Mott and Rendos break records
By Christopher Hunt
WHITE PLAINS -- They figured they would have to answer questions about what could have happen or would have happened. They knew there would be what if’s. But the fact remained. New Rochelle won the Section 1 Class A championship at White Plains High School Friday night. No matter who was or wasn’t competing.
New Rochelle ran away with the meet, scoring 149 points in front of Suffern’s 77 and North Rockland, which finished third with 76. The meet intended to be a showdown between Suffern and New Rochelle, but Suffern’s Jen and Janelle Clayton couldn’t participate in the meet since they attended their brother’s college graduation.
“I don’t care who was here,” New Rochelle’s Elizabeth Mott said. “I think we would have won anyway. We worked really hard. We’ve been working really hard. A lot of people really stepped up today. People on our team ran faster than they ever have, jumped farther than they ever have, threw farther than they ever have.”
Mott, who was staggering by the end of the meet, accounted for 36 points. But she started the afternoon by breaking the Section 1 record in the 400 meters, winning in 54.0 seconds, topping a mark of 54.9 set by Misty Scott of Suffern in 1999. Then she won the 400 hurdles in 61.1 then edged Mount Vernon’s Sasha Richards at the tape to win the 200 in a personal-best 24.1. The North Carolina-bound senior also anchored New Rochelle’s third-place 4x100 relay.
“I just wanted to break the record,” Mott said following the 400. “I wasn’t trying to run 52 or 53. This is the only 400 I’ve run this season and probably the only one I will run. I wanted to make it worth my while.”
Clarkstown South’s Lori Rendos also set a section record in the pole vault in 11 feet, 2 inches, breaking a record of 11-1 1/4 set by Rachel Cassata of Somers in 2001.
Suffern’s Jen Clayton scored 40 points at the Rockland County meet last week, winning the 100, 200, long and triple jump, all with performances that ranked in the top three in the state at the time. Her sister Janelle, is one of the top high jumpers and 400 hurdlers in the section as well. Their absence changed the complexion of the meet.
“For what we put out there, we had a good meet,” Suffern coach Jeff Dempsey said. “We did well for what we put out there but we’re not going to abuse kids for something that’s out of reach.”
That meant that Shelby Greany, ran the 2,000-meter steeplechase and the 1,500 – events that she won – as well as the 4x800 relay instead going for wins in the 800 and 3,000 like she did at the county meet. It meant that Dempsey sat an ailing Tamikah Montama out of the meet completely, when she may have been able to contribute.
“I said to Cap (New Rochelle coach Andy Capellan) years ago before one of these meets, ‘Let’s have some fun today.’ So every year Cap comes in here and says, ‘We gonna have some fun,’” Dempsey said. “It’s always more fun when all your pieces are here.”
Capellan agreed that he would rather that everyone enjoyed their full complement of athletes but conceded that “a win is a win,” and with or without the Clayton sisters present, his team produced its best meet of the season.
Junior Tameekia Cooper set personal bests in the 100 hurdles, winning in 14.9 then won the long jump in 17-4 1/2, a full foot farther than her previous best.
“It’s the first time I’ve been in a meet without being the pentathlon,” Cooper said. “I really had a chance to focus on each event. I had no mercy on them.”
Cooper enjoyed a career day knowing that she would only compete in three events, instead of the usual five and despite the pain in her left knee underneath the brace she’s been wearing all season, Cooper was better than she’d ever been.
“I didn’t even into the pain today and it hurt,” she said.
New Rochelle also scored big in the shot put, taking four of the top six places, led by Charlotte Pope’s 36-1 1/4 toss. They also took second and fourth in the triple jump. Aisha Chisholm finished second in 36-9 3/4 and Christina Hamilton set a personal best in 36-6 1/4 for fourth.
“You feel bad that you’re winning it under these circumstances but anytime you win a sectional title you’re happy about it,” Capellan said. “I think we would have given (Suffern) a run for their money either way.
Reach Christopher Hunt t at chunt@armorytrack.com.