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DyeStat 2001 Indoor
FIT Relays Program Notes
by Pearl Watts
Good day and welcome to the Sixth Annual Friends of Indoor Track (FIT) Relays.� Once again, the meet this year will showcase many of the top individuals and teams in the metropolitan area with fifty schools on hand in the top area meet before the holiday season.
In the field events there will be a 9:30 a.m. start for the boys long jump, boys shot put and girls high jump. The boys long jump will have a trio of performers from Maryland in Mark McKenzie of Woodlawn, Northwestern's Kerry Williams and Charles Cooper of Suitland along with Ivan Anderson from Woodrow Wilson (D.C.) as the top seeds. All the jumpers will have an open pit for one hour to get their three jumps in with measurements for all competitors reaching the 19 foot qaulifying standard. After the one hour time period, the top seven jumpers will advance to an additional three jump final.
The boys shot put has a 42 foot qualifying standard measurement with four flights scheduled and three throws for all performers in the trials. The top seven will advance to the finals for another three throws with Kellen Meckelson of Lake Braddock, Oakton's Pat Fitzgerald and Mergenthaler's Kelly Jackson among the top entries.
The girls high jump will have a starting height of 4-6 with three of the top girls from the state of Virginia entered in Rachel Dailey of Fairfax, Jefferson's Krystle Moss, who is the defending indoor state champion and Bonnie Meekins, the defending outdoor state champion who has already jumped 5-6 this season.
The girls long jump will immediately follow the boys long jump with one of the top sprinters and jumpers as the top seed in Keosha Sanders with Lakeasha Dudley of Bayside also expected to contend. The girls long jump will also have an open pit for one hour with 15-0 the entry measurement and also having the top seven advancing to the finals.
The girls shot put looks to be closely contested with the top five entries separated by less than a foot and a half headed by Jamie Mushatt-Valri of Brooke Point and Herndon's Chazzy Morris with 30 feet even the qualifying standard.
The horizontal jump runway on the backstretch side of GMU's 200 meter facility will get a workout with the boys triple jump following the girls long jump with 39-0 the measurement standard. Charlton McDougal of Woodbridge and Mergenthaler's Fauki Wright are both entered at beyond the 45 foot range.
The girls triple jump, with an open pit for one hour and seven to the finals like the boys triple jump, has Kim Chase of Glasgow (Del.) as the top seed followed by the Lake Braddock duo of Shawnette Adams and Alexandra VanHeuven with 32-0 needed for a measurement.
The boys high jump will start at 5-6 and should get interesting about a foot later with a good battle looming among Lake Braddock's Garrett Brickner, who went 6-6 last week at the Christopher Newport Invite; Oakton's Teddy Presley, the thrid place finisher last year at the indoor state meet with a jump of 6-7 and defending champion Greg McCormick of Middletown, who tied the meet record in winning last year at 6-8.
The girls pole vault starts at 12 noon and the meet record of 10-3 could certainly be threatened with Hayfield's Carrie Bennett, who went 10-3 only to finish second on misses last year at FIT, in the field. Also entered are Centreville's Alicia LaRoche, third at last year's outdoor state meet and Atlee's Kira Barcus, who was fifth at outdoor states, helping to make for a very competitive field with the competition starting at 8-0.
Even though it is early in the season, the boys pole vault record of 13-3 should go. Defending FIT champion and meet record holder Val Osipenko of Atlee went 14-0 to win the Walt Cormack Relays at VMI last week as did defending outdoor state champion David Sullivan of Centreville with his winning height of 14-0 at Episcopal last week. Both will probably have to be literally at the top of their game to overtake top seed Greg McCormick of Middletown.
The running events also begin at 9:30 a.m. with the girls 4x800 Varsity "B" races followed by the boys Varsity "B" races. Three sections are scheduled for each with the fastest seeded sections running first, but relay squads are expected to report at first call for their event. That is in case any sections are combined because of scratches in order to keep the meet moving in an expedient fashion.
The girls distance medley will follow with defending champion Lake Braddock having an excellent chance to repeat with their group which includes Kelly Swain, Heather McCarthy, Cheryl Carr, Meredith Brill and Shawnette Adams.
The boys distance medley should find Oakton near the front led by Matt Maline and Phil Gaeta with Robinson, Lake Braddock and Woodlawn also expected to perform well.
In keeping with the spirit of an early season relay meet, with participation one of the main keys, freshmen-sophomore 4x200 relays will follow the DMR's. Largo is the top seed in the girls 4x200 while Lake Braddock is both the top seed and defending champion in the boys 4x200 for freshmen and sophomores.
The meet will be on a rolling time schedule except for one of the highlights of the meet, the Special Olympics 4x100 relay. That event will go off at 1:00 p.m. with all lanes expected to be filled with the squads representing Edison, McLean and Chantilly High Schools; Mark Twain Middle School; the Reston Runners and the John Davis Center.
The Varsity girls 4x200 has defending champion Largo returning along with 1999 runnerup Eleanor Roosevelt and third place finisher Western with those three Maryland schools also back as the top seeds for 2000.
The Varsity boys 4x200 could be a battle among Suitland, Dover (Del.) and Hayfield, with Mike Walker and Ron Richards as their keys.
The girls varsity seeded 4x800 finds Jefferson as the defending champion and meet record holder and they should be in the mix if Kelley Otstott anchors for them once again. Eleanor Roosevelt looks to be stacking that event with defending outdoor state champion Oakton also a factor anchored by Keira Carlstrom.
The boys seeded 4x800 will have a hard time matching last year's race in which four teams were still in it for the lead entering the final homestretch before Suitland prevailed anchored by the graduated Shannon Hughes. This year Oakton, Lake Braddock, Good Counsel and Woodlawn appear to be among the top teams.
The meet will round up with the 4x4's. The freshman-sophomore races will go first with Lake Braddock and Largo looking to field solid girls squads and with Lake Braddock the top seed and defending champion on the boys side. The girls varsity 4x400's will have Eleanor Roosevelt as the top seed and the defending champions as they try to ward off challenges from some of Maryland's best in Largo, Western and Laurel.�
The boys varsity 4x400's has defending champion Lake Braddock returning only Frank Francois from that squad but they will still be in the hot first heat with perennial power Northwestern still one of the teams to beat.
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