2005 Nike Outdoor Nationals Mayo shines at Nike Friday - June 17, 2005 Greensboro Contributed to NCPrepTrack.com by Steve McGill Southeast Raleigh's sophomore sprinter/hurdler Gabby Mayo had an outstanding showing on the first day of the Nike Outdoor Invitational, finishing fifth in the final of the 100 meter dash in a time of 11.67, after having won her preliminary heat in a time of 11.75. Her 11.67 is the fourth fastest time ever run by a North Carolina female athlete. After the race, Mayo was very pleased with her performance. "I did well," she beamed, "but if I had practiced my start more, I could've done even better." Mayo described her start as "ugly and bad," but was pleased with her race once she got up and running. The Nike meet marked only the second time she had run the open 100, the first time being at the USATF sectionals earlier this month. Shortly after the 100m prelims, Gabby also participated in the 100m hurdle prelims. She finished in a time of 14.42, only a hundredth of a second off of her personal best. Although she did not qualify for today's final, she did finish eleventh overall out of the 32 participants in the event. It was also the second-highest placing of any sophomore in the event. In her last event of the day, which was also the last event of the evening, taking place a little after 10:15 pm, Mayo ran the second leg of Southeast's 4x200 meter relay team. Southeast easily won the first heat, which was supposedly the "slow" heat, in a blistering time of 1:38:41, which is a new state record. Southeast's time was fast enough to make them second overall in the event. After her last race of the long day, Mayo was very pleased with her overall performance, although she wishes she could have done better in the hurdles. She will continue to run the USATF Junior Olympics schedule this summer, hoping to bring down her personal bests in the 100, 100 hurdles, and 200 meter dash. In other news: Sophomore Johnny Dutch of Clayton High School also had a strong showing in his first appearance at the Nike Outdoor Nationals. He easily won his heat in the preliminary round of the boys 110m high hurdles in a time of 14.16, automatically qualifying him for today's final. Dutch had the sixth-fastest time in the prelims, but feels confident he'll run a lot better on Saturday. "I had a terrible race," he said, "but I just tried to stay focused. My start was really bad, and I had a rocky, sloppy race." For the final, he said he needs to "get a good start, get good speed between the hurdles, and get over the hurdles as quick as I can." Dutch will also be competing in the 400m hurdles on Saturday. Sanderson High School's boys 4x100 meter relay team, consisting of juniors Chris Snype and Jordan Anderson, and seniors Kris Bell and J.R. Rogers, comfortably won their preliminary heat in a time of 41.50, as Rogers powered home a strong anchor leg. Their time was the second-fastest of all the teams heading into Saturday's final. The same four athletes also comprised their 4x200 meter relay team, which finished fifth overall in a time of 1:27.34. Southeast Raleigh's 4x200 team, consisting of Jordan Holley, Philip Hardy, Akintunde Abisogun, and James McLean, finished twelfth overall in a time of 1:29.52.

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