Stars Shine at Burdette Classic

By Marcus Wright 

Highlights

Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA - The Indoor Track season is fully
underway, and athletes around the country are beginning their quests to qualify and prepare for championship meets.  Many athletes got the chance to do so at the 5^th annual Robert J. Burdette Classic at Lehigh University this past Friday.  The event was part invitational and part open meet, and featured athletes from the greater Philadelphia area and beyond.

On the girls side, Paul Robeson led the way with 4 first place winners.  This included Katurah Hayman in the 400 meter dash (1:01.24), and dominance in the relays with a first place finish in the 4X200 (1:48:21), 4X400 (4:05.68) and Distance Medley (13:18.23).   Methacton had 3 first place finishes, which included Ryann Krais in the 200 meters (25.68) and 60 meter hurdles (8.68), and Betsy Dempsey in the High Jump (5-2). 

 Another highlight on the girls’ side included the great speed shown by Swenson Arts & Technology’s Shanae Bailey, who won the 60 meter dash with a time of 7.73.  

 For the boys, the first place finishes were more evenly distributed, and four teams had two each.  Wissahicken’s Nick Crits finished first in the mile with a time of 4:29.86, and Folarin Ijelu won the Triple Jump with a jump of 46-2 ½ .  Phoenixville did well in the field, with Kyriq Williams  winning the high jump (6-4) and Tony Shirk winning the pole vault (15-1).  North Penn finished first in two relays, the Distance Medley (11:07.15) and the 4X800 (8:06.13).  Father Judge’s Jermaine Lowery finished first in the 400 (50.03) while the 4X400 team won with a time of 3:28.71.

 Other highlights on the boys side included DJ Thomas in the shotput, whose 55-05.50 was almost a full 8 feet ahead of the second place competitor.  Juan Steward of Cumberland Valley controlled the 200 Meter finals with a 22.67 (second place was 23.26)

 There were some great performances and great pride shown at this meet.  The season continues and the countdown to the Meet of Champions (February 16^th) and other championship meets has started.  As the athletes continue to train and practice, the performances will get even better, and this means that we should be in for a highly competitive and entertaining track season.