By Christopher Hunt
all pics by wingedfootfotos.com and Tim Fulton/ArmoryTrack.com
Charlene Lipsey didn’t wait for anyone to set the pace for her. She’s grown out of that. The Hempstead senior led wire-to-wire and wasted no time announcing herself as one of the top half-milers in the country Saturday.
Lipsey won the invitational 800 meters at the Marine Corps Holiday Classic in 2:09.47, the fastest time in the country so far this season and a meet record. Her advantage was never in danger and she still put on the afterburners in the last 200 meters. Lipsey said she’s stronger than ever right now.
“I think that was the reason I ran cross country,” she said. “I think cross country really gave me a heart.”
Like most runners who move up to racing 800 meters, cross country became a necessary evil, one that Lipsey reluctantly agreed to. But she showed enough talent to qualify for the state meet. But running her first full cross country season this fall is what gave Lipsey, who is considering Penn State, LSU, South Carolina and Texas A&M, the confidence to be more aggressive runner this season.
“That’s the style we’re trying to work on this year,” her coach Lenroy Raffington said. “She can’t wait for anybody this year.”
Lipsey even fell off pace in the third lap after a 62-second first 400 meters that proved she had more in the tank. She didn’t run under 2:10 last indoor season until her third-place finish at the National Scholastic Indoor Championships (2:09.15). Emily Menges of Garden City finished second in 2:14.82. Lipsey also anchored the winning sprint medley relay that finished in 4:05.28 with Donalee Hyton, who led off the relay in 56.7, Velma Morant and Asheka Gibson.
Lipsey’s performance was the most dominant of the day while other provided more drama. Swenson of Philadelphia, Pa. was leading through almost full legs of the 4x200. But Medgar Evers erased the gap just before the last baton exchange. Rachel Loeke did the damage and Nyanka Moise ran a sizzling anchor leg to hold off Swenson for the win. Janice Jackson, Shakele Seaton, Loeke and Moise produced a nation-leading time of 1:42.22.
“We just dug really deep,” Loeke said. “I knew we all have the ability we just had to put all the parts together to make a whole.”
Medgar Evers struggled in the preliminary heats running 1:45.77, the fourth-fastest qualifying time headed into the final. Swenson had the fastest time at 1:44.31. But the Medgar Evers girls didn’t have an intricate plan to come back to win the final.
“Don’t drop the baton,” Moise said was the message before the final. “That’s all we had to do and we knew we’d have a chance to win.”
North Shore’s Brianna Welch (3:33.0), Emily Osman (65.7), Charlotte Manogue (2:27.6) and Samantha Nadel (5:07.9) won the girls invitational distance medley relay in 12:14.40. Welch, who opted to run the DMR with her team instead of racing in the invitational 800, gave North Shore the led on the first leg and stayed in front until Dominque Claudio of St. John Villa passed her on the second lap of the 1600-meter anchor leg.
“I was kind of surprised,” Nadel said. “I knew coming in that they were close to us so I figured that if she came up on me that I would just go with her. Then went I felt good I would just go.”
That’s exactly what she did. Nadel took over with two laps left and put the race away with 250 left.
“I’m really excited,” said the freshman. “This is our first one together. I think as we keep doing them we’ll get better and better.”
Kellenberg was another team getting more accustomed to running together. Colleen Meenan, Kaitlin Stordeur, Kylie Pearse and Kim Mackay won the 4x800 in 9:39.03. Kerri Thompson, Shemeka Morgan, Mashanta Pitts and Antionette Cato also won the 4x400 for Boys & Girls in 4:05.29.
Reach Christopher Hunt at chunt@armorytrack.com.
