Thomas (Calif.) wins gold in LJ, TJ and hurdles
By Christopher Hunt
Boys & Girls senior Nadonnia Rodriques crossed the finish and threw her hands in the air, pumped her first and covered the emotion on her face with her hands. It sounds like standard celebration for a national championship but it was momentous for an always-stoic Rodriques.
“I was happy, that was my goal,” she said. “My goal for the season was to win nationals and I’m very proud of myself.”
Rodriques (Brooklyn, N.Y.) won the 400 meters in 52.85 seconds at the National Scholastic Indoor Championships at the New Balance Armory, just a hundredth of a second off the New York State record she set at the Hall of Fame Classic Feb. 16. The resembled every other 400-meter race that Rodriques lined up for this season. She crushed the field through the first 200 meters and never let up. Rodriques went out slightly slower than her trial round Saturday, where she ran 53.22 and hit the 200 mark in 24.9. She crossed the halfway point at 25.1 Sunday but appeared much more comfortable.
“I wanted to get out strong and finish strong so I went out a little slower than I did yesterday,” she said.
Just moments after the race, Rodriques announced that she would attend the University of South Carolina. She signed the National Letter of Intent in the Stan Staplin Media Center. (see video here)
After her sizzling race, she anchored Boys & Girls’ national champion 4x200 relay that claimed victory from the second of the three-section final in 1:40.51 with Deandra Nelson, Hadassah Bruno and Megan Gillespie. She nearly left with three gold medals since Gillespie put the team out to 20-meter lead, Nelson held it but while Bruno tried to fight off a charge from Speed City and South Bay, the baton popped loose. Then Rodriques astounded the crowd by closing what looked like an insurmountable gap with a 52.5 anchor-leg split.
Speed City won in 3:49.85 with South Bay second in 3:50.16. Rodriques pulled even with both teams in the last 50 meters but couldn’t hold the pace and Boys & Girls remarkably placed third in 3:50.16.
Vashti Thomas (San Jose, Calif.) though did manage to win three goals, adding to her long jump win Saturday. Thomas won the triple jump in 41 feet, 3 1/4 inches and claimed the 60-meter hurdles in 8.42.
“Last year I got second in (both jumps) and I came here saying, ‘Oh no, that’s not going to happen again.’”
Thomas handily won the triple jump with the best performance in the country this season. But the hurdles provided more of a challenge.
“When I get in the blocks my mind just kind of goes blank,” she said. “All I knew is that Julian (Purvis of Oakland, Calif.) was right there next to me. I was thinking that I better not mess up because she’s right there on me.”
Purvis finished second in 8.49. Thomas could claim redemption after finishing second in the long and triple jump last year and fourth in the hurdles.
“It feels pretty good,” she said. “Now I can rest. This is stressful.”
The building began to buzz when Chanelle Price (Easton, Pa.) took the track for the 800. As if she didn’t already have the crowd’s attention, Price blasted through the first 400 meters in 58.0 and won in 2:05.93, her fastest time this season. The race included four runners under 2:10. Phyllis Francis of Catherine McAuley had a breakthrough race in second, finishing in 2:07.92. Charlene Lipsey of Hempstead also notched a huge personal-best in 2:08.15 for third and last year’s champ Sarah McCurdy of Bay Shore placed fourth in 2:09.41.
“I felt great up until that last 100 meters,” Price said. “I’ve really been trying to work on my arms at the end of my races and it really helped because my legs were dead.”
Price said she was aiming to run 2:02, which was partly the reason for her torrid 
pace to start the race. She hit the 600 mark in 1:30. She knew that it may have been more tactically smart to run the first half of the race slower but she looked at the race in the long term.
“Maybe if I went out in 60 I could have run a little faster,” she said. “But I have to look at the big picture. If I’m running in international competition, they are going to go out in 58-59 seconds and they are going to finish (the last 200) in 28-29 seconds. I have to get used to that. But I’m still learning. I’m still maturing and getting better.”
Cardozo also pulled off the relay double they planned this weekend. Tessa West (2:21.7), Allison Lee (2:15.9), Cody Newman (2:15.8) and Dalilah Muhammad (2:12.0) won the 4x800 relay in 9:05.60. They also won the sprint medley Friday.
A pile of runners clustered in the exchange zone blocked West from handing the baton to Lee which dropped Cardozo into sixth after the first leg. But Lee carried the team into third and Newman then closed the gap more with Warwick Valley and Westfield fighting for the lead. Once Warwick’s Tori Pennings dropped Kerry Hartman of Westfield with two laps remaining, Muhammad chopped down the advantage and latched on to Pennings’ shoulder with 250 left.
Muhammad surged with 150 remaining. Pennings tried to hold her off. The two matched strides on the final curve but Pennings started to break down and Muhammad pulled away.
“Getting back in the race was difficult,” Lee said. “You have to be smart about it. It’s all strategic. I did my best to get us back in. Cody ran great. Once Dalilah got close we knew she had it. She just has that speed. This means a lot for our program. Now we can really say we’re the best.”
Reach Christopher Hunt at chunt@armorytrack.com.