Apple Blossom Invitational Review

Saturday, April 29, Winchester – Handley’s Ayla Smith may have been voted the Jim Casey Outstanding Performer award for the Apple Blossom Invitational but Natalie Baird who turned in the day’s top performance.

The Park View sophomore launched a national-leading toss in the discus throw of 148 feet, 10 inches to easily win the event and shatter her own meet record by almost 11 feet. Just two days earlier she won the event at the prestigious Penn Relays. In also taking the shot put (40-1), Baird helped lead her team to the team title. Park View finished with 72 points with Colonial Forge second at 63 and Stonebridge third with 58.

Smith, who won three events and anchored a relay third to score 31½ points, helped the Judges finish as the top Northwestern District team taking fifth with 47 points. Millbrook was close behind in sixth with 45½. Sherando took ninth (23 points) and Warren County 11^th (18) while host James Wood was 14^th in the 16-team field.

There was no question as to the star on the boys’ side. Charles Washington garnered four first-place individual finishes and helped with a relay win to score 42½ points and win the outstanding performer award on the boy’s side. His banner day led the Judges to an easy with as they scored 114. Second place Clarke County finished with 61 ½ while Colonial Forge was third at 51. Millbrook (21), Sherando (20) and James Wood (18) finished in a clump at ninth, 10^th and tied for 12^th. Warren County scored two points to finish 16^th in the 18-team field.

Washington took both horizontal jumps by just over one foot each. He leaped 21-2 ½ to win the long jump and bounded out to 42-2 ½ to take the triple. On the track he was a surprise winner in both the 100 (10.9) and the 200 (22.0) where he edged teammate Donn Booker. The pair also teamed on the 4x400 relay with Booker fighting off Colonial Forge’s anchor for the win in 3:27.6.

Alex Ball had two wins for the Judges, taking the shoe in 49-1 ½ and setting a personal best to win the discus at 155-1. Erin McWhorter picked up the other win for Handley, easily taking the 800 in 2:00.8.

Sherando’s Ryan Witt was the only other NW District winner on the day as he won the 3200 in 9:46.0, out-kicking the Clarke County tandem of Ben Veilleux (9:47.7) and Mike Leonard (9:52.1).

Two of Smith’s wins came in what have become her signature events, the hurdles. She took the 100 hurdles in 15.1 seconds and the 300 lows in 45.2. The latter was a meet record as she chopped more than a full second off the old mark of 46.3 set in 2004 and tied last year.

But Smith also picked up a win in her new event, the triple jump.  She bounded out to 33-6 ¾ to win that event by over a foot. Smith began her day by bringing home the baton in the 4x8 to land the Judges in third (10:05.0).

Millbrook’s Jillian Pollack picked up a big win and a close loss in leading the Pioneers. The junior dropped her school record in the 1,600 to 5:10.7 to win comfortably. Later she was edged out for first in the 800 but also lowered her school record, in this one down to 2:21.2. She too placed in the triple jump (4^th) and ran a leg of the 4x8.

While Sherando’s Latasha Watson didn’t pick up a win she did come close. She was second in the 100 (13.1) and tied for second in the high jump (4-10). Watson also took fourth in the long jump in leading the Warriors.

For most the meet was a welcome relief to the rainy weekends that have wreaked havoc with this season’s invitational schedule. Sunny skies with mild temperatures and a light breeze were a welcome change from recent weeks. ♣

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