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Recap of Eastern States 2/24/14 - DyeStat

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DyeStat.com   Feb 25th 2014, 7:54am
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Fastest boys 400 produces US#1, 2 and 3

 

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor


NEW YORK -- Eastern States is a big track meet with a long history and this year it fell five days before the New Jersey Meet of Champions and the NYSPHSAA Championships. So it was a chance to get a last good workout in, and a chance to take stab at a different event, or to boost a seed time for nationals, or to gain a little more confidence.


And many others in the New York City area stayed away for the perfectly good reason that the state meet is in five days.


Plenty of sensational performers came to The Armory on Monday and weighed in with many sensational performances. (743 DyeStat Elite marks is a huge number).


But the Wow moment came in the boys 400 meters. Zyaire Clemes of Trenton Central NJ, big and powerful and committed to Florida State for track, tore around two laps and in the final strides had two challengers right behind him. It was Clemes crossing the finish line in US#1 47.13 seconds. Taylor McLaughlin, the anchor of Union Catholic's 4x400 relay team, scored a big PR with 47.30 and Rai Benjamin of Mt. Vernon NY got an even bigger PR with 47.31.


"My coach told me to race the first 300 and then hold the last 100," Clemes said. "I feel like I could have gone way faster."


McLaughlin admitted thining his coach was crazy for suggesting he was in 47.5 shape, and when he saw 47.30 go on the board he howled with excitement.


"That time was just ridiculous," said McLaughlin, who was .03 seconds shy of Clemes' New Jersey junior class record set in 2013. "I never thought I'd run a time like that."


McLauglin had never raced Clemes before Monday and was excited to have the chance to go head-to-head before their meeting on Saturday at "The Bubble" in Toms River.


"I just wanted to race him once before Meet of Champs to see how he runs, and I was able to get pretty close which surprised me," McLaughlin said.


Benjamin had already turned in strong 300s this season (34.04, 34.06, 34.11, etc.) and was primed for shot at the longer distance despite an indoor PR of 49.97.


"My first instinct was to go with (Clemes) until we get to the turn and just go from there," the junior said. "(The time) makes me feel good. I'll be aiming for 46 outdoors."


There was lots of notable stuff that happened Monday. Here's a rundown:


- Keturah Orji of Mount Olive NJ broke meet records in the triple jump 43-11.50 and long jump 20-8. Those marks are virtually indentical to her season's best performances. She said that her second phase was holding her back from a bigger mark in the triple jump. And she was happy to be consistently over 20 feet in the long jump despite the lengthy competition that stretched four hours from triple jump to long jump.


- Olivia Baker of Columbia NJ helped gain yet another US#1 in a relay. This time Columbia ran 9:05.40 in the 4x800 meters. Baker split 2:13 and now Columbia is US#1 in the 4x2, 4x4 and 4x8. Then, for good measure, she ran her indoor best 200 in 24.53.


- Symone Darius, sophomore from New Rochelle NY, was in the 200 meters heat that followed Baker and she went even faster -- US#2 24.02.


- Zola Golden, a junior at Arlington NY and a Section I rival of Darius, concentrated on the 400 meters and ran US#2 54.40. She also ran three rounds of the 55 meters and finished fourth in 7.18.


- Benjamin Bonhurst of Smithtown West NY backed up last weekend's big 65-footer by coming up with a very strong 64-7 to win a competition that featured six of the top 15 throwers in the country. Bonhurst was more than two feet clear of second-place finisher Nick Pulli of West Deptford, who threw 62-5.


- Todd Uckermark of Warwick Valley won the pole vault at 16 feet and had a go at 16-6 before bowing out. He's still tinkering with choosing the right pole to break the New York state record and he'll get another chance on Saturday at Cornell for the state meet. And he's going to go with the biggest pole (15-7) that he's got. The first time he vaulted with it, "it stood me up like a prom date," he said.


- Mount St. Dominic NJ got a big anchor leg from Amanda Corbosiero (4:56.7) to lead her team past Freehold Township NJ and to a US#1 in the distance medley relay with 11:56.08. Freehold, which had a big lead halfway through, finished with US#2 11:57.07.


- James Buser of Mahwah NJ stormed away from a strong field to win the 800 handily in US#4 1:53.27.


- Tristan Wilson of Delsea NJ made his season debut in the triple jump count with US#3 48-8.50 to win a competition with three jumpers over 48 feet.


- The boys DMR produced six of the top 10 times in the country this season, led by Chaminade NY's US#2 10:14.02.


- Torie Robinson of Winslow Township ran the fastest time in each round of the girls 55 and won it with US#5 7.00 seconds.


- In one of the closest races of the night, Yazmin Wilsonjones of Port Richmond NY edged Erin Jaskot of Tappan Zee in the 800, 2:13.52 to 2:13.55.


- In the mile, Maddy Berkson of Classical RI pushed herself through eight laps virtually alone in US# 8 4:50.11. Berkson won Rhode Island state titles in the 1,000, 1,500 and 3,000 and wanted to run a fast mile to secure a good spot at New Balance Nationals Indoor in three weeks.


- Bella Burda of Arlington, who has run more laps at The Armory than almost anyone in 2014, ran away from Mackenzie Barry to win the two-mile in 10:36.63 -- fastest for that distance in the country this year. (But 17 seconds slower than US#1 in the 3,200).


- Kate Gulbrandsen of Lawrenceville NJ cleared US#3 5-8 in the high jump.



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