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2007 Glenn D. Loucks Games
May 10-12, 2007 White Plains, NY
DyeStat on-site coverage with John Nepolitan
Meet Preview
by John Nepolitan
For 40 years, the final transition point between the relay portion of the track season in the Northeast and the championship portion has been the Glenn D. Loucks Games at White Plains High School in the New York City suburbs. Individual athletes can start to shine without the possibility of being hidden on relays. Once again many of the New York area’s best will compete with athletes from New England, the Middle Atlantic States and Canada and while the individual events are stressed there will once again be a full slate of relays as well. Over it’s 40 years the Loucks Games has gone through some changes, but the one constant is great competition and outstanding performances and the 2007 edition should provide the same.
A fast look at some of the key events:
Thursday
The sole final will be the East Coast Distance Medley Relays Challenge which will bring many of the regions top teams together one last time before the Nike Outdoor Nationals.
Boys DMR – Guilderland(NY) led by 2-time Footlocker Finalist Brian Rhodes-Devey is the top seed, but will sure to be pushed to the limit by 2006 NTN qualifiers Danbury(Ct), always strong Arlington(NY) and Penn Relays qualifier North Rockland(NY). Also in the field is St. Benedicts(NJ) who should never be counted out and although anchor man Brandon Jarrett is returning from injury, the 2006 Footlocker finalist is always dangerous.
Girls DMR – Defending champs and 2007 NSIC Bay Shore(NY) lead a field that includes two other teams with sub 12:00 seeds including Carmel(NY) and Wawick(NY), both of whom were part of the recent Penn Relays field with Bay Shore.
Friday
Filled with trial heats of many events, but there will be a few key finals.
The feature event of the second day and possibly the entire weekend could be the girls 800 with 9 young ladies seeded under 2:15. Scheduled to line up are Kristin Reese(Carmel, NY), 2007 NSIC Sara McCurdy(Bay Shore, NY), Brittany Sheffy(Bellport, NY), 2007 NSIC runner-up Emma Miller-Bedell(Tappan Zee, NY), 2007 NSIC 4th placer Brianna Welch(North Shore, NY), Nadine Frost(Sir James Dunn Academy, Canada), Amanda Ottoni(John Abbott, Canada), Alana Levy(Horace Greeley, NY) and Kim Piard(Albertus Magnus, NY). The boys event could also be a close race with 8 runners seeded under 1:56 including: Andy Clyne(Washingtonville, NY), Jeff Moriarty(Westwood, Mass), Alex Malikian(North Salem, NY), Dan Holst(Smithtown West, NY), Blaise Rewaka(Iona Prep, NY), 2007 NY State Indoor 1000 meter Champ Keith Stapleton(Curtis, NY), Lawrence Campbell(Peekskill, NY) and Edward Baulat(Iona Prep, NY).
New Rochelle(NY) has won the last 2 girls team titles and this year once again has to be among the favorites coming on with its well balanced squad. While over the years New Rochelle has been known for its sprinters, hurdlers, jumpers and relays they have also had a strong tradition of throwers, and with the top 3 seeds in the shot put, led by Kadine Johnson, the team battle could be over on the 2nd day of competition. Leading the charge to unseat New Rochelle as the team champ will be Uniondale(NY) which will be led by Heidi Paul, top seed in the 100 meters, and New York State long jump champ Ashley Hendrix.
Closing out the second day of competition will be the 3200 meter runs. The girls event will feature NSIC mile champion Callie Hogan(Bay Shore, NY) who will be challenged by Kelly Abbate(Northport, NY), Seujin Ahn(Ward Melville, NY), Heather Stepens(Ridgefield, Ct) and Brianna Cano(Valley Stream North, NY) all with seeds under 11:00. The boys race is scheduled to feature 2007 Footlocker finalist Brandon Jarrett(St Benedicts, NJ) who is coming back from a slight injury. If Jarrett is in anyway off, his game he will be pressed by Brendan Martic(Smithtwon West, NY), Barry Britt(Hampton-New Brunswick, Canada), Zach Borestein (Edgemont, NY), Giovanni Signoretti(Smithtown West, NY), Corey Robinson(Greece Athena, NY) and Peter Vizcarrondo(Collegiate, NY) all with seeds under 9:30.
Saturday
With competition coming to an end on Saturday, the team races could tighten up. South Shore(NY) could stake its claim to the men’s crown as Kemar Clarke is the top seed in the 110 meter high hurdles, Rodney Campbell and Sean Troop are the 1st and 3rd seeds in the 200. Campbell is also the top seed in the 400 and of course its 4 x 100 relay team which has the 2nd fastest time in the US east of the Mississippi. South Shore is also the #1 seed in the 4 x 400. Newburgh (NY) will be right there to challenge in both the sprint relays should South Shore pick one over the other or stumble.
At last year’s Loucks Games, Mike Dempsey (Gates-Chili, NY) was named the meet’s outstanding performer when he established a new meet record in the pole vault. Dempsey returns following a 5th place finish at the Penn Relays and with perfect weather expected could take attempts at his meet record of 15’5”.
The girls team title will continue into the final day as Assata Cowart(New Rochelle) and Vanessa Thompson (Uniondale) are the top 2 seeds in the 400 intermediate hurdles and the two teams are seeded 2nd and 3rd in the day’s final event the 4 x 400, both behind Boys High’s 3:47 performance. Important to Uniondale’s cause will be Hendrix, who besides her long jump on Friday will take on Lindsay Rowe(Benjamin Cardozo, NY) in the 100 meter hurdles.
As the only jumper over 40’ Gabriela Baiter(John Glenn, NY) will look to add a Loucks championship to her long list of accomplishments and continue her march to an outdoor state title to go with her 2007 indoor crown. The highlight in the field events could be the girls pole vault as three Canadian jumpers, Bethany Dumas(Cony),Ariane BeaumontCourtea,(Jean-Eudes), and Melanie Blouin (Saint Francois) are all seeded at 12’0 or higher.
One of the fan favorite events is the steeplechase which this year will highlight Nike All American Anthony Savoia(North Rockland, NY) and 2 time Footlocker finalist Shelby Greany(Suffern, NY) . Greany is the girls defending champion, but is also entered in the mile where Katie Sullivan(Ursuline, NY) and Suejin Ahn, Suejin(Ward Melville, NY) are the top 2 seeds. The boys mile has six runners seeded within 6.5 seconds of each other with Brandon Jarrett leading the list. Behind the St Benedicts junior in the tight field is Barry Britt(Hampton-New Brunswick, Canada), Dwayne Alexis(Collegiate, NY), Chris Williams(Collegiate, NY), John Badolato(West Islip, NY) and Julian Sheinbaum(Scarsdale, NY).
Loucks Games Index |
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