Foley, Menzel, Ullom and Girls 4x100m Relay take District Titles

The Concorde District Championships is the annual goal for the Charger track team, and this year’s edition, held on May 19^th and 21^st at Westfield, demonstrated that once again, Chantilly’s squad is as talented as any other in the area. At the end of the meet, the boys earned a strong 3^rd place (80.5 pts), while the girls took fourth with 66 points.  The Charger earned 3 individual and one relay championship, while 14 team members earned  all-district honors in 28 events.

The girls team showed excellence in the sprints, distance and field events.  Leading the way for the Chargers was senior Genevieve Manley. Manley had her best career meet, taking a strong 3^rd place in both the 100m (12.35) and 200m (26.53) dashes, earning personal bests in both, while qualifying for states in the former.  She also anchored the girls 4x100m relay team to a third consecutive relay championship, teaming with juniors Tiffany Mitchell and Nina Ullom, and freshman Samantha Lull.

Ullom kept alive a solid streak of her own, winning the girls pole vault for the second year in a row.  Her winning height of 10’ 0” was a personal best, and the second best height in CHS history, behind 2006 state champion Nicole Kazuba.  Nina also placed 6^th in the 400m dash.  The other two members of the winning relay also scored individually.  Placing right behind Manley in the 100m and 200m dashes, junior Tiffany Mitchell enjoyed her best meet, with personal best times of 12.85 and 26.98 for the two sprint races.  She also added a 6^th place finish in the triple jump in 32’ 3”.  Freshman Samantha Lull  earned a tie for 3^rd place in the high jump, with a height of 6’ 0”.

The girls distance runners also added their own contributions to the scoring, led by senior captains Rachel Grochowski and Jenna Marlette.  On the first day of the meet, Grochowski and Marlette teamed with junior Hannah Strub and sophomore Elizabeth Knippler to take a very strong 3^rd place in the girls’ 4x800m relay, in a time of 9:37.96.  The time was the fastest that the Chargers have run in 14 years, and the first time that the girls 4x800m relay had placed in the  top 3 in the district since 1994. Grochowski had a solid meet in the individual events, earning All-District honors in both the 1600m (4^th-5:20.23) and 3200m (5^th-11;42.65) runs. Marlette earned her first career All-District award with a personal best 3^rd place in the 800m run, in a time of 2:28.44, in a race where 3^rd-6^th place was separated by only .29 seconds.

The boys team had expected to be challengers for the district crown, and while they came up short in the scoring, they definitely left their mark on the meet. Like the girls, their presence was made in the sprints, distance and field events.

Senior All-American Chris Foley ran strongly in his final district meet, and earned All-District honors for the 11^th time in his 12 season career.  His meet began on Wednesday night, when he anchored the boys 4x800m relay team to a strong 3^rd place finish in a seasonal best time of 8:06.92. Foley joined senior Matt Cumpian, freshman Sean McGorty and junior Mohamed Labor-Koroma in running the fastest time that CHS has recorded since 1993.  It was also the first time that both the boys and girls 4x800m relays have qualified for regionals in the same year since 1994. Foley also made solid individual contributions on Friday.  He started his day with an aggressive 4^th place in the 1600m run (4:24.59), and ended it with a final district title, his fourth in his career, in the 3200m run (9:26.44).  Ranked as the top 3200m runner in Virginia AAA, he ran with a lot of pride, despite fighting fatigue after the two-day championship meet.

Freshman Sean McGorty showed that he will be able to pick up where Foley will leave off upon graduating, earning district honors in both events as well.  McGorty earned an outstanding 5^th place in the 1600m run, with a seven second personal best in 4:26.81.  He finished his meet with a second 5^th place, running 9:58.71 in the 3200m run.

The other district title was won by senior Chris Menzel, who took the boys pole vault crown in 12’ 6”, the fourth year in a row that a Chantilly boy has done so, following Wes (2007-08) and Curtis (2009) Suns.  Menzel also had an outstanding meet in the hurdle events, taking personal best third places in the 110m hurdles (15.96) and 300m hurdles (41.57), in PR times.  Sophomore Miles Ransom also scored in the 110m hurdles for his first district medal, with his 4^th place time of 16.09, a career best.

