Apex Relays Recap

As we anticipated in the preview article, the weather was the biggest story of the meet.  The cold and rain caused problems with the timing system (though the hard work of meet management fought through those issues), forced the cancellation of all four jumping events, and definitely impacted the sprint performances.  It got particularly bad right after the lunch break, during the sprint medleys and the 4x100's, when the rain and the wind both picked up.  That cleared away before long, fortunately, and conditions were better for the final three events of the day.  Depite these difficulties, there were several noteworthy performances during the course of the meet.

 

Distance Rules The Day

As you might expect when the temperatures are in the 50's, the distance runners had a big day.  The morning was loaded with top performances, from the first gun in the girls' 4x1600 to the conclusion of the Distance Medley right before the lunch break.  In the middle, there were the Invitational 1600's, which have become the featured event of the meet in recent years.  The two races did not disappoint this time around, starting with Ryen Frazier's PR of 4:53.71 NC #2 NC #8 All-Time.  Behind her, Blair Ramsay (Grimsley) also upped her all-time best with her 4:57.12 NC #3 NC #17 All-Time.  The boys' race went down much the same way, with Ryan Speer (North Raleigh Christian) breaking from the field with 200 to go to claim the win in 4:15.06 NC #1.  Nick Linder (Providence Day) clocked 4:16.59 NC #3, while Mihret Coulter (Apex) broke 4:20 for the first time to earn NC #5.

 

The Cardinal Gibbons girls controlled the morning's distance relays, running 21:25.57 NC #1 in the 4x1600 and 12:45.46 NC #5 in the DMR to take home two wins.  Broughton's boys pulled away to win the 4x1600 commandingly, posting a time of 18:10.69 NC #1.  The Green Hope boys claimed the DMR in 10:38.15 NC #3, holding off Jordan's 10:42.87 NC #4, then followed that performance with another gold in the 4x800.

 

 

Deep, Experienced Sprint Crews Overcome

The girls' sprint events began in the mid-morning with the Invitational 100 Hurdles, won by Jacklyn Howell (Southeast Raleigh).  Not long after that, Sydnei Murphy (Apex) ran 12.18 to take the Invitational 100; when you put that time in context and compare it to other performances throughout the day, it is actually very impressive.  After lunch came the 800 Sprint Medley, which Parkland led until Layla White (Cary) took the baton for the 400-meter anchor leg.  White brought her team home in first with a 1:49.22 NC #1 US #25, but that was the last time Parkland would lose on the day.  The Mustangs swept the 4x100, 4x200, and 4x400, with the most impressive being their 4:01.13 at the end of a long day.

 

On the boys' side, the Invitational races were both extremely close.  First Emmanuel Jackson (Sanderson) dueled Xavier Carter (West Johnston) all the way to the line in the 110 Hurdles, taking a 0.03-second win with his 14.44, and then the 100 Dash happened.  Maybe it was the cold equalizing everyone, or maybe the wet surface affected the favorites, but the top 5 boys crossed in what appeared to be a dead tie.  Check out the super-tight finish, first from the timing camera and then from head-on:

 

After close examination, it was Jonathan Avery (Cary Academy) upsetting several better-known sprinters with the 11.00 win, a time that makes him a potential title contender in the NCISAA 3A ranks.  Unfortunately, that wasn't a omen of things to come, as there wasn't another close sprint race the rest of the day.  After the Apex boys claimed the 1600 Sprint Medley (on a strong 800 anchor by Carl Geiger) in 3:37.53, Knightdale took over in what would prove to be a mirror image of Parkland's performance.  It started with a very respectable 43.46 in the 4x100, during some of the worst weather of the day, and then the Knights proceeded to post a very strong 1:28.90 in the 4x200.  They closed out the afternoon with a 3:21.90 in the 4x400, showing that their limited early race schedule in the spring hasn't robbed them of any depth.

 

Apex Relays