U.S. Prep Scene
Kicks Into High Gear!
Best weekend of '04, with 17 new national
leaders!
1:11.53/500m 7.45/55mHH @ 42"
1:51.73/800
National
record for Williams! Near-record for Craddock! Eye-opener from Gras!
By
Rich Gonzalez, DyeStatCal
SOMEWHERE IN SEVEN(TEENTH) HEAVEN -- If
each had their druthers, Victor Gras would eagerly be doing plenty more
miles each day, while Devon Williams would gladly be doing plenty less.
But despite their contrasting recipes, these two East Coast multi-lap
wonders served up satisfying main entrees for track and field fans on
Super Bowl weekend.
Gras, a feverishly committed senior at Belmont HS in Massachusetts, made
the most of being granted a personal favor in 11th-hour reseeding at the
Boston Terrier Classic to post among the fastest 800-meter indoor times
in national prep history. Although Gras' 1:51.73 tabbed him as the viable
favorite for this coming weekend's Millrose Indoor Games High School Mile,
"The Flyin' Frenchman" wasn't about to mince words about revealing
his most desired goals for 2004.
"Millrose is not that important on my schedule really," said
Gras in his cutting, deep foreign accent. "I mean, it's not really
a very fast track. My main goal this year is to run as close to four minutes
(for the mile) as possible. That's it."
While Gras' target is crystal clear, Williams' is more abstract.
"I just want to keep having fun, being happy running around on the
track," gushed the exhuberant ninth-grader from Towson Catholic High
in Maryland, whose talent stretches well beyond her years.
The frosh phenom turned the female American prep sprint on its ear over
the weekend, with a thrilling 500-meter indoor national high school record,
piggybacked on her freshmen-class national indoor record for 1000 meters
achieved earlier in Saturday's meet.
"I was very surprised, not expecting to (set the national record),"
gushed Williams. "I have a great deal of respect for Natasha Hastings
(the New York wonder and former recordholder, who she defeated in this,
their first-ever head-on encounter). "I've known about her for a
while, so I'm honored to be able to beat her."
Gras and Williams have taken not-so-similar paths to success, with the
former always tempted to test his body's mileage limit on a weekly basis,
and the latter admitting she's anything but a mileage hound.
According to Gras' coach (Bill Brotchie), his biggest challenge has been
to collar his star pupil's training enthusiasm in hopes of 'getting more
from less.'
"I think kids read 'Running With The Buffaloes' (a book detailing
NCAA powerhouse University of Colorado's distance training approach) and
they think they've got to log these amazing miles (much like at Colorado),"
said Brotchie. "I try explaining to Victor, 'Hey, distance is great,
but don't think it's the panacea for everybody.' "
Compounding the issue of high mileage (Brotchie estimates Gras now tops
out at 60 miles a week this school year, rather than the 80 to 95 he was
used to) is the thought in the Gras camp that an iron absorption problem
has plagued him in recent years, account for a myriad in late-race and
post-race physical problems.
"Combine the iron problem with the miles, and that spelled trouble
more and more" Brotchie added.
Since then, reduced mileage, more iron supplements, and a careful diet
("He's sold on the virtues of the rich iron in Cream of Wheat",
Brotchie added) have resulted in a more lethal race-way warrior. Brotchie
entered this year determined to preach speed-development to Gras, since
the endurance had already been built up over years.
Gras entered this past weekend with a lifetime PR in the 1:55's, and was
seeded as such, meaning his afternoon heat was to conflict with evening
plans to watch the Boston Indoor Games elsewhere. A few discussions later
between his coach and meet management, and Gras was allowed to run in
an added heat early in the day, against faster competition.
"I felt good in the race, especially when I wanted to go," Gras
stated. "The strength and the speed was there at the finish. I was
hoping for 1:53, so this was a nice surprise. It was only a speed tuneup
for Millrose, which i hope someone takes it out fast. I don't want a slow
pace and a kicker's race."
While one of last year's staples workouts was having Gras run 'a 4-minute
mile in five minutes' workout (60-second/400m w/ 20-second jog, 60-second/400m
w/ 20-second jog, 60-second/400m w/ 120-second jog, 60-second/400m), this
year's emphasis on approaching a four-minute mile has including revamping
workouts geared toward quicker turnover, and altering their barometer
workout down to a 57- to 58-second/400 w/ 20-second jog recovery x 4...
all in hopes of preparing for that chance at a four-minute mile.
"I don't really care about being national indoor champion of Millrose
champion or anything like that... I want to run fast," Gras said
curtly. "I'm going for time."
Although not fixated by it, Devon Williams will end up going for records.
Ever since running competitively at the age of 8, Williams has been turning
heads. It was at that young age that she stunned teammates and coaches
by running a 5:01 for 1500 meters, or a 5:25 mile equivalent... at
age eight!
"At first, everyone thought I was slow and would never be fast,"
recalled Wiliams with laughter. "My older sister and her friends
would be running their races and I'd be on the side drinking all their
Gatorade and all the apples. They'd finish their races and have nothing
to drink or eat afterward because of me."
But not long after, age-group national records began falling left and
right, as Williams' feet whirled magically around the oval. From the long
sprints to the distances, Williams has prospered, even dabbling with success
in soccer, basketball and cross-country along the way.
The 14-year-old with the electric smile admits the 800-meter run is her
favorite event ("It's a hard event and I think I'm able to be tough
late in the race, when it starts getting difficult"), although she's
not afraid of taking on the mile as well.
"Anything above that, like 3000 meters on up, is not something I
really get into," she giggled.
