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by Pete Cava
LANDOVER, Md., March 6, 2002 --- The Nike Indoor Classic gets underway
Saturday at the Prince George's Sports and Learning Complex. Here's
a preview of the boys events at the two-day meet.
60 meters: The top contenders
include Brendan Christian (Reagan HS, Austin, TX), who posted
the fastest prep time for the 60m last year (6.70) and won outdoor
100m titles at the National Scholastic meet and the AAU Junior Olympics.
Jonathan Wade (Evangel Christian Academy, Shreveport, LA) was
third in the 100 at last July's World Youth Championships at Debrecen,
Hungary. Others to watch are J-Mee Samuels (Mt. Tabor HS,
Winston-Salem, NC), a 6.33 50m performer this year; Donnell Diggs
(Elsik HS, Alief, TX), who's run a 6.86 60m this season; and
Robert Woodward (Bullis HS, Potomac, MD), with a 6.88 60m
time in ‘01.
200 meters: Jonathan Wade
(Evangel Christian Academy, Shreveport, LA) was last year's World
Youth 200m champ. Todd Dutch (Washington HS, Sewell, NJ),
second in this meet last year, was 3rd at the USA Junior Championships.
Michael Loyd (Mt. Tabor, Winston-Salem, NC) placed second
at the National Scholastic meet outdoors. There's also Robert
Woodward (Bullis HS, Potomac, MD), a 21.44 performer this season,
and Jason Craig (Wayne HS, Huber Heights, OH), who comes
here with a season best of 21.95.
400 meters: Defending champ
Kelly Willie (Sterling HS, Houston, TX) is back. He holds
the top spot on the current U.S. prep list (47.13). On the outdoor
trail last year, Willie won the USATF Junior Olympic title and posted
the year's fastest one-lap time (46.04). Jason Lilly (Dover,
DE, HS), a 48.73 performer this season, is another blue-chip quarter
miler. The best of the rest include Jade Smith (Camden, NJ,
HS), one of the season's fastest preps last year; Troy Roberson
(William Tennant, Warminster, PA), a 48.87 performer this season;
and Jeremy Wariner (Lamar, Arlington, TX), who ran 46.68
outdoors in ‘01.
800 meters: Wil Fitts
(DeSoto, TX, HS) is the best bet here. Fitts was second at last
year's USA Junior Championships and won the USATF Junior Olympic
title. His outdoor 1:50.08 in ‘01 was the year's top time by
an underclassman. Others to watch: Paul Cross (Flanagan HS,
Pembroke Pines, FL), 1:51.50 outdoors last year; and Lauren Jesperson
(Klamath Union, Klamath Falls, OR), a 1:52.48 performer in ‘01.
Not to be overlooked is Richard Smith (South Lakes, Reston
VA), Alan Webb's old teammate. Smith's the current prep leader at
500 and 1000m, and his recent 1:52.2 relay anchor gave South Lakes
a state title.
Mile: As a sophomore at last
year's Nike Indoor Classic, Bobby Curtis (Xavier, Louisville,
KY) pulled ahead of Bobby Lockhart on the homestretch for a thrilling
victory. Curtis went on to place 5th outdoors at the National Scholastic
meet. He should have his hands full this year with Shane Stroup
(River Hills, Clarksville, MD), 2nd at the ‘01 National
Scholastic meet; junior Matt DeBole (Mt. Tabopr HS, Winston-Salem,
NC), a 4:14.60 miler this season; Sam Bair (Shaler, Pittsburgh,
PA), whose 4:14.36 on oversized track is fastest prep time of 2002;
Alex Tatu (Thomas Dale, Chester, VA), who had a 4:14.66 breakthrough
March 2; Marc Pelerin (Cherokee HS, Marlton, NJ), whose 4:15.6
at last December's Bishop Loughlin Games tops the current prep list;
and Jeremy Johnson (Manzano HS, Albuquerque, NM) a 4:18.16
performer this season.
2-mile: Bobby Lockhart
(Handley HS, Winchester, VA), last year's mile runnerup, moves up
to this distance in 2002. Lockhart, a member of the USA junior team
for this month's World Cross Country Championships in Dublin, Ireland,
is fresh from double victories at his state meet (4:16.67, 9:02.62).
