Click Here to visit the photo gallery for multiple albums from the event. Also look for links below to professional galleries by the sports photographers at SCrunners.com.
To view the Meet Records established at the inaugural, click here: Sandlapper Track & Field Classic Meet Records.
Sandlapper Classic has Golden Inaugural
Charleston, SC – March 3, 2007
As the 1st annual Sandlapper Classic took shape, it was hard to imagine an inaugural event producing a higher level of competition or looking so sophisticated in the process. The 43 team meet (23 boys’ and 20 girls’) produced a multitude of elite marks, nine new stadium records, and a continuous stream of dramatic finishes. In team scoring we saw the school that traveled the farthest, Millers Grove (Atlanta) win the Boys Championship while local powerhouse Summerville won both the Girls’ Championship and the Overall Championship (combined boys and girls scores). The meet also produced a record crowd for a high school track event in Wildcat Stadium, unprecedented accommodations for all in attendance, and a genuine buzz of excitement that lasted into the night. Even the most competitive athletes admitted they fed off the meet’s extraordinary energy level, and their most resounding praise came as they participated in the truly extravagant awards ceremonies that honored the top 8 in each of the 36 events (total of girls and boys). “I’ve never seen a more beautiful medal,” said Nodia Robinson, the West Ashley girls’ top runner and the meet’s Gold medalist in the 800 meter run. “Of all the medals I’ve ever received, this is the one I’ll keep forever,” said Nodia, who also won a bronze medal in the 4×800 relay. “I’ve never been so proud to be from West Ashley,” added fellow West Ashley runner Amber Caparas, who joined Nodia for the Bronze medal in the 4×800 relay while earning another bronze in the very competitive 400 meter hurdles. “The way our coaches ran the meet and the way the folks from Sandlapper worked side-by-side with coaches from all the schools was amazing. Everywhere I went the visiting athletes and coaches were thanking me just because I was in a West Ashley uniform. Everyone was beaming with smiles all day, but no one more than the Wildcats,” said Amber. “Our goal is to grow the Sandlapper Classic into one of the best national invitational meets in the nation,” said Meet Director Richard Luden (WAHS Athletic Director and boys Head Coach). All in attendance agreed that the inaugural edition made that goal feel like a sure thing. “It was a tremendous success at more levels than I can express,” said Gettys Glaze, owner of Sandlapper Real Estate Group, the presenting sponsor and active partner in the management of the meet. “We joined forces with Coach Luden and his staff for all the right reasons—for the kids—and we’re grateful to have this opportunity to do something special for the community.” More than 20 Sandlapper agents participated in a variety of roles including judges, officials, and even public address personalities. “All of my team agreed that the experience was more inspiring and rewarding than they imagined when they signed up,” said Glaze. “We’re already working with Coach Luden, his staff, and our top sponsor partners to ensure we do an even better job next year,” he added. We can hardly wait.
The 2007 Stars
With legitimate Olympic hopefuls and nationally ranked athletes in attendance, there were several finishes that had the entire stadium holding its breath. Most notable among these were Matt Shuler (White Knoll) clearing 15 feet in the pole vault, Akem Holmes (Fort Dorchester) clearing 6’9” in the high jump, and what could be called “the Jasmine Stowers show,” where the Pendleton High School freshman showed why she was the AA State Champ in both hurdle events and all-time SC state record holder in the 100 meter hurdles—all done while just an eighth-grader. Each of these three athletes broke stadium records in their Gold medal events and riveted the crowd with their dramatic efforts. Stowers’ photo-finish victory in the 400 hurdles was likely the most memorable race of the day, as she battled Summerville’s Aisha-Maree Frazier neck-and-neck to turn the grueling 10 hurdle race into a 40 yard dash to the finish line. Stowers had already become a crowd favorite when she literally sucked the air out of the stadium while running a National Elite time of 13.9 in the prelims of the 100 meter hurdles, but Frazier had no reason to be star struck, as she is one of the nation’s top 400 meter hurdlers with a personal best that’s 2 seconds faster than Stowers’ personal best in the event. But this day belonged to Jasmine, and her narrow victory of just 6 hundredths of a second also earned her the Girls’ Track MVP Award. Talk about a game of inches. Winning the Boys’ Track MVP was Marcus Pope (Andrews) who won Gold in both of the boys’ hurdle events along with the Gold in the boys’ 400 meter dash. In the field, Akem Holmes won the Boys’ Field MVP for winning Gold in both the High Jump and the Triple Jump while also taking the Silver in the Long Jump, while fellow Fort Dorchester Patriot Serra Jones won Gold in both the Long Jump and the Triple Jump to take the Girls’ Field MVP award. Honorable mentions went to Berkeley’s Raven White who won gold in both the 100 and the 200 as well as Silvers in two relay events, and Bluffton’s Jessie George who won Gold in both the 1600 meters and the 3200 where she set a new stadium record.
The Home Team
(1st through 8th scored 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 points respectively).
As projected in our Spring Preview, the Wildcat Girls proved they are true contenders with a 5th place finish, better than 15 girls teams. Besides double-medalists Robinson and Caparas (12.75 points and 8.75 points respectively), other medalists included Jessie Gallagher who won the Bronze in the High Jump (12.25 pts.), while Kerstin Hornung and Lauren Bass both won a Bronze in the 4×800 relay (6.5 and 2.75 respectively). For the very young Wildcat boys, Dana Brown was the lone medalist with the silver in the 200 meter dash, while leading his team to a 16th place finish among the boys 23 teams.
For complete results including elite marks and final placements for all teams, go to the Sandlapper Classic page at SCrunners.com.
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Other Links:
MVP’s, Records, and Elite Performances at SCrunners.com
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