By Christopher Hunt
When Melissa Kurzdorfer let the weight go, she let out the sort of primal yell that accompanies throwing events as a matter of custom. But the scream turned from a release of tension to a signal of terror while Lancaster’s star thrower started to tip out the throwing circle.
By the time her coach, George Rak, made it over to the throwing cage, Kurzdorfer pointed a stern finger at the empty cage as if to scold the space for her mistake and announce that the measuring tape had gotten lucky. Next time it will have to stretch a little farther. Kurzdorfer won the junior weight throw at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational Friday night with a toss of 18.29 meters (60 feet, 0.25 inches), less than two inches off the state record mark she set last month.
“I almost had it,” Kurzdorfer said. “It was right there.”
It was Kurzdorfer’s final attempt that pained her the most. She executed every movement near perfection all the way until the release, when she admitted that the launch entranced her and she watched the weight flying out toward the 65-foot marker while she sailed out of the circle for a foul. It hurt, but just briefly. Kurzdorfer laughed about it afterward. It was already the kind of day when things go wrong. Her flight from Buffalo was canceled and after she caught a later flight, her weight didn’t make it to the airport.
She arrived at the Armory, 90 minutes before weight throw was schedule to start and instead of waiting for her weight to be delivered from the LaGuardia Airport, she borrowed one from another competitor.
“That’s why no matter what I always keep my shoes and my gloves on me,” she said. “I know I’m going to need those.”
Kurzdorfer tossed 60-2 at the Dartmouth Relays Jan. 12, which made her the fifth-best thrower in the country all-time. Cardozo also continued to run itself into the record books. With a freshman substitute, the Judges won the invitational high school 4x400 in a nation-leading 3:44.97. Lateisha Philson (56.8), Chamique Francis (55.0), Sabrina Southerland (58.2) and Ahtyana Johnson (54.8) clocked the third-fastest time in state history and making them eighth-fastest scholastic team in United States history.
The big difference came with Southerland, a freshman running for the first time with a relay that won the national championship last indoor season.
“She’s strong,” Francis said of Southerland. “She runs well under pressure. I wasn’t expecting her to buckle.”
Francis provided the cushion on the second leg. She took the baton in third and spent the entire first lap looking for an opening while Mount Vernon led the race and Medgar Evers sitting second. Francis slipped by Mount Vernon’s leg on the inside and busted open the race on the back straightaway. Medgar Evers continued its striking improvements finishing second in 3:46.44, the second-fastest time in the country.
“Putting me second was a good idea because Ahty and I are the real quarter-milers,” Francis said. “I just had to do my job. Every time I tried to pass they would keep me there. I just had to wait for an opening. As soon as I got an opportunity, I went for it.”
That’s the same thing Kevin Byrne, Jr. of Red Bank Catholic (N.J.) did. Byrne said he hoped that someone would push a fast pace which was exactly what Liverpool sophomore Zavon Watkins planned. Watkins set a blistering pace early while Byrne fell to last place on the first place. But Byrne kept moving up and by the bell lap he was drafting on Watkins’s shoulder.
“It went out fast,” Byrne said. “I was assuming that (Anthony) Kostelac (of Albermale, Va.) was in the race but he wasn’t. I knew Watkins had run 2:29 and I heard it did it solo so I knew he would go out. I was just hoping he’d come back to me.”
While Watkins began to fade slightly each lap, Byrne kept an even pace that put right behind Watkins heading into the last lap. Byrne made a hard move with 150 left and Watkins held him off until the last turn. Byrne won in 2:26.78, the best time in the country this season. Watkins bettered his own sophomore national record, finishing second in 2:27.59.
Harborfields sophomore Kelsey Margey continued her awe-inspiring debut season by winning in the junior girls 1,000 in a nation-leading 2:51.33 Margey shot out of the chase back and blew by Marielle Halle (Haddonfield, N.J.) and Molly McNamara of (Red Bank, N.J.) around the last curve.
Newburgh also enjoyed a come-from-behind win in the boys 4x400. Robert Robertson, Darius Reynolds, Fred Locklary and Randy Patterson won in 3:20.13, also the nation’s fastest time. Locklary pulled the team back into the race after a rough start with a 48.1 split on the third leg. Patterson sized up Boys & Girls and Mount Vernon’s anchor and shot off the last turn like a sling shot to grab the win. Boys & Girls finished second in 3:20.89.
“I wasn’t even thinking,” Patterson said. “I was just running. I knew I had to get them.”
Locklary said: As long as I got him close I knew he had it.”
Reach Christopher Hunt at chunt@armorytrack.com.
