Boy's ABI Review

April 30, 2012
By Robert Niedzwiecki

WINCHESTER — If someone is going to deny Derek Dowrey about the only honor missing from his decorated athletic career, they’re going to have to earn it.

The Handley senior recorded a top mark of 53 feet — just three inches off his 2011 season-best mark of 53-3 that earned him second at the Group AA state meet — to highlight local boys’ performances at the 44th annual H. Brian Landes Apple Blossom Track & Field Invitational Saturday at James Wood High School’s Jerry L. Kelican Stadium.

Loudoun County won the 16-team boys’ meet with 87 points, 33 more than runner-up Manassas Park. Sherando (three event wins) was fifth with 45 points, James Wood (one) was sixth with 34, Handley (one) was 10th with 26, Millbrook (one) was 12th with 16, and Clarke County did not score.

Dowrey, a Penn State football recruit and multiple all-state selection, has been to two state semifinals in football and a state quarterfinal in basketball.

Track and field is his last chance to win a state title, and performances like Saturday’s will give him, well, a shot. At last year’s ABI meet, Dowrey putted 50-7 for a season-best, and that was with the ABI a week later on the schedule than it was this year.

“Last year, I feel like if I had another week or two [after the state meet], I’d have picked up maybe even another foot, I don’t know,” Dowrey said. “But that’s kind of where I am now. I’m starting to increase my throws.

“It sometimes takes me a little while to get [my technique] back in between seasons. But now I’m finally caught up to where I was. There’s still things I need to work on, and I’m going to be in practice working on it. Hopefully I’ll be ready for postseason stuff.”

Dowrey, who hit a season-best at the ABI for the fourth straight year, said it definitely feels good to be where he is at this point in the season.

“I like that I’m doing this earlier,” said Dowrey, who also placed fourth in the discus (132-1) Saturday. “Last year I started peaking at the very end, and I couldn’t finish peaking, I think. But now I have enough time that I can PR, get higher, and be able to throw my best at states.”

Though Sherando was dominant in winning last week’s Handley Invitational, the Warriors were more focused on trying to get state-qualifying times Saturday, particularly in the 4x400 and 4x800.

Though Sherando won both events, it couldn’t quite reach its desired times — boys 4x400 runners had the misfortune of being the only athletes forced to compete in the rain in the afternoon. Devon Newman, Ben Hatton, Chris Smith and Seth Chewey won that event in 3:30.98, and the 4x800 team of Joel McAuliffe, Newman, Smith and Chewey won in 8:21.30.

Smith also won the high jump with a mark of 6-4, six inches better than the rest of the field.

James Wood’s Anthony Ingle was one of those who tied for second behind Smith in the high jump at 5-10, and Ingle also added a victory in the triple jump with a mark of 42-2, more than two feet better than anyone else.

Ingle has leapt as far as 45-0 ¼ this season, but he’s more concerned with scoring points for his team than the distance he jumps.

“I just try to do my best out here,” Ingle said. “I do it for the team. They motivate me to do better at practice. They always tell me to push further.”

James Wood coach Matt Stegmaier thinks Ingle can go far — and high — in the jumps. Stegmaier and Sherando coach Tom Grim said the jumping pits at James Wood tend not to produce the best marks, but Stegmaier thought Ingle had an encouraging day, particularly since the senior doesn’t have much experience in the high jump.

“He just has some major ups,” Stegmaier said. “We’ve just got to work on his technique, and the sky’s the limit for him.

“He had a good long jump, but he scratched on it, so he could have scored some points in all three jumps today. And we’re hoping he gets even bigger in the triple jump and breaks that 45-footer he hit.”

James Wood’s efforts Saturday’s were hindered Saturday because middle distance runner Cody Wright suffered an asthma attack and couldn’t run the 400 and 800, and sprinter John Simms still isn’t ready to return from the hamstring injury that’s kept him out all season.

“Out of the kids that competed, we did pretty good,” Stegmaier said.

Millbrook’s Justin Neff continued his remarkable season, achieving a season-best throw of 152-10 to win the discus by almost nine feet. Just one person surpassed that mark at last year’s state meet.

While competing for Sherando last year, Neff’s best throw was 141-9, but studying video in the offseason has worked wonders. He started the season throwing 141, and he’s been steadily progressing since.

“I was watching a bunch of youtube and stuff like that, just trying to perfect my spin, videotaping myself, seeing what I can change,” he said. “My goal is to get 160 by the end of this year. I’d like to win states, but I heard there’s a few others out there who are throwing pretty far. But I like the challenge.”

Clarke County was led by Chris Collins, who took seventh in the 300 hurdles in 43.15.

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