Girl's 4A North Region Track

Posted: May 29, 2015
By ROBERT NIEDZWIECKI
The Winchester Star

PURCELLVILLE — There were probably more than a few grimaces from observers when Sherando sophomore Davina Lane came to an almost complete stop before throwing herself over the final hurdle in the 300 hurdles Thursday at Woodgrove High School.

There were nothing but smiles after she crossed the finish line though.

“I was really trying to PR today, because I was .04 away at [the conference meet],” Lane said. “My coach said to go 44.9, and I said ‘OK.’ It felt really good, even though my last hurdle was awful.”

Lane’s huge lead at the time allowed her to not only come in first by almost a full second, but her spectacular performance for about 295 of the race’s 300 meters resulted in Lane breaking her own school record that she set last year by 1.05 seconds with a time of 44.59.

Lane — the only individual winner among local athletes at the 4A North Region meet Thursday — said it’s actually normal for her to make mistakes late in her races. But Lane — who won the 300 hurdles at last year’s 4A North Region meet — once again demonstrated the speed and the ability that’s the envy of most of the hurdlers in the state to emerge victorious.

“I normally mess up on the last three hurdles, and I only messed up on the last hurdle this time, so this feels good,” Lane said. “[With my time], it feels good to know that I’m improving and that I’m not going downhill. I was really scared of that [after] freshman year, because I had such a good year, and I thought I wouldn’t be able to beat those marks again.”

Instead, Lane just continues to top herself. She broke her own school record in the 100 hurdles last week, and she topped it again Thursday with a time of 15.14 that gave her second place. Lane also recorded an impressive 25.95 in the 200 to take second, just 0.31 off her personal-best that she set last week.

As for local teams, Conference 21 champion James Wood fared the best Thursday by tying for sixth with 36 points, 43 behind champion E.C. Glass (79) and 18.3 behind runner-up Jefferson Forest. Sherando took ninth with 34 points, Millbrook tied for 14th with 23, and Handley placed 20th with 11.

For James Wood, freshman Rene Rosso led the way. She placed second in the triple jump (35 feet, 4 1/2 inches), fourth in the 300 hurdles (47.93) and fifth in the 100 hurdles (15.94).

She will compete in four events at the Group 4A state track and field meet on June 5 and 6 at Harrisonburg High School. (Rosso has also qualified in the high jump.) The top six individuals and relays from Thursday as well as those who have reached state-qualifying marks and times advance to that meet.

Rosso said Thursday’s intense heat made it difficult to perform at her best — she spent a lot of time waiting in the sun before she could compete — but she still had personal bests in both her hurdles events.

“I’m happy I’m going [to states] for four events,” she said. “I really wanted to go there in both hurdles [events].”

James Wood coach Matt Stegmaier said he continues to be amazed by how well Rosso handles the big stage of the postseason.

“It’s impressive how she’s coming along as a freshman, hanging around with these older kids,” Stegmaier said. “It’s pretty outstanding for a freshman to qualify for states in four events.”

Stegmaier was also impressed with his 4x100 team that once again dropped its school-record time. On Thursday, Princess Sales, Becca Ferrulli, Jamie Marcy and Kara Norman recorded a 50.75 to place fifth.

Other top performances for the Colonels came from Grace Greene (third in the shot put, 34-11, and fifth in the discus, 108-8) and Sarah Johnson (sixth in the discus, 108-2).

For Sherando, Ania Summers (sixth in the 100, 13.05), and Paige Conner (fourth in the 3,200, 12:00.15) also stood out.

Lane was not the only local runner to set a school record in the 300 hurdles. Millbrook senior McKenzie Schrank dropped seven-tenths of a second off her personal best by running a 45.54 to place second. That time eclipsed the 46.09 ran by Schavon Springer (formerly Hinds) at Millbrook in 2009.

A week ago, Schrank ran and won the 400 at the Conference 21 meet, which took away some of her energy for the 300 hurdles. With more time to rest, she showed Thursday she’s ready to earn another state medal after placing fifth in Group 4A last year.

“I think I can still improve on my time, but for today, I don’t think I could have done anything else better,” Schrank said. “My goal is to improve by at least one place at states, because I’ve done that every year.”

Schrank will also compete in the 100 hurdles at states. She finished seventh at the Group 4A state meet last year, and took sixth in 16.04 in the 100 hurdles Thursday.

Millbrook coach Kevin Shirk was happy for Schrank because of her school record. But understandably, the thing that stood out the most to him was the performance of junior Nadia Dahimene, who placed fifth in the 3,200 in a time of 12:02.60 to qualify for the state meet.

Dahimene was The Winchester Star’s Cross Country Runner of the Year as a sophomore, and she placed fifth in the state in the 3,200 in the spring of 2014. But last summer she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, which forced her to sit out the cross country and indoor track seasons while she received treatment, a time span of almost seven months.

Dahimene was deemed healthy enough to resume running by doctors in February, but she struggled mightily at first to regain her form. Dahimene was the area’s fastest in the 1,600 (5:15.65) and 3,200 (11:21.52) last year, and she started out with times of 13 minutes in the 3,200 and 6:17 in the 1,600 this year.

“It was definitely very difficult,” said Dahimene, whose bests this spring are 11:55 in the 3,200 and 5:31 in the 1,600. “People that I used to compete against were annihilating me. I’ve just been slowly working up, so I’m really proud of my progress, and I’m really happy that I qualified for states.

“I wasn’t sure if I could do it while I was running it, but I just was like, ‘I’m going to try and do my best and see if I place.’”

Dahimene had qualified for states in the 4x800 earlier this season, but seeing her do so individually was extra special for Shirk.

“She’s been through so much,” Shirk said. “All season I hoped that maybe she could make it to states. Doing it today with these hot conditions, it really meant a lot to see her tough it out.”

Lindsay Lockhart (fourth in the discus, 111-3) and Kelley Wyatt (state mark of 106-7 in the discus for seventh) also led Millbrook.

Handley’s top performances came from Angelica Robinson (third in the high jump, 5-1) and Alysandra Worrell (fourth in the 100, 12.93).

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