Ever do any 5-mile of 6-mile distance runs?
"Five or six miles? Me? Oh never!"
While Williams and Gras topped the national headlines, there were several
standouts across the map proving worthy of capturing their own news sound
bites.
Out on the West Coast, it was Long Beach Poly's Shalonda Solomon who dazzled
in her senior-year coming-out affair by posting two impressive victories
while competing unattached at the Silver State Invitational in Reno, Nevada.
Solomon, the main cylinder in a supercharged Poly machine tabbed to successfully
defend its California state team title this spring, fired off a 7.00 victory
in the 55-meter final to go along with a sensational indoor lifetime-best
23.84 200-meter victory meter that pushed her ahead of Marion Jones and
into 5th-place on the all-time California indoor list.
Solomon was kept very honest by a fine collection of sprinters assembled
here in sprint-aiding high-altitude conditions, including TeeKay Track
Club (Wilson, Long Beach athletes) frosh ebony Collins, whose 24.27 third-place
clocking set the national freshmen indoor record in the event, shelving
Natasha Hastings' 2001 mark. Collins also played a key role in her club
team's nation-leading 3:47.15 prep performance in the 4x400-meter relay.
Also at Reno, Merrill West High's Brittany Daniels bounded her way to
the top of the yearly national triple jump list, representing the Tracy
Flyers Track Club while measuring out to a best effort of 40 feet, 9.75
inches.
On the boys' side in Reno, it was Logan High (Union City, CA) junior Kevin
Craddock that demonstrated yet another fine off-season breakthrough in
confirming previous reports, this time rolling to a stellar 7.45 performance
in the 55-meter high hurdles set at the collegiate, 42-inch height. Although
an official 55m/42" all-time list is not kept, Track & Field
News stat guru Jack Shepard confirmed the clocking intrinsically ranks
as the third-best showing in national prep history, as only two high schoolers
have ever run faster at the 60-yard/42" challenge, with that distance
being a mere five inches longer than the 55-meter distance.
Ashley Owens, the Liberty HS dash flash registering as the latest speedburner
in the traditonally sprint-rich stable of Colorado,
raised the bar for America's elite 55-meter blazers this winter, sizzling
to a 6.84 clocking at the CU All-Comers. Back on the Eastern seaboard,
it was Hopkinton's (MA) Tiara Riel who was caught by the beams in 8.02
to record the year's top 55-meter high hurdles showing thus far. New Hampshire
home-schooled talent Chantelle Dron established a new 2004 standard for
800-meter runners, dipping to 2:09.93 undercover at the Terrier Classic.
Also on the East Coast, Bethel HS (VA) shined in home-state action by
registering a 1:39.82 effort in the 4x200m challenge at the Virginia Tech
Invite.
Closing out the national list-toppers on the female side were a pair
of fine field-event performances occuring a couple of thousand miles apart.
Down in the Panhandle State, it was Coral Springs High's Viktoria Andonova
slinking over the crossbar to record a 5-11.25 clearance at the Gator
Invite. Over in Boise (ID), it was Ralston's (NE) Michaela Wallerstedt
powering the iron shot out to a distance of 46-2 in claiming the nation's
leading 2004 mark there.
For the males, the weekend's top collective efforts might have come from
Wilson High's (Portsmouth, VA) Lashawn Merritt who emerged from obscurity
to post THREE sensational dash victories at the Virginia Tech Invite in
one of the finest open sprint triples in indoor prep annals of recent
years! Merritt's best solo effort came in the 300-meter dash, where his
33.51 rocker moved him into 5th on the all-time prep indoor list, For
good measure, Merritt added a nation-leading 6.33 in the 55-meter dash
and a1:04.83 in claiming the 500-meter win. He'll have a way to go before
breaking into the state's elite in the longest dash, however, as
more than half of the nation's top 20 all-time indoor 500m marks are held
by Virginia athletes.
Great baton battles also took place between Maryland teams at the Virginia
Tech Invite, with DeMatha's (Hyattsville, MD, the perennial basketball
national superpower) claiming the national lead in a hotly contested 4x200m
clash (1:28.10), and Suitland Highs (Forestville, MD) 4x400 quartet ripping
a 3:19.80 showing to earn America's top billing there.
Out in the Pacific Northwest, many of the nation's finer collegiate talents
assembled in Washington for the Husky Invite (contested along the oversized,
307-meter rack), but it was prepster Laef Barnes of storied powerhouse
program Mead HS (Spokane, WA) that delivered an impressive statement with
an authoritative finishing kick in the mile. Barnes, who finished third
to since-graduated megatalents Bobby Curtis and Carl Moe at the Golden
West Invitational last June, motored home in the final last lap to catch
an army of adversaries in clocking 4:09.61, the 2004 yearly leader and
among the top 20 indoor miles time in prep history. If one were
to get truly technical, an 18th nation-leading mark occurred in the New
Jersey Group 4 Meet, as a duel for the ages played out and Mo Khadroui
prevailed over fellow New Jersey-man Chris Pannone, 9:02.72 to 9:02.84.
Khadroui's time is the nation's best in a 3200-meter race, and only better
by the sansational two-mile efforts put forth by New York's Josh McDougal
(home-schooled, Peru, NY) and Oregon's Galen Rupp (Central Catholic, Portland)
at the New Balance Games last weekend.
Can next weekend get any better? With Millrose on tap, but a slew
of meets across the map, we think so!
Don't forget to enter the Millrose
Games High School Indoor Mile predictions contest!
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