November 28, 2022
Team VA/LoJo had an excellent opening to the 2022-23 indoor track competition season with great performances from the Metro All Stars Indoor Track Meet at the NB Armory in NYC. The first competition is a checkpoint for the fall training and a baseline for performances for the remainder of the season. Team VA was impressive in the first outing of the 2022-23 indoor track and field season.
Team VA was represented by 5 athletes who earned a total 5 first place finishes and all established new personal bests/records in 8 events kicking off a great start to the season at the New Balance Amory in NYC.
A. Diem (age 14-15) began his indoor season establishing an indoor personal best in the pole vault. Adrian’s performance (2.90m / 9’6”) was also a lifetime best and a 3rd place medal in his first indoor competition.
In the morning M. DeMeo (age 17-18) knocked almost .2 of a second off of his 55m time sprinting 7.12 seconds for 11th place over an impressive field. Marco, also had a strong opening on the way to 1st place finish in the long jump with an indoor performance best of 5.98m / 19’ 7.75”.
A. Flanigan began the season with an explosive competition improving her indoor pole vault best a foot to 3.65m – 11’ 11.75”. Annika’s performance is all the more impressive when considering she is coming from a short run approach.
E. McKenna (age 17-18) continued along her path to becoming one of the best HS pentathlon/heptathlon athletes in commanding fashion with wins in both the long jump and the 55mH. After a slow start in the hurdles, McKenna slowly reeled in the field before crossing the line in a 8.85 seconds. Over half a second faster than her best last season of 9.62s. Fiona’s performance in the long jump surpassed her indoor lifetime personal best with a jump of 5.08m (16’ 8”).
T. Taggert (age 9-10yrs) led off with a 8.85s performance in the 55m Dash. After stumbling out of the blocks for the first four steps, Tessa stayed focused on the phases of her sprint and patiently executed the remainder of her race. Tessa would reel in the athletes in her heat while finishing first in her heat.
The 55m sprint was only a warmup for Tessa who returned to the track for a battle in the 400m dash. While dominating the field throughout the first lap, the race was obviously between two sprinters. As they came down the back stretch for the final lap Tessa ran a great strategic race and her competitor illegally and deliberately pushed Tessa off the track. Tessa would continue to a 2nd place finish to establish a strong indoor personal record of 67.07 secs. The race was protested but denied because there was not available footage to timely review the incident.
Tessa took vengeance in the 200m besting the field by almost 2 seconds while establishing an indoor record of 30.19s.
Team VA’s next competitive outing will be December 11th at the VA Beach Oceanfront Youth Invitational in VA Beach, VA.
Live Results Link: https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/meet/477842/results