personal best, and good enough for first place and the AOC title.

The surprising Adams uncorked his big jump in the first round. He fouled on his next attempt, then passed in the third round. His next jump was a foul, followed by marks of 23-0.75 and 23-9.

Brandon Brown ( Anderson, SC) took over second place with a first-round jump of 24-2.5 and stayed there. Dennis Boone ( Chester, VA) matched Brown’s mark, but wound up third on the countback.

Meantime, Frankie Gatson ( Shreveport, LA) who came in with the best qualifying time, and Norris Frederick ( Seattle, WA), the Golden West champ, were struggling. Gatson mustered a third-round 23-11 to finish fourth. Frederick was sixth with a 22-7.25 effort.

Adams is a recent graduate of Page High School in Greensboro. He’ll compete next year for North Carolina State.

 

Shot put: Chase Madison ( Newton, IA) took the lead in the second round and came up with a 64-0.5 heave on his next-to-last throw to ice the victory. Junior Ryan Whiting ( Harrisburg, PA) saved his best for last with a toss of 63-6.25 in the sixth round, but had to settle for second place.

Madison, an Iowa State signee, opened with a mark of 61-8.5, followed by a 62-11.5 in the second round. After two fouls, he went 64-0.5. Madison took over the lead from Whiting, who lead took the lead in the second round with a mark of 61-11.

Third place went to California state champ Mark Lewis (Arroyo Grande, CA), with a 61-5.5 measurement.

Madison heads into Sunday’s discus looking to emulate the double victory by Andy Fryman ( Maysville, KY) a year ago. Earlier this season, Madison pulled off a shot/discus double at the Senior Spotlight meet in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

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