Fair Haven, Essex to square off on track
|
|
Toolbox
BY Tom Haley STAFF WRITER - Published: February 5, 2010
If Mr. and Mrs. Childs had triplets instead of twins, the Fair Haven girls track team might be the favorite at Saturday's Vermont State Indoor Track & Field Championships at Norwich University.
It's that close.
"Fair Haven and Essex are dead even," Fair Haven coach Dave Heitkamp said. "It's tight.
"Essex outnumbers us. That's our biggest problem. It could go either way."
While Essex is fortified by lavish depth, the Slaters will count on some blue-chippers capable of earning first and second places like twins Morgan and Melissa Childs, Shannon Park, Alyssa Dempsey, Chelsea Murray, Megan Irons and Chelsea Montello.
The Fair Haven 4x800 relay unit of Dempsey, Park, Murray and Irons is seeded first. The Slaters could also grab important points in the other relay. Their 4x200 relay team of Jenna Charron, Murray, Montello and Park is seeded second behind Lake Region's team.
Park is seeded first in the 600-meter run, with Morgan Childs and Dempsey seeded first and third, respectively, in the 1,000. Dempsey is the defending state champion in that event. She is seeded third, but she was also the No. 3 seed last year when she won it.
The Childs twins are a success story. Both are headed to Middlebury College to compete in track and field.
"It's been all about hard work and desire for those two," Heitkamp said.
Senior Katie Polakowski figures to be a top point-getter for Essex and should do well in four events. She is the top seed in the 55-meter hurdles. She is the No. 2 seed in the 300-meter dash but the top seed is Mollie Gribbin, an independent, so Polakowski will be awarded the top points in the event if the seeds hold. That event could be pivotal in the team standings as Montello is the fourth seed.
Another event on which the meet could swing is the 1,600, where Essex's Rachel Pinto has the top time at 5:52.4 and teammate Markie Palermo is fourth at 5:56.2. But Morgan Childs is within hailing distance with a time of 5:57.80 as the No. 6 seed.
Spaulding's Catie White could have herself quite a day. She is seeded first in the long jump and second in the 55-meter dash.
Peoples Academy's Allison Scarf is the top high jumper. Just a sophomore, she has cleared 5-1.
Essex and South Burlington have strong boys teams, with Mount Anthony rating the best chance of teams from the southern part of the state.
Fair Haven beat Mount Anthony at a recent meet at Williams College, but Heitkamp feels MAU is built for success in the larger meets like this one.
Fair Haven could go 1-2 in the 55-meter hurdles, where David Atkins (8.01) and Joe Taggart (8.53) have the top two times. Taggart is nursing a sprained ankle and hoping to be ready.
Essex's Michael DiMambro has the top time in the 55-meter dash with his 6.60, but close behind are South Burlington's Kyle Chu (6.74) and Mount Anthony's Zach Bartlett (6.81).
The Mount Anthony 4x200 relay team is one to watch. They come in as the favorite in the event with Bartlett, Stephen Silber, Josh Rosse and Jason Devens having recorded a time of 1:33.7.
South Burlington's Jagger Kemp enters the 600 with the top time of 1:29.10, but this could be a good event for Mount Anthony as Rosse (1:30.30) and James Caswell (1:30.40) are 3-4.
Rutland's James Hughes is the top performer in the 1,000 meters with his time of 2:43.90.
Heitkamp's son Michael holds the state record in the high jump at 6-6. Dave believes he could that record fall on this day. Silber has cleared 6-4 and could eclipse the record if everything comes together for him.
"Technically he is a very good jumper," Heitkamp said of Silber. "It's time. That's what records are for."
Heitkamp's record has stood since 1999.
Hartford has a reputation for turning out elite shot putters. The Hurricanes' Jake Lottman still has the record with his throw of 55-04 in 2007 and the school also has one of the favorites this year in Jon Pornelos, who has the top throw at 44-09.
The Burlington boys are the defending champions.
But the top storyline going into the meet is what everyone believes will be the battle between the Slaters and Hornets in the girls competition.
"It's going to be a fight between us and Essex," Irons said. "They have won it the last three years and we want to go out in a big way as seniors. We want to take it."
Morgan Childs said individuals have sacrificed top events at recent meets to compete in other areas to make the team stronger.
"That's huge. It shows how bad we want this," she said.
There's no doubt the Slaters have been pointing toward this meet all season.
"All year you go to meets, but this is the only one that matters," Melissa Childs said.
"We go to meets all year against New York and New Hampshire teams. But you're more nervous for this meet, even though there might be less competition," Morgan Childs said.
The Slaters know the Hornets are strong and represent their chief competition, but they don't know a lot about them.
"We go to different meets all season," Melissa Childs said.
"We haven't run our full team against their full team," Dempsey said.
Heitkamp is in his 19th season of coaching indoor track and has seen exponential growth in the sport.
"Now, we have over 600 kids competing from more than 30 schools," he said. "It has been fun to watch it grow."
He believes the formation of the Vermont Indoor Track Association, and the fact that the University of Vermont and Norwich University have been cooperative in enabling the schools to schedule a series of meets, has made indoor track a viable sport.
This year's meet will be run on a track that has been recently resurfaced and is very fast.
"The surface is fantastic," Morgan Childs said. "I think it will make for some fast times."
"They (Norwich officials) called me to ask me what markings I wanted on it," Heitkamp said. "I took that to mean we have a very good partnership."
Now, this refurbished venue will showcase the state's top athletes and much of the scoreboard watching figures to involve the Essex and Fair Haven girls teams.
"Last year, a lot of us were sick or injured. Now, we have all our guns loaded," Morgan Childs said.
Sounds like one heck of a shootout between talented teams that could go down to the final event.
tom.haley@rutlandherald.com
16