Jamestown Boys, Lafayette Girls Tops in Regional Track

By Jim McGrath Sunday, February 21, 2010

The Jamestown boys overtook New Kent on the last event of Wednesday’s Region I track meet to claim the title with a 60-56 margin. Needing to outscore the Trojans by five points in the 1600-meter relay, the Eagles claimed second for eight points while New Kent finished out of the scoring, placing ninth.

Jamestown coach Howard Townsend was pleased with his team’s persistence. “I’m very proud of how the team came together. With all the delays and cancellations, keeping the intensity high is hard,” said Townsend.

U.VA-bound Colin Mearns paced the Eagles win with a tough double victory, in the 1000 (2:30.76) and 3200 (9:54.62). New Kent’s Cory Dunn won the 300 (36.72), while the Trojan 800-relay also scored gold with a 1:35.41 win.

Grafton also scored two victories - in the 3200-meter relay (8:16.33) and Brian Gorwitz in the 1600 (4:27.53). Gorwitz is quickly emerging from the shadow cast by teammates Kyle King and David Gunnerson. Says Clipper distance coach Matt Gutridge, “He (Gorwitz) has been a quick study and has a great understanding of how to win a race. I expect Gorwitz to put himself in the race at States and I think he has as good a chance as anyone to walk away with a podium finish. He has given up lacrosse for this spring and dedicated himself to becoming an elite runner. I'm looking forward to seeing just how low he can drop his times over the next four months.”

Other region winners included the Tabb 1600-meter relay (3:35.80), while York pole vaulter Delante Glenn won his event with a vault of 11 feet even.

The Lafayette girls also faced a tough challenge from King George, but managed to hold out for a 76-70 victory. Tabb placed third with 65 points.

Sophomore sensation Heidi Peterson led the Lady Rams to a sweep of the distance events. Peterson won the 1600 (5:22.91), then came back to overtake the competition in the 1000 (3:08.56). Teammate Becky Dobosy completed the sweep with her win in the 3200 (11:57.13).

Tabb won four golds in the meet. Sprinter Kiara Porter won the 55 (7.40), while Lady Tiger teammate Julia Aymonin bested the 500 field by almost 2 seconds en route to a 1:22.24 performance. Tabb also won the 1600 (4:19.99) and 3200-meter (10:27.94) relays.

Jamestown’s Marissa Segala was the other Bay Rivers winner, taking the 300 in 43.62.

The AA state championships will be held this Saturday at the Tolsma Track Center in Lynchburg, VA. The field events will begin at 9:30 AM, while the action on the track will start at 10:00 AM with the 55-meter hurdle trials.

Team Scoring
Boys - 1) Jamestown 60, 2) New Kent 56, 3) Caroline 48 - Other Bay Rivers teams 4) Grafton 44, 6) Lafayette 37, 7) Tabb 33, 10) Warhill 22, 12) Poquoson 15, 14) York 10

Girls - 1) Lafayette 76, 2) King George 70, 3) Tabb 65 - Other Bay Rivers teams 5) Jamestown 36, 6) Grafton 30, 8) York 18, 10) Bruton 16, 12) Warhill 14, 13) New Kent 13