Region rivalries renewed
By Jason Mackey
As Lake Braddock's Melanie Akwule and Hayfield's Jasmine Jones turned the final corner in the 300-meter hurdles during last week's Northern Region track and field championships, public address announcer Pearl Watts remarked how it was of little surprise that these two were once again joined at the hip.Akwule won the 100 hurdles at the Patriot District meet on May 24-25 and Jones answered by taking the 300. After Jones reclaimed her title in the 100 hurdles (14.49 seconds) earlier at the region meet, the Hayfield senior exploded down the stretch for her second region title of the evening, clocking a speedy 44.11 in the 300.
Akwule again took second, later admitting that her jumping events had trumped her hurdling for the day. Not to be too disappointed, though, as Akwule and Co. continued another recurring theme in the world of Northern Region track and field: The Lake Braddock girls team won its fourth consecutive region title by holding off Centreville, 101-56.5.
“It's good to know that in the 300 hurdles it wasn't about me having to score a certain amount of points, and that we had a good cushion because of all the good teamwork that we've put in,” said Akwule, who earlier had set a personal record in the triple jump with her second-place mark of 38 feet, 10.5 inches.
Added Jones, “I like [the rivalry] because I push her and she pushes me. I like competition instead of just running by yourself and knowing that you're always going to win. When her and I are running, you never know what's going to happen.”
Akwule, who'll continue her career at Georgia Tech next spring, scored 30 (individual) points and participated in five events, as she even ran the anchor leg on Lake Braddock's first-place 4x100 relay team, which consisted of seniors Zoie Seay, Stephanie Lacasse and Chantal Ingram.
Not to be outdone by Akwule, Lake Braddock sophomore Liana Epstein edged perennial miler Hiruni Wijayaratne from Herndon in the girls 1,600. Epstein's time of 4:57.46 made her one of two or three Lake Braddock girls to run a sub-five-minute mile since 1996.
“[Epstein] ran such a good race,” said Lake Braddock coach Mike Mangan. “Hiruni did so much hard work in the middle to keep that pace moving, and Liana just hung on until she got to where she felt she could sprint from there to the finish line. Luckily for us it worked out.”
To claim its second relay title of the meet, Lake Braddock's 4x800 team -- which consisted of Lindsey Luria, Michaela Sands, Taylor Moore and Epstein -- finished with a time of 9:26.83.
Westfield's Tasia Potasinski later joined Epstein in the record-setting department. Though it was only two seconds faster than her own personal record, Potasinski led throughout the 800, finishing with a blistering time of 2:10.42 to set a new meet record.
Potasinski later delivered a head-turning performance in the girls 4x400 relay. Running the relay's anchor leg, Potasinski outkicked Woodson's Jaime Pritchard down the stretch as Westfield's group won by .01 seconds.
“I wasn't too sure if I was going to be able to catch her,” Potasinski admitted, “but with all the excitement from the crowd ... I just had to do it.”
Centreville, whose 56.5 points were buttressed by strong performances in the sprinting events, improved greatly upon its fifth-place finish from the Concorde District meet. Brittni Finch took honors in the 100 (12.37) and 200 (24.85) dashes, and teammate Jordan Grant finished first in the 400 with a time of 56.41.
The T.C. Williams boys finished third with 77.5 points to South Lakes' first-place total of 93.5. Brad Kenimer posted wins in the 1,600 (4:17.76) and 3,200 (9:26.86), while Frank Afriye won both the shot put (54-05) and discus (169-00).
Tynita Butts added two more titles to her already-full mantle. Butts jumped 5-04 to win the high jump, and the nationally-recognized Butts also won the long jump with a leap of 20-04.50.
Annandale's Emily Koppleman earned a region title in the discus throw, posting a mark of 118-08.
Westfield's David Skahn won the boys high jump with his 6-03 jump, and Chantilly's Wesley Sun took honors in the pole vault with a mark of 14-00.
The Virginia AAA state track and field championships will be held on May 30 and 31 at Todd Stadium in Newport News.