LANDOVER — When River Hill’s girls lined up for the Class 3A 4×800-meter relay at the state track and field championships Friday at Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex, they were preparing to race Severna Park, Oxon Hill and a several other top contenders.
They were also racing themselves.
Laura Virmani, Alyssa Mattes, Nikita Mohan and Marella Virmani set a state meet record when they won last year’s 4×800 relay. With everyone back this spring, they started chasing their own mark.
In fact, they cut nearly three seconds off their previous record, winning Friday’s race in 9 minutes, 12.86 seconds. It was the latest in a string of dominant 4×800 performances spanning indoor and outdoor seasons over the years.
“This is six 4×8 state championships in a row,” Marella Virmani said. “I think we knew coming into this race that the stakes were high, but it gave us something more to work toward. We’ve been motivating each other a lot in practice. We worked really hard for this. This has been a goal all season, so it feels really good to have it all come together.”
“We’ve all worked really hard throughout the whole season, indoor and outdoor,” Lauren Virmani added. “We’ve all been talking about how we want to click here at states and win. And we did. It was definitely one of the best races we’ve had as a team, so that’s really exciting.”
The Hawks knew their opponents weren’t going to let them fly right by. A legacy of success comes with a target, but it was extra baggage River Hill didn’t mind running with.
“We knew that this was going to be our toughest race of the season and we wanted to defend our state championship from last season, so we knew we were going to have to work really hard this season,” Mattes said. “We’ve really pushed each other in workouts.”
Oxon Hill actually had a fairly sizeable lead two legs into the race, but Mohan made up ground on the third, passing the baton to Marella Virmani for the anchor leg while neck-and-neck with Oxon Hill. Marella raced off quickly and wasn’t challenged for most of her run.
Severna Park ended up charging to take second.
For Mohan, it’s the constant push from their coaches and her teammates that brings out the best in each runner.
“I love you guys so much. It obviously wouldn’t have been able to happen without our coaches, they’re so amazing and pushed us so much this season to get better,” she said. “Watching my teammates, they push me so much and motivate me to do so much better.”
A busy — but golden — day
Part of the logic behind a two-day track meet is it gives athletes the chance to spread out events and get rested up. However, Mervo’s Justin DeVaughn had the opposite approach, packing everything close together.
DeVaughn went from the long jump pit to the track for a preliminary hurdle race, back to the long jump pit, then over the high jump area, then back to the track for a relay leg, then back to the high jump.
Exhausted reading that? Imagine how DeVaughn felt doing it all. But he has two gold medals and a top hurdles seed to show for it.
DeVaughn engaged in a game of “Can you top this?” with teammate DeAndre Thomas. After their initial three jumps, DeVaughn held first place and Thomas sat in second. While both went to their preliminary 110 hurdles races, Parkville’s Rommel Marquez Jr. overtook Thomas for second.
Thomas’ response when he returned? Top everyone with a jump of 22 feet, 9 1/2 inches.
DeVaughn still had one jump left. He soared and landed, and knew he did something special. He just had to wait for the confirmation.
“23 feet, 1 3/4 inches,” it was announced. DeVaughn raced to the other end of the pit in celebration of his state championship.
“I just prayed up to God my last jump, not gonna lie,” DeVaughn said. “He answered my prayers, that’s all it was.”
DeVaughn says the competition with Thomas brings out the best in everyone.
“It’s good competition,” he said. “We do this at practice all the time, nothing unusual. Once we get on that track, we’re competing, we’re going hard. Especially at the state championship level, we’re trying to win everything.”
Later in the day, DeVaughn anchored the 4×200 relay that also included Thomas, Deon’ze Eldridge and Donavon Winslow. They won the 4A state title in 1:27.64.
No lead is safe against Tsedeke Jakovics
When racing Old Mill senior and Tsedeke Jakovics, it’s best to make sure there’s at least a county’s worth of room between the future Princeton Tiger and the rest of the field.
On two separate occasions Friday — once in the 4×800 relay and once individually in the 3,200 — Jakovics proved capable of overcoming any deficit with his powerful finishing kick. He led the Patriots relay team to gold to open then day, then claimed one for himself at the close of it.
“The 4×8 got out a little slow, not what we were hoping for, but the wind and conditions always can affect stuff like that,” Jakovics said. “I ran a 1:51, not my fastest but not bad at all. Back-to-back state 4×8 wins, I’m not complaining.”
Christian Rozanski, Chase Johnson and Colin Prato joined Jakovics on the 4×800 team that won the 3A state championship in 7:53.08.
After some good rest, Jakovics came back for the 3,200. He stayed around the middle of the pack for most of the race, even as Towson’s Theodore Brown started pulling away. But that special kick of Jakovics closed the distance on the final lap, eventually overtaking Brown with less than 200 meters remaining.
Catonsville’s Conrad Mlynek also closed strong and picked up second place.
“My back right leg was bugging me a little bit, so I figured I’d take it more chill, just sort of pace off and then outkick for the win.” Jakovics said. “I knew I have a pretty good kick. I was letting him go at a reasonable distance where I felt comfortable. I heard my coach screaming at the [200 meter mark]. He keeps me on track, tells me what to do.”
‘No unfinished business’
Arundel senior Kofi Duro knows this weekend is the final track meet of his high school career. He also knows it’s a change to leave everything he has on the track.
Competing in the 3A long jump, his first attempt was the second best of his career. His next was his very best.
Duro leapt 22-7 1/2, a personal record and good enough to win a state championship.
“Came out and competed, that’s what track’s all about: competition,” he said. “Seeded fourth, came in kind of the underdog, but that’s what makes it fun. It can go any way. My last few long jumps of high school ever, so I had to leave it all out there, no unfinished business.
“It only takes one jump, so you got to let it fly sometimes.
Duro setting that mark early meant there were plenty of chances for his competitors to outdo him. They all tried, and although some came close, none succeeded.
Northern-Calvert’s Derrick McCorkle was the last jumper standing between Duro and his state title. He gave a valiant effort with a jump that kept Duro nervous as it was being measured, but it ended up 3 inches short.
“The last few jumps were nerve-wracking watching everyone else jump,” Duro acknowledged. “But I’m going to clap for them. He started clapping so I’m going to get it going. It’s a competition, but I’m cool with all my competitors. That’s one thing I love about track.”
Other winners
Also in Class 3A, Milford Mill’s team of Seth Minter, Amauri Patterson, Damon Ferguson Jr. and Damari Jackson won the 4×200 in 1:28.03.
Oakland Mills had a strong first day on the girls side with Rozelyn Sarfo, Jordyn Harriston, Payton Buchanan and Janelle Codrington winning the 4×200 in 1:41.98, while Alicia Hall won the triple jump with a mark of 39-9 1/4.
In Class 4A, Woodlawn’s girls are seeking a second straight outdoor state team championship. They shared the indoor state title with Urbana. The Warriors got a win in the 4×200 relay from Jordan Christie, Destiny Coleman, Summer Lane and Anjela Fitzhugh (1:39.07).
Also, in the 100 hurdle preliminaries, Destiny Coleman’s time of 13.45 bested a 20-year-old state meet record but unfortunately won’t go into the record book because of the windy conditions on Friday.
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