Marine Corps Girls Results

Dec 27, 2007

Hempstead’s Lipsey outkicks Brianna Welch of Bay Shore

By Christopher Hunt

    Charlene Lipsey isn’t seasoned enough to walk into the 800 meters with an intricate gameplan. She didn’t enter the invitational 800 meters with splits in her head, knowing how fast she wanted to run each lap. The Hempstead junior didn’t map out any surges and certainly didn’t have a finishing time in mind.
    Her directions were simple: Stay with Brianna Welch. That’s exactly what she did.
    Lipsey shadowed North Shore’s star sophomore for 650 meters at the Marine Corps Holiday Classic at the New Balance Armory Track and Field Center. Welch kept dialing up her speed and Lipsey, running only her second 800 ever, matched Welch step-for-step, until Lipsey broke away down the back straightaway. She never gave Welch an opportunity to recover and Lipsey won the invitational 800 meters in a personal best 2 minutes, 12.40 seconds.
    “Thank God she didn’t catch me,” Lipsey said. “I thought she was going to.”
Lipsey knew who Welch was. She was fully aware that her coach had just instructed her to match strides with one of the best half-milers in the state.
    “I was terrified,” Lipsey said. “If knew if I stayed with her -- they said she’s not a big kicker – I’d be okay. My coaches told me to go at 200 meters so that’s what I did.”
    Despite the fact that Welch seemed to be accelerating with every circuit, Lipsey never looked distressed. Her face showed comfort, her running form remained compact . Welch finished second in 2:14.27.
    “Yeah, she kept picking it up every lap and kept thinking, ‘I’m not going to catch her,’” Lipsey said. “But I kept telling myself that I would catch her.”
    Lipsey said he is primarily a 400-meter runner but after today believes that she has a future as a half-miler. “Yeah, I’m going to work on it now,” she said.”

    Warwick Valley’s performance in the championship distance medley relay was less spectacular but just as dominate. Lillian Greibesland (3:42.0), Kristen Jados (61.4), Claire Pettit (2:20.5) and Tori Pennings (5:16.8) won the event in 12:21.14. Warwick coach Rich Furst said he hoped the team would run faster but that he expect the solid performance he received. Greibesland, Pettit and Pennings all compete at the Nike Team Nationals Dec. 1.
    “We’re still like two weeks behind in our training,” Furst said. “I told the kids (after the cross country season) hide their shoes and don’t look for them for two weeks. I wanted them to rest. So now they’re getting back into it.”

Sayville’s Brittany Llobell, Alex Dranoff, Sarah Pellegrini and Jacqueline Kaste of Sayville won the varsity distance medley relay in 12:46.39, which put them sixth overall including the championship race. The Boys & Girls squad of Ashley Ward, Sharlene Issac, Antoinette Cato and Naqua Cohan won the 4x200 in 1:43.61.