Mindy, Nico is Truly Sorry

An unfortunate stretching accident didn't stop Mindy Sawnor from scoring wins in the 400 and 800 yesterday in our meet vs. her Greece Athena team. Our girls had no problem overcoming those points with a 90-51 victory, and the boys were reported as 113-38 winners in the paper, but that is an impossible score - perhaps 103-38. The distance runners were on the plus side as well (24-8 for the girls; 19-13 for the boys).

The 1600 was controlled by Nico, who planned to go out behind the Athena kids, to see what they had. The first 800 was a pedestrian 2:40, but Nico came back in 2:19 for the win, going away. Chris had a shot at third, but couldn't quite hang on. AJ lost focus on the third lap, falling 10 seconds behind Chris, but came back within 3 seconds at the finish. Joe Freshman and Afro Thunder destroyed the 6-minute barrier, as they continue to learn how to race on the track. Splits:

Nico 76 84 81 78 4:59
Chris 77 83 75 80 5:15
AJ 79 84 82 73 5:18
John 82 87 93 86 5:48
Joe 81 88 91 89 5:49

Megan owned the 1500 from start to finish, while Alaina gamely went after second place before settling for third. Clare couldn't quite hang on to the pack, and Karin went out a little too quick, which made the last 800 tougher than it had to be. Splits:

Megan 88 91 88 61 5:28
Alaina 89 93 92 65 5:39
Clare 89 97 96 68 5:50
Karin 90 101 123 81 6:35

In the 800, Nico took a different strategy after Alex got off the line quickly. He carried the leaders through in 64, then Alex took over with about 250m to go and go the win in 2:09. Nico easily held on to second with a 2:13. AJ held off Karl in the battle for the 4th spot on the 4x800 and JP showed signs of breaking out of his usual race pace, and brought the youngster along with him. Splits:
Alex 65 2:09
Nico 64 2:13
AJ 70 2:22
Karl 70 2:23
JP 76 2:36
Joe 76 2:40
John 77 2:42

The girls race was exciting, featuring Mindy Sawnor, fresh off her 2:16 on Friday night. She let Megan lead the first 500m, so Megan took her time, coming thru the 200 in 39 and the 400 in 79, with Chelsea also on her tail. On the backstretch, Mindy made a strong move, but then, in the surprise of the day, Chelsea zipped by into the lead before the final turn. They came off the top of the stretch just about even and Mindy's speed was just a bit too much for Chelsea, but Chelsea had turned in a 72 for the second lap, with most of the time drop from the first lap coming in the last 275m. Clare helped Katie to a decent time as well. Splits:

Chelsea 79 2:31
Megan 79 2:38
Clare 84 2:53
Katie 85 2:53

Our guys in the 3200 showed that we are just about ready to become contenders. The three of them, Kenny, Chris and Nate, took turns leading for the first mile, while the Athena kids just sat back. With the cold and wind, the first mile was only 5:37. Then the Athena kids tried to take off. Our guys gamely answered the first surge, but then it became apparent that it was too strong a move for Chris and Nate. Kenny was the last hope. He gave it a good shot, but had to settle for third. Splits:

Kenny 84 246 412 537 658 822 945 1106
Chris 84 247 412 537 701 829 955 1114
Nate 84 246 412 537 702 830 1003 1138

Kenny 84 82 86 85 81 84 83 81
Chris 84 83 85 85 84 88 86 79
Nate 84 82 86 85 85 88 93 95

I didn't really see the 3000, as I was sorting out 4x800 relay combinations, but I believe it was a Webster sweep (no Athena entrants).

Unfortunately, the 4x800 went from being a friendly competition for the varsity points to being a joke. Ryan, Nico and Alex had a decent race on the opening leg, and JP and Johnny worked hard on the second leg, while Kevin got a late start and wasn't used to 800m. Kenny, Nate and Chris put out a decent effort, back from the 3200, but the anchors were an embarrassment. Shriner runs? Another performance like that will result in 800m repeats after the meet, until I am happy again. There are times for fun, but not when the fans are standing in the cold, trying to cheer the teams on.