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Girls 400 - Jessica Beard 52.04 US#11 all time
Jessica Beard (right) slips past Brandi Cross on last turn.
Open Photo
Cross-Country Double for Beard
By SteveU
The NON girls 400 offered an outstanding rematch between Golden West champ Jessica Beard and the runner-up in that race, Brittany Cross. GWI was actually promoted as a 3-way battle between Beard, Cross, and Californian and previous national-leader Sa’de Williams. But Williams, who was 3rd in that battle, had become injured and wasn’t in Greensboro.
Beard, a jr from Euclid OH, took that battle last weekend, running a US#1 52.16 in the process, and beating Cross (52.83). Here they lined up with Beard in lane 4, and Cross in 5. There were others seeded in the high 53s and 54s, but no one really thought the top two could be broken up.
Ft. Bend Marshall sr Cross went out hard and tried to take the race from the start, just like she did at GWI. And, also as in GWI, Beard had the superior finish. She powered through the final 200 to stop the clock at 52.04, a new US-leader and the honor of becoming one of three athletes to win both meets.
Cross again wore the runner-up wreath with her PR 52.65, while Eleanor Roosevelt soph Elan Hilaire was 3rd in 54.40.
So how was it, crossing the country to win two national meets for this Ohio girl? “It was difficult,” she said. “I’m not used to going out of state.”
Regarding her race strategy, she added, “I don’t like getting out too fast, but I also don’t like to get behind too much. So I’ve been practicing getting out the first 100, but striding past the 200, then going all out the last 150. Sometimes, I used to sprint the first 300 and I’d be dead.”
by Elliott Denman
Jessica Beard, the Euclid, Ohio junior, will soon be ready
for her sport's biggest time. Her golden 52.04 400-meter NON performance
already has a lot of track and field's most knowledgeable fans predicting a
glory-filled future.
Beard, third at NON 2005, did a lot more than move to the top of the USA 2006
year list with that 52.04. It was a meet record, demolishing Brittany Jones'
52.44 of 2005, and gained an equal share of 11th place on the USA all-time
list.
With 120 meters to go, this was anybody's race. But, as Missouri's Brandi
Cross weakened, Beard gathered new strength and sped home a two-stride winner.
Cross clocked a 52.65 while Greenbelt, Md/Blazin' Raider Club's Elan Hilaire
(54.40) was edging NJ State Meet of Champions winner Tiffany Grant of Ocean
Township (54.68)
for third.
"I like going against the best," said Beard. "It's a challenge to run against
all of them. I don't get that opportunity at home, I knew I'd had to kick
early the way she (Cross) was running."
Girls 400 Meter Run
===================================================================
National: $ 50.69 6/22/2002 Sanya Richards, Aquinas, Ft Laudrdl,FL
Meet: # 52.44 6/18/2005 Brittany Jones, Deerfield Beach, FL
Freshman: 52.49 2000 Jerrika Chapple, Lancaster, TX
Sophomore: 51.70 1980 Denean Howard, Kennedy Granada Hills CA
Junior: 50.74 6/3/2000 Monique Henderson, Morse, San Diego, CA
Senior: 50.69 6/22/2002 Sanya Richards, Aquinas, Ft Laudrdl, FL
Name Year School Finals H#
===================================================================
1 Jessica Beard 07 Euclid HS,Euclid, O 52.04# 6
2 Brandi Cross 06 Visions TC,Missouri 52.65 6
3 Elan Hilaire 08 Blazin' Raiders,Gre 54.40 6
4 Tiffany Grant 06 Ocean Township H,Oc 54.68 6
5 Ebony Cunningham 07 Track Eastern Ca,Ra 55.20 6
6 Jasmine Still 06 Woodrow Wilson H,Ca 55.34 5
7 Makalia Griffith 06 Hillcrest HS,South 55.57 5
8 Shanta Johnson 06 Airport HS,Gaston, 55.71 3
9 Yvonne Amegashie 09 Potomac HS,woodbrid 55.83 5
10 Joanna Atkins 07 Stephenson HS,Litho 55.91 6
11 Odeika Bent 07 Oak Ridge HS,Orland 55.92 5
12 Tara Prier 08 Alief TC,Houston, T 56.05 5
13 Darcy Rhoden 07 Forest Hills Nor,Gr 56.08 2
14 Shalyn McMichael 07 Spring Valley,Colum 56.11 3
15 Brenna Hoffman 07 Sandy HS,Sandy, OR 56.14 4
16 Jazmyn Shorter 07 Lakewood Hs-Fl,St. 56.28 6
17 Ashlea McLaughlin 07 Uniondale,Long Beac 56.30 4
18 Christy Johnson 07 Athens Drive HS,Car 56.62 3
19 Joy Henry 06 Benjamin Cardozo,St 56.84 3
20 Brandi Taylor 06 Collinwood HS,Cleve 56.85 5
21 Melissa Turowski 07 Linganore HS,Mount 57.01 2
22 Melissa Bellin 09 Rumson-Fair Have,Ru 57.07 1
23 Laura Meadors 08 Harvard-Westlake,Ma 57.24 2
24 Shae Wilbon 08 Colonial Heights,Co 57.60 4
25 Aisha-Maree Frazier 08 Marietta,Marietta, 57.80 5
26 Tashima Stephens 07 Blazin' Raiders,Gre 57.89 2
27 Yesenia Boynton 07 South Brunswick,Day 57.91 4
28 Hannah Bowers 08 Science Hill HS,Jon 58.05 1
29 Dayonne Rollins 08 Rickards,Tallahasse 58.36 4
30 Breanne Romeo 07 Boardman HS,Boardma 58.47 1
31 Britney Clarke 08 North Rockland H,Th 58.93 1
32 Monica Mason 09 Bishop McNamara,Was 1:00.07 2
33 Chandale Williams 06 Northwestern Hs-,Mi 1:00.22 4
34 Lynda Hiller 06 Apex HS,Apex, NC 1:00.87 1
35 Aly Goldfarb 06 Mountain Brook,Birm 1:01.29 2