By: Katie Smythe
TC Boys - Patriot District Champions (Photo: Sydney Schaedel)
The T.C. Williams boys’ indoor track and field team captured the Patriot District championship title on Saturday by nearly 20 points over Annandale, last year’s winner in both the indoor and outdoor seasons. The T.C. girls team finished in third place, a significant improvement over the past few years. In total, T.C. athletes qualified for the Regional championship in every event except one (28 individual entries plus 3 relays).
The T.C. boys built a commanding lead in the field events, finishing 1-2-4 in the shot put, 1-4-5 in the high jump, 2-3-4 in the pole vault, 2-3 in the long jump and 4th in the triple jump. Jonathan Anderson was the District champion in the shot put with a throw of 51 feet 1 inch. Kahron Lee took first place in the high jump matching his personal best of 6 feet 4 inches. Both athletes have already qualified for the State championship in late February.
Adding to the field events scores, several outstanding performances in the track events carried the team to a first place finish. Percy Haskins won the 55 meter hurdles in a photo finish and a new personal best time of 8.10 seconds. Za’Quan Summer took second place in the 55 meter dash, posting a State qualifying time of 6.57 seconds and a new personal record. Even after competing in three other events that day, Summer finished third in the 300 meter dash, posting another personal record of 37.14 seconds.
On the girls’ side, Ayzha Ward was the Patriot District champion in the shot put with a throw of 37 feet 10 inches, which was 9 feet farther than the next best competitor. Ward has exceeded the State qualifying mark in each of the last three meets. She is currently ranked fifth in the State. The Titans took second place in two other field events -- high jump (Jennifer Zhu) and pole vault (Sydney Schaedel) -- and fourth place in the triple jump (Indya Weaver). Schaedel’s vault of 9 feet 6 inches matched the qualifying mark for the State championship.
In the track events, the T.C. girls excited the crowd with a convincing win in the 4x400 meter relay and new record time of 4 minutes 7.80 seconds. The Titan relay team consisted of Sydney Schaedel, Shannon Smythe, Kathryn Hendley and Morgan Lataillade. The girls 4x200 meter relay finished in third place in a closely contested race with Annandale and South County. Both T.C. relays have advanced to the Regional championship.
In individual events, Morgan Lataillade captured third place in the 300 meter dash with a new personal record of 43.06 seconds, and fourth place in the 55 meter dash with a personal best time of 7.71 seconds. Sydney Schaedel finished a strong third in the 1000 meter run behind two athletes currently ranked fourth and seventh in the state. Schaedel’s time of 3 minutes 1.76 seconds is competitive with her other State-qualifying times this season.
At the end of the competition, the top six finishers in each individual event and the top three relays qualify for the Northern Region championship on February 18 at George Mason University. The top finishers at Regionals advance to the State championship on February 24-25 in Richmond.
The following T.C. athletes medaled at the District championship and advance to the Regional championship. Many athletes set new personal records. Some T.C. athletes have posted competitive enough results to automatically qualify for States.
Shot Put:
Boys – 1st, Jonathan Anderson (51 feet 1 inches), qualified previously for States
2nd, Mohammed Sesay (48 feet 5 inches) – new PR
4th, Jose Urratia (43 feet 1 inches)
Girls – 1st, Aysha Ward (37 feet 10 inches), qualified previously for States
4th, Ashley Martin (28 feet 1 inches)
High Jump
Boys – 1st, Kahron Lee (6 feet 4 inches), qualified previously for States
4th, Devon Cooper (6 feet 0 inches)
5th, Za’Quan Summer (5 feet 10 inches) – new PR
Girls – 2nd, Jennifer Zhu (4 feet 8 inches)
6th, Allasha Farmer (4 feet 6 inches) – new PR
Pole Vault
Boys – 2nd, Nicolas Ahumada (12 feet 6 inches), qualified previously for States
3rd, Scott Young (11 feet 6 inches) – new PR
4th, Josh Alcon (10 feet 6 inches)
Girls – 2nd, Sydney Schaedel (9 feet 6 inches), qualified for States
Long Jump
Boys – 2nd, Za’Quan Summer (21 feet 0.5 inches) – new PR
3rd, Devon Cooper (20 feet 9.25 inches) – new PR
Triple Jump
Boys – 4th, Kahron Lee (40 feet 2 inches) – new PR
Girls – 4th, Indya Weaver (32 feet 1.75 inches)
55 Meter Dash
Boys – 2nd, Za’Quan Summer (6.57 seconds), qualified for States – new PR
Girls – 4th, Morgan Lataillade (7.71 seconds) – new PR
55 Meter Hurdles
Boys – 1st, Percy Haskins (8.10 seconds) – new PR
Girls – 5th, Jennifer Zhu (9.37 seconds) – new PR
300 Meter Dash
Boys – 3rd, Za’Quan Summer (37.14 seconds) – new PR
Girls – 3rd, Morgan Lataillade (43.06 seconds) – new PR
500 Meter Run
Boys – 4th, Phil Tyler (1 minute 11.35 seconds) – new PR
1000 Meter Run
Girls – 3rd, Sydney Schaedel (3 minutes 1.76 seconds), qualified previously for States
1600 Meter Run
Girls – 5th, Shannon Smythe (5 minutes 16.61 seconds) – new PR
Girls 4x200 Relay – 3rd place (1 minute 52.24 seconds)
Jada Toote, Kathryn Hendley, Indya Weaver and Morgan Lataillade
Girls 4x400 Relay – 1st place (4 minutes 7.80 seconds) – new PR
Sydney Schaedel, Shannon Smythe, Kathryn Hendley and Morgan Lataillade
TEAM SCORES
Boys: 1 – T.C. Williams (108 pts) Girls: 1 – South County (165 pts)
2 – Annandale (91 pts) 2 – Lake Braddock (89 pts)
3 – Lake Braddock (78 pts) 3 – T.C. Williams (70.5 pts)
4 – West Potomac (51 pts) 4 – West Springfield (51 pts)
5 – South County (45 pts) 5 – W.T. Woodson (35 pts)
6 – West Springfield (43 pts) 6 – West Potomac (34.5 pts)
7 – W.T. Woodson (37 pts) 7 – Annandale (16 pts)
8 – Robert E. Lee (12 pts) 8 – Robert E. Lee (4 pts)
