Published: 11:07 AM, Thu Jun 17, 2010
Eley O'Reilly, Winfrey to compete against nation's best this weekend
The time for pep talks and motivational sayings has passed for recent Jack Britt graduate Sanura Eley O'Reilly and soon-to-be Douglas Byrd senior Eric Winfrey.
With five individual outdoor state championships between them, the two fastest 400-meter runners in North Carolina are ready for their next challenges. They head to the New Balance Nationals looking to measure themselves against some of the best high school athletes in the country.
"The key is to respect the challenge," Fayetteville Flyers coach Michael Gibson said. "There is no magic conversation, no hurrah speeches. The guys and girls lining up next to you are just as talented as you are. If you don't do your phases right, chances are you won't win the race."
Twelve Cape Fear region high school athletes will compete today through Saturday at North Carolina A&T's Irwin Belk track. Some are hoping the stiff competition pulls them to personal records in individual events, others are eyeing the top of the podium.
First-place finishes wouldn't be surprising for Eley O'Reilly nor Winfrey. The Buccaneer is ranked seventh in the nation, according to DyeStat.com, after winning the 4-A girls 400 state championship in 53.43 seconds. Winfrey won the 3-A boys 400 state title in 47.51, ranking him 26th.
Both times put them within striking distance of the top 400 runners in the country. California's Josh Mance has the fastest male high school time in the event this year (45.90), and Texas' Diamond Dixon tops the girls (52.92).
Both speedsters are slated to be in the field when the events are run Saturday. Eley O'Reilly and Winfrey haven't seen this level of competition yet this season, and they spent the past four weeks preparing for a summer stretch that could include some of the best young athletes in the entire world.
After this weekend's run, both will join E.E. Smith graduate and North Carolina State track team member Ben Major at the USA Track and Field Junior Championships at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa. Strong performances there could qualify them for the IAAF World Junior Championships from July 19-25 in Moncton, Canada. If they don't make it, they'll instead head to the USATF National Junior Olympics in Sacramento, Calif.
While Winfrey's main concern is being mentally prepared for this weekend's race, Eley O'Reilly's focus is on her stomach. She was struggling to keep food down Tuesday, but she expected it wouldn't keep her from competing. A cold kept her from participating in this meet a year ago, and the South Carolina commit doesn't want to relive the moment.
"I just remember sitting in the stands, just listening to them announce my race knowing I was supposed to be in it," Eley O'Reilly said. "That wasn't a good feeling. My consolation, I guess, is there are more races for me to try to do, but I really wanted to be able to run that race."
Getting their chances
Eley O'Reilly and Winfrey aren't the only 400 runners looking for strong finishes this weekend.
Fayetteville Academy's Aminah Ghaffar will run in the girls' 400 freshman race, and E.E. Smith's Lucas Latney and Pine Forest's Marvin Clark will be in the boys 400 emerging elite race. South View's Michael Moore, the reigning 4-A state champion in the 110 hurdles, will compete in that event.
In the field, Lumberton's Carthenia Brown and Nicole Chavis will be in the shot put emerging elite competition. Pinecrest freshman Hannah Hensley will compete in the high jump, long jump emerging elite and the 200 emerging elite after an ankle injury slowed her at the state meet. Harnett Central's Aerial Chatman will participate in long jump emerging elite, and Western Harnett's Joseph Matthews will compete in high jump emerging elite after winning the same event at the 3-A state meet.
Pinecrest's Lexie Schustrom is heading to Columbia next year to run races that are 3,200 or longer, so she decided to focus on a shorter distance at nationals. Her personal best in the 1,600 is 5:05.47 this year, and she wants to break the five-minute barrier against some good competition in the emerging elite 1,600.
"I felt like it would just be kind of crossing something off my list," Schustrom said. "I felt - I don't know - like I completed all the other high school goals I wanted to complete. But to break five minutes, I figure, is a huge barrier, even more than 11 (minutes) for the (two mile)."
Staff writer Paul Shugar can be reached at shugarp@fayobserver.com or 486-3513.