Lockhart's teammate on the World Championship junior squad, Billy
Nelson (Taft, CA, HS), comes to Landover with a 9:13.8 2-mile
triumph under his belt from February's L.A. Invitational. Matt
Keally (Ocean Lakes, Virginia Beach, VA) broke Alan Webb's meet
record with an 8:59.7 2-mile performance at his state meet. Giving
this event terrific depth are Brian Dalpiaz (Sayville, NY,
HS), a 9:03.65 2-miler this year; Rolf Steier (Berkeley Prep,
Tampa, FL), Ryan Blood (East Pennsboro, Enola, PA), Jake
Raines (East Central, Hurley, MS), Andy Wigton (Greece
Athena, Rochester, NY), Andrew Keino (Fork Union, VA, Military
Academy) and Chris Solinsky (Stevens Point, WI), 3rd at last
December's Foot Locker Cross Country Championships.
A year ago in this race, all attention focused on Webb's run at
the national prep record. Almost overlooked was the 9:29.10 by 14th-place
finisher by Ryan Deak (Maclay HS, Tallahassee, FL), which
was a freshman class indoor record. Deak's back again this year.
60m hurdles: Four of the nation's
top preps, Dexter Faulk (Stone Mountain, GA HS), Kenneth
Ferguson (Mumford HS, Detroit, MI), Dion Cooper (Giddings,
TX, HS) and Jason Hodges (Wayne HS, Huber Heights, OH) will
bang heads here. Faulk, the current 55H prep leader (7.20) ran a
7.94 for the 60H last year to become the year's top undergrad. Faulk
went on to place 5th in the 110H at the USA Juniors and 6th at the
World Youth Championships. He had an outdoor best of 13.81. Ferguson's
7.75 leads the ‘02 prep 60H list and Cooper's not far off at
7.91. Hodges, a 13.85 outdoor performer in ‘01, has an ‘02
best of 7.28 for the 55H. The always-welcome "MB Sleeper"
is Mike Loyd (Mt. Tabor HS, NC). He's #2-US in both the 55mH and
the 60mH. If he's ON, look out, he could steal it.
Mile walk: Adam Staier
(Mt. Blue HS, Farmington, ME), last year's second-place finisher,
comes to Landover with an ‘02 best of 6:26.97, tops in the
nation. His main competition should be Zach Polliner (Mahwah,
NJ, HS) and Jon Chasse (Maranacook, ME, HS). Pollinger, a
sophomore, has an ‘02 best of 7:00.92 while Chasse's season
best is 7:04.45.
4x200m relay: Eleanor Roosevelt
HS (Greenbelt, MD), with a quartet of Sammy Sesay, Joshua Cotton,
Joshua Allen and Kyle Postell, has times of 1:30.07 (flat track)
and 1:28.62 (banked track) this season. The latter tops the U.S.
list. Reagan HS (Austin, TX), with 20.56 performer Brendan Reagan
and Ivory Williams, who's gone 21.14 as a freshman, should be in
the thick of things. There's also Camden (NJ) HS and Oxon Hill (MD)
HS. Camden, the defending champion, comes in with a season best
of 1:28.82 (banked track) while Oxon Hill's season best is 1:30.1
(flat track).
4x400m relay: Camden
(NJ) HS is the defending champ here, too, and checks in with an
‘02 best of 3:19.61 (banked track). But Mumford HS (Detroit,
MI), with a 3:17 this year, will give the Jersey squad a run for
the money, and Glen Mills (Concordville , PA) has a 3:18.6
banked track performance this season.
4x800m relay: North Penn
HS (Lansdale, PA), is the defending champ and has run 7:52.05. Strath-Haven
(PA) HS comes in with a 7:57.52 clocking, while Willingboro
(NJ) HS has a season best 7:53.64 flat-track time. There's also
Notre Dame (Lawrenceville, NJ), with 7:51.42 (the current
U.S. leader), and Russellville (AR), at 7:57.07.
1600 sprint medley relay: Defending
champion Ballou HS (Washington, DC) returns, but they'll
be hardpressed to repeat their ‘01 title. Mount Tabor
HS (Winston-Salem, NC) comes in with a terrific quartet and should
contend. So will Mumford HS (Detroit, MI); Vineland
(NJ) HS, bolstered by the Sherrer twins, Schafer and Shannon; and
local favorite Suitland HS (Foresteville, MD).
Distance medley relay: No clear
favorite here. Top prospects include Eastern HS (Voorhees,
NJ), 10:33.21 on a flat track this year, and Hillsboro (NJ)
HS, with a 2002 banked-track clocking of 10:28.17.