The most versatile athlete on the team continued to be junior Mohamed Labor-Koroma, Jr., who competed in no less than six events, placing in four. In addition to running on the third place 4x800m relay, Labor-Koroma scored on Wednesday in the pole vault, tying for sixth place in 10’ 6”. He also earned places in the finals of the 400m and 200m dashes.  On Friday, he took a solid 3^rd place in the high jump, with a mark of 6’ 0”.  He ended up 4^th in the 400m dash, in 51.98, but in doing so, aggravated a season-long knee injury, which kept him out of the 200m dash finals, an event in which he had the fastest preliminary time of 22.72.

In the field events, three additional athletes scored.  Senior Rico Dutton earned a huge personal best in the shot put, throwing 46’ 7.5” for second place.  He was followed by senior Jordan Young, who took sixth place in the same event, with a mark of 40’ 8”.  Young also earned a career best 3^rd place in the discus, with a toss of 130’ 3”. The final medals won by the Chargers were a pair of sixth places,  earned in the long jump (19’ 9.5”) and triple jump (41’ 0”) by sophomore Arthur McDuffy.

The Chargers will compete next at the Northern Regional Championships, held on Thursday and Friday, May 28^th & 29^th at Lake Braddock Secondary.

Full results for the meet can be found at: http://www.chargercctrack.com/stresults.html.

Thank you, as always, to Tom Foley for his wonderful meet photos, found at: http://picasaweb.google.com/CHSrunning.

ALL DISTRICT HONORS

• Chris Foley- DISTRICT CHAMPION- 3200m Run (9:26.44); 4th Place-1600m Run (4:24.59)
• Chris Menzel-DISTRICT CHAMPION- Pole Vault (12′ 0″); 3rd Place- 110m Hurdles (15.96); 3rd Place- 300m Hurdles (41.57)
• Nina Ullom- DISTRICT CHAMPION- Pole Vault (10′ 0″); 6th Place- 400m Dash (1:01.73p/1:04.16f)
• Rico Dutton- 2nd Place- Shot Put (46′ 7.5″)
• Mohamed Labor-Koroma- 3rd Place- High Jump (6′ 0″); 4th Place- 400m Dash (51.55p/51.98f ); 6th Place (tie)- Pole Vault (10′ 0″)
• Genevieve Manley- 3rd Place- 100m Dash (12.35); 3rd Place- 200m Dash (26.53)
• Samantha Lull- 3rd Place (tie)- High Jump (4′ 9″)
• Jenna Marlette- 3rd Place- 800m Run (2:28.44)
• Jordan Young- 3rd Place- Discus (130′ 3″); 6th Place- Shot Put (40′ 8″)
• Rachel Grochowski- 4th Place- 1600m Run (5:20.23); 5th Place- 3200m Run (11:44.65)
• Tiffany Mitchell- 4th Place- 100m Dash (12.85); 4th Place- 200m Dash (26.98); 6th Place- Triple Jump (32′ 3″)
• Miles Ransom- 4th Place -110m Hurdles (16.09)
• Sean McGorty- 5th Place- 1600m Run (4:26.81); 5th Place- 3200m Run (9:58.41)
• Arthur McDuffy- 6th Place- Long Jump (19′ 9.5″); 6th Place- Triple Jump (41′ 0″)
• Girls 4x100m Relay- DISTRICT CHAMPIONS- (49.83) (Tiffany Mitchell, Samantha Lull, Nina Ullom, Genevieve Manley)
• Girls 4x800m Relay- 3rd Place- (9:37.96) (Hannah Strub, Jenna Marlette, Elizabeth Knippler, Rachel Grochowski)
• Boys 4x800m Relay- 3rd Place (8:06.92) (Matt Cumpian, Sean McGorty, Mohamed Labor-Koroma, Chris Foley)