By Christopher Hunt
RANDALLS ISLAND -- She finished her race, jogged over to her mom and her Roslyn coach Vera Trenchfield, red-faced by the cold and barely out of breath. She clapped her hands together and spoke easily.
“That felt pretty good,” Emily Lipari said. “I think I’m ready for Penn.”
The Roslyn senior coasted to a meet record in the 3,000 meters at the New York Relays Friday in 9:46.74, which is also a facility record at Ichan Stadium and the fastest time in the country this season. Lipari clipped off consistent 79-second laps before closing in 70 on the bell lap. She ran as if no one else was on the track.
“I really just wanted to come in and run under 9:50,” she said. “That was my goal. Last year, I came in here and ran 10:17 and I don’t really think I was ready for Penn. At Penn, I’m racing Chelsey (Sveinsson of Greenhill, Tx.) and (Aisling) Cuffe. I have to be ready to get in the mix with them.”
Villanova-bound Lipari will compete in the girls 3,000 at the Penn Relays next Thursday with Sveinsson, last year’s champ, and Cornwall’s Cuffe, who proved herself among elite national distance runners this year. Lipari herself is coming off of a stellar indoor campaign, where she set the state indoor record in the mile on her way to winning the mile at Nike Indoor Nationals. Now she hopes finally have a positive experience at Penn Relays. She finished a disappointing fifth last year.
“I’m hoping I can change that this year,” she said. “I’m not even going to say I’m going in there to win but I definitely want to be top three.”
Lipari is entered in Saturday’s invitational 800 meters but will not compete.
Newburgh’s Dortine Jacobs also became the first girl in the country to break 60 seconds for the 400 hurdles this season. The senior won the event for the second time in her high school career. This time she finished in 59.60, a personal best and the best in the country this season. Brentwood’s Donna Jeanty finished second in 60.60 and Columbus senior Whitney Fountain, who broke the 55, 60 and 200 state indoor records this past winter, finished third in 60.73.
Jacobs first won the event as a sophomore two years ago. Last year her former teammate Danielle McHolder won while Jacobs focused on the open 400. Jacobs had never broken 60 seconds before.
“I saw the clock when I was coming down,” she said. “I saw when it said 58. I was just thinking, ‘I’m tired.’”
Jacobs also dropped a 56.8 leadoff split on Newburgh’s winning sprint medley relay. The team finished in 4:17.17.
Devon Carter of Washington Township won the boys 400 hurdles in 54.27, the leading time in New Jersey this season and the fourth-fastest time in the country. Carter called former teammate Tim Carey, who set the meet record at 54.08 last year, and told him that he planned to replace his name in the record book but just missed the time.
“I wanted to come in and break that record,” Carter said. “We did a little talking but it’s all fun.”
The 400 hurdles is still a relatively new event for Carter, who gave a oral commitment to the University of North Carolina last week. Carter is primarily a quarter-miler.
“I felt pretty good today,” he said. “I’m getting more comfortable. I could get used to this.”
St. Joseph Hill’s Amanda Spoto claimed the girls invitiational discus, tossing 119 feet.
“I think I could have thrown better,” she said. “I’m been working out with the heavier discus and I think my timing is just off. I was looking to throw at least 125 today. But it’ll come.”
Mount Vernon’s Kaydon Davis won the boys invitational discus, throwing 141-3. Eddie Owen’s of Packer-Collegiate endured the closest finish of the afternoon. He edged out a charging Anthony Dentino of Washington Township. Dentino surged hard to pass Owens on the home stretch and nearly surprised him. But Owens recovered to win in 9:27.70, just three-hundredths of a second ahead of Dentino.
“I thought I had it coming into the home stretch,” Owens said. “I didn’t really feel him there and I slowed up with about 10 meters to go and it made the race a lot closer than I wanted.”
Chamique Francis of Cardozo will be the top qualifier is Saturday’s invitational girls 200. She finished her trial heat in 24.44. Fountain, although listed in the 200, did not race, which squashed what would have been a dramatic final. Francis’s teammate Ahtyana Johnson ran 25.01 in the trials. Snyder’s Zamir Thomas will be the top qualifier in the 100 and 200, having run 10.91 and 21.70, respectively.
John Thomas of Sheepshead Bay, the state leader (21.49), ran a relaxed 22.21 to advance in the 200.
Reach Christopher Hunt at chunt@armorytrack.com.
