Brandon Jarrett clocks US season-best 2 mile
By Christopher Hunt
New Bern (N.C.) twins Anthony and Andrew Hendrix said they want to win every major relay at the indoor nationals this season – 4x200, 4x400, 4x800 and sprint medley relay. At the Pepsi National Hall of Fame Classic, they started to show that possible that goal really is.
New Bern, with Andrew Hendrix (1:56.5), Rodney Stewart (1:59.5), Banks Barnes (1:58.4) and Anthony Hendrix (1:52.4), won the 4x800 relay in 7:46.8, the fastest time in the nation this season and a North Carolina state record. Anthony Hendrix took the baton in third place while Chaminade and Kellenberg’s anchor battling in front with a 20-meter gap on Hendrix.
It looked like a two-team race until Hendrix zipped up behind them with a lap to go then switched gears. Neither team could respond.
“I just told my teammates that if you get behind don’t worry,” Anthony Hendrix said. “I was going to do my best to catch them and if I didn’t, oh well. I just had to gauge when they were getting tired and pass them on the turn. I already let them kill each other. Once you pass them on the turn it’s hard for them to come back on you.”
The invitational race was the fastest 4x800 race in the country this season. Three teams broke 7:50. Chaminade finished second in 7:47.3 and Kellenberg third in 7:47.8. The race produced the three fastest times in the country this season.
“I didn’t think it would be that close because where we’re from, nobody runs that fast,” Anthony Hendrix said. We ran 8:06 to win our state meet. It felt good to run that fast again.”
They came back at the end of the meet to win the sprint medley relay in 3:31.66, also the fastest time in the country this season. Andrew Hendrix blew the race open on the second lap of the 400-meter leadoff leg and the team only widened the advantage. The squad included Hendrix (49.6), Daishawn Styron (22.8), Fuquan Greene (21.5) and Anthony Hendrix (1:57.6).
No one dominated their race though, the way St. Benedict senior Brandon Jarrett ran away with the 2 mile. Jarrett, still coming back from an injury to his left Achilles that sidelined him for nearly two month, dropped the field after the first half mile and won in 9:05.35, a personal-best and the top time in the United States so far this season.
“Coming back, I wasn’t sure how I was going to do,” Jarrett said. “The plan from the start was just to go out pretty strong. I wanted to hit somewhere around 33’s.”
That pace was too fast for John Ross of Ptomac and Foot Locker finalist Pat Dupont, who initially tried to go with Jarrett. Ross finished second in 9:17.33, the second-fastest time in the country this season, and Dupont third in 9:30.50.
“I felt really comfortable,” Jarrett said, still wearing tape around his left ankle. “It was one of the most comfortable races I’ve ever ran. It was a good reminder of where I am.”
The Armory fell silent when South East Raleigh junior Wayne Davis took the starting line for the 55 hurdles. The crowd, like Davis, were waiting for Davis to break the national record that he threatened last week. Davis won, as expected. But finished in 7.17, an Armory record and meet record.
However, Davis was disappointed with the result.
“I focused more on racing,” he said. “I hit a lot of hurdles. I just wasn’t thinking. Normally I think about what I’m doing during the race. I guess I just lost focus.”
It was likely Davis’ last chance to break the national record after running 7.08 at the Virginia Tech Invitational Jan. 25. The record is 7.07 run by Johnny Dutch of Clayton Hill, N.C. set last year. Davis said he may look for another race to challenge the 55 hurdles record by if not, he’ll turn his sights to the 60-meter hurdles record (7.62 shared by Deworksi Odom of Overbook, Pa. in 1995, Terrance Trammell of Southwest DeKalb, Ga. in 1997 and Rickey Harris of Centreville, Va. in 2000).
Ramapo (N.Y.) came nine-hundredths of a second off the national leader in the 4x200 relay. Kevin Malivert, Nick Padilla, Chidi Ezemma and Mike Abelard won the event in 1:28.94. Westlake (Md.) ran 1:28.85 at the Marine Corps Classic at the Armory December 27.
“Today went great,” Ezemma said. “We came in today ready to run fast.”
Khaliff Featherstone of Simon Gratz (Pa.) also ran the second-fastest time in the nation this season in the invitational 400 meters.
Featherstone broke the lead position first and never let anyone in the race. He finished in 48.29.
“It was simple today,” he said. “I executed.”
Reach Christopher Hunt at chunt@armorytrack.com.
All Photos by Tim Fulton