Sokolowski & Spenst Win at Harry Jerome Indoor

Richmond Olympic Oval, Saturday, February 1–Kate Sokolowski had just enough left in her tank to win a closely fought midget girls’ 1200-meter event Saturday at the Harry Jerome Indoor Meet.

Sokolowski took the lead at the gun, opened a 40-meter gap and then had to hold off a serious challenge from Leigh Kirsh (Thunderbirds) to eke out the victory. Both girls had finishing times of 4:00.02 but the photo finish camera showed that Sokolowski was just a whisker in front of the Thunderbird runner. “Did I lose?,” gasped a very tired Sokolowski as she flopped to the ground immediately following the race. Happy when she learned she had won the race the revived 15-year old regained her feet and bounded off to do her warm down.

Spencer Spenst, the all round athlete who particularly likes the jumping events, won the Youth boys high jump with a leap of 1.75 meters.

Tanner Geary may have been a bit hesitant at the start of his Youth boys’ 1500- meter run and that caused him to fall well off the pace. But Geary gained strength as the event progressed and produced a sustained drive over the last 250 meters that secured him second place and a personal best time of 4:35.13.

Full results can be found at: www.harryjerome.com/2014/02/02/6756/

Mason Wins High Jump in Seattle

In just his second meet of the season, Olympian Mike Mason won the high jump event Saturday at the Dempsey Indoor facility. Mason cleared a height of 2.22 meters to easily secure the victory against competition from as far afield as California. Mason attempted 2.26 meters and had some good attempts at that height.

Also in Seattle Travis Vugteveen won his section of the 800 meters with a solid time of 1:54.56 while Jessica Smith, in her first race since recovering from a broken foot that kept her idle for a number of months, placed 11th in the mile (4:49.81) while Helen Crofts was fifth in the 800 meters (2:06.71).