New Balance Qualifying Championships (NYC)

(13.83, new club record, 13.55 is Olympic A standard;
Listen to all the GBTC folks who stuck around late into the night to cheer)

For the more than fifteen GBTC sprinters, hurdlers, jumpers, and throwers making the trip down to New York City on Saturday (5/10/08) , it was a day of season’s bests and quality opening marks. While no one was particularly thrilled with their races, most were happy with the progress and potential for improvement.

The meet was an afternoon affair in Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island in NYC. It featured athletes from most of the region’s top clubs (U.S. Elite, Shore AC, Nike CPTC), as well as the nation’s 800m phenom Chanelle Price (2:03.20).

GBTC showed that it deserves its USATF designation as an Elite Development Club with several wins and top-three performances.

Sherita Williams (12.94m) dominated the triple jump, winning by two feet. Fellow jumper Ray Smith jumped 6.75m in the men’s long jump. Sticking with the jumps, Jen Harlow was fourth in the high jump (1.65m). Former GBTC-er (now in Maryland competing for U.S. Elite) Yesta Tuakli-Wosornu was second in the long jump.

Five athletes competing on Saturday may soon be representing their respective countries in international competition: Hector Cotto (Puerto Rico), Hafiz Greigre (Liberia), Kateema Riettie (Jamaica), Dacia Taylor (Jamaica), and Dee Murphy (Ireland).
In the 110 hurdles, Hector battled through a rough prelims, where he ended up tied for 8^th (but 9^th based on the thousandths place). After speaking with meet director Lauren Primerano (big thank you!), the meet officials allowed Hector run in the finals. Hector made the most of it, and clocked a 13.83, just .28 off the Olympics A-standard.

Kateema (53.34m), a member of the Jamaican national team, won the javelin by over 8 meters! She will continue to look for that Olympic qualifying throw in the coming months. Also in the javelin, Ashley Nyzio found the club, put on her uniform for the first time, and opened up with a javelin throw of 34.83m.

Dacia, training full time with Olympic aspirations, was second in the 100m (12.06). Dacia (24.41) and teammate Josette Pierre-Louis (25.75) were also at the top of the 200m prelims. Because the meet fell over an hour and a half behind, the finals of the 200m and the 4x400m were too late in the evening to wait for.

Stand-out sprinter Hafiz Greigre, a member of the Liberian national team, cruised to a victory in his 200m preliminary heat (21.49). Hafiz wore a GBTC jersey for the first time, and we hope he’ll wear it again as he tunes up for international competition.

Also going overseas soon for competition is Ireland’s second-ranked discus thrower Dee Murphy, who was second in the discus (39.09m).

Coach Callum’s Tuesday/Thursday group was all over the 400m. In their season 400m debuts, Tiera Fletcher was fourth (58.10) and Sara O’Brien eighth (59.75). On the men’s side, Christian Tirella (49.08), Matt Schiller (51.38), Andrew Guida (53.40), and Charly Clerge (57.73) all made their way around the oval.

Masters runners showed they weren’t quite ready to let the younger guys beat them. Wayne Burwell nursed a sore hamstring, and even after shutting it down at 60m, still qualified for the finals with a time of 11.34. Wayne will be a force this summer as the weather heats up. I competed in the two hurdles races, opening up with a season’s best in the 400m hurdles (56.76) and a decent race in the 110 hurdles (15.70). Both times should hopefully drop in the next month.

For those still reading, it’s worth noting that despite the meet running an hour and a half late, the weather getting colder with each minute, and a 4 hour drive back to Boston looming, GBTC’s athletes stuck together stayed until 9:30 pm to cheer for Hector in the finals of the 110 Hurdles. There are other clubs that can offer a few more dollars and some fancy shoes, but you won’t get better (and certainly not louder) teammates than those wearing the GBTC red.

You also won't find a more dynamic track announcing duo than Mike Rauh and Dennis Kornfield. If you've been to Icahn Stadium, you know the familiar, "Let's help to bring them home" down the home stretch. The two will make even the 8th heat of the 800m seem like the World Championships.

The sprinters will next be competing in some of the Boston High Performance meets, as well as the Developmental Meets we help to run on two Wednesdays at M.I.T.

Full Results:
http://www.icahnstadium.org/Results/NB%20Last%20Chance.htm