2005 USATF Region III Junior Olympics Mayo and Dutch Smash Meet Records at USATF Junior Olympics Region III Championship Monday - July 11, 2005 Contributed to NCPrepTrack.com by Steve McGill At the USATF Junior Olympic Track & Field Championships on the campus of North Carolina A & T University in Greensboro, NC from July 7th to July 10th, Raleigh hurdler/sprinter Gabrielle Mayo and hurdler Johnny Dutch of Clayton continued to build upon their outstanding summer seasons, as they both broke two meet records on their way to qualifying for the National Championships that will take place in Indianapolis from July 26th to July 31st. In a meet that included athletes from the entire Southeastern part of the country – from as far North as Maryland to as far South as Georgia – Mayo had one of the most outstanding single-meet performances ever turned in by a North Carolina high school athlete. She won the intermediate girls (15-16 year-olds) 100 meter hurdles in a time of 13.96, she won the 100 meter dash in a time of 11.69, and she the 200 meter dash in a time of 23.90. The 100 meter hurdle time and the 100 meter dash time are both new meet records, and Mayo’s 200 meter time was less than a tenth of a second off of the meet record. Mayo’s 13.96 in the hurdles, which was much faster than her previous personal best of 14.27, ranks her 6th all-time among North Carolinians, and, according to the latest Dyestat rankings, it ranks her among the top twenty in the nation in 2005. In describing what made this race faster than previous ones, Mayo pointed out that she knew she would have to run hard because Nicole Okolo of Georgia had run 14.18 in the preliminary heats. “I just made sure I stayed on the balls of my feet,” Mayo said, “and I made sure I leaned into the hurdles.” Using this approach, Mayo was able to pull away in the latter stages of the race and win by a fairly comfortable margin. In both the 100 and 200, Mayo got out fast early and won going away. In spite of the apparent ease with which she achieved victory, Mayo didn’t feel that the races were easy at all, especially when considering that the temperatures were in the nineties all weekend, coupled with stifling humidity. “In the hundred I felt good,” she said, “but in the two-hundred I was tired from the sun and the heat.” With three weeks to prepare for nationals, Mayo knows that she still has a lot of work ahead of her. Her goal at nationals is to “finish in the top three in each of my events,” she said, noting that the 100 and 200 are new to her this summer, and that two of the best female sprinters in the country – Bianca Knight of Mississippi and Ebony Collins of California – are in her age group. Meanwhile, in the boys’ intermediate age group, Dutch put forth a monster performance in the 400 meter intermediate hurdles, finishing in a time of 52.09, shattering the meet record by almost two full seconds. His time ranks him 2nd all-time among North Carolinians in that event, and, according to the latest Dyestat rankings, it also ranks him 6th in the nation in 2005. Most impressively, Dutch ran 2.34 seconds faster than his own previous personal best. Prior to the start of the event, Dutch knew he would have to run the race of his life in order to win, as rival Tre Charles, who had beaten Dutch in a preliminary heat and had also won the intermediate boys’ 400 meter run in a blistering 48.05, would be aiming to bring him down. In one of the most exciting races of the day, Dutch got out fast early, fell behind Charles on the second curve, then passed Charles again on the final straight-away, and held onto the lead through the finish line. In discussing his race, Dutch observed that “I knew I had to run hard because that was the toughest competition of the year. I just tried to go all out, run as fast as I could, and not worry about my stride pattern.” Part of Dutch’s motivation for his inspired performance in the long hurdles was his relatively disappointing victory in the 110 meter high hurdles earlier in the day. Dutch won handily in 14.00, which shattered the old meet record of 14.23, but fell well short of Dutch’s personal best of 13.77. Dutch said that he felt a bit lethargic during the race – partly due to the fact that he knew there wouldn’t be anyone to push him, and partly because of the heat. Heading into nationals, Dutch says that his goals are to win both hurdle events, and to set new personal bests in both events. Complete results

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