High jump: Keith Moffatt
(Menchville HS, Newport News, VA) was virtually unknown when
he came to this meet a year ago. The lanky Virgninian returns as
the defending champ and with a chestful of honors. Moffatt set a
junior class record (7-0.25) at this meet, and had a brilliant outdoor
season. He placed second at the USATF Juniors, won the AAU Junior
Olympic title and claimed a silver medal at the Pan American Junior
Championships in Santa Fe, Argentina, Moffatt's the current national
prep leader at 7-2.25. Moffatt's no shoo-in, however. The field
includes USA Junior champion Jason Hill (Quanah, TX, HS);
National Scholastic champ Michael Morrison (Willingboro,
NJ, HS); and Jesse Williams (Broughton HS, Raleigh, NC),
runnerup at the National Scholastic meet and the USATF Junior Olympic
winner, as well as Brandon Woodson (Mansfield, OH, HS) and
Adam Kring ( Northern HS, Port Huron, MI), a pair of outdoor
7-footers last year.
Pole vault: Tommy Skipper
(Sandy, Ore.), last year's runnerup, is the current U.S. prep leader
with a 16-6 vault. Brad Gebauer (Bad Axe, MI, HS), who tied
for 7th place here a year ago, has been the most consistent prep
vaulter of ‘02. Gebauer was an early national prep leader at
16-4.75 and has cleared 16-feet four times this season. This event
should be another dogfight with another 16-foot vaulter, Chip
Heuser (Xavier, Louisville), in the field along with David
Sullivan (Centreville HS, Clifton, VA), Mike Landers
(Golden Valley, Merced, CA) and Tyson Byers (University HS,
Spokane, WA). Sullivan, Landers and Byers are all 15-9 vaulters
this year.
Long jump: A.J. Davis
(Northern HS, Durham, NC) 3rd at this meet last year and the ‘01
AAU Junior Olympic runnerup, comes here with a season best of 24-0.5.
He's one of the main contenders, along with ‘01 National Scholastic
winner Dermillo Wise (Lakewood, St. Petersburg, FL) and Nehemiah
Leary (Upper Dublin HS, Fort Washington, PA), a 23-7.5 performer
this season. Reshard Nobles (George Wythe HS, Wytheville,
VA), a newcomer to the Nike Indoor Classic, appears to be peaking
at the right time. Nobles won a state title last weekend with a
leap of 23-8.
Triple jump: A.J. Davis
(Northern HS, Durham, NC) is the top contender here, too. Davis,
second at this meet a year ago, is the current national prep leader
at 48-1. Chaime Breaux (Ellison HS, Killeen, TX), opened
his season with an outdoor 49-11.5 and should contend. The only
LJ/TJ double winner in meet history was Allen Simms (Roosevelt HS,
Greenbelt, MD) in 2000.
Shot put: This title is up
for grabs. A trio of New Jersey strongmen, Glenn DiGiorgio
(Bayonne, NJ, HS), Uzoma Orji (Matawan, NJ, HS) and Adam
Kuehl (Monmouth Regional HS, Tinton Falls, NJ) are the top candidates,
along with Noah Bryant (Carpinteria, CA, HS) and Bryan
Robison (Splendora, TX, HS). DiGiorgio won last year's outdoor
National Scholastic title and was the year's No. 3 prep putter with
a best of 66-1.75. Orji's put the shot 63-1.5 this season, Kuehl
checks in at 61-6.25 and Bryant had a 2001 outdoor throw of 63-6.
Robison's a real sleeper, checking in with an ‘02 outdoor best
of 66-2.
Weight throw: An interesting
field here. Last year's runnerup, Scott Vernon (Hendricken,
Warwick, RI), is a 70-9 thrower this year. His teammate, Michael
Freeman (Hendricken, Warwick, RI), was the ‘01 National
Scholastic hammer throw champ and has a season best of 71-7.25 this
season. Adam Hamilton (Milford, NH, HS) is the current national
prep leader at 74-11 and Jason Carruthers (Marietta, GA,
HS) has an ‘02 best of 72-3.75.
Pentathlon: The top two candidates
are Kalen Schiedt (Marietta, GA, HS) and Justin Palmer
(Bear River HS, Garland, UT). Schiedt had an ‘01 best of 5385
points for the decathlon, while Palmer had a 6235 deca score using
prep implements.
Nike Indoor Classic 2002
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