Osbourn Park's Fantastic Four

Yellow Jackets' Relay Team Qualifies for National Meet

Jared Simmons, right, of Stonewall Jackson won the 55-meter dash over an accomplished field. Aaron Anderson of Bishop McNamara, second from left, finished second; it marked the first race he has lost this season. (By Joel Richardson -- The Washington Post)

The biggest question for Osbourn Park Coach Mike Feldman at Saturday's Montgomery Invitational was whether the young athletes on the Yellow Jackets' girls' 4x400-meter relay could show just how talented they are.

Feldman and the Yellow Jackets got their answer at the Prince George's Sports & Learning Complex, as sophomores Brittany and Bethany Hyter and Jamie Laastch and freshman Cristin Gonzales finished third overall with a time of 4 minutes 4 seconds.

The finish -- which was less than a second behind the winning time of 4:03.03 posted by West Catholic (Pa.) -- qualified the relay for the AAA state championships as well as the Nike Indoor Championships, a national meet in mid-March.

"It was a great way to end a long day," Feldman said. "They ran a great race. . . . I don't think they were intimidated like they might have been last year."

The success came shortly after the Yellow Jackets' 4x200-meter relay, which included the Hyter twins, had a collision on the track to end a once-promising race in 10th place.

The 4x400 time was exactly the mark needed to qualify for nationals. Feldman said that the team may try to improve upon it in two weeks at the Virginia Tech Invitational, a meet the Yellow Jackets had not originally planned to attend. Virginia Tech's banked track is one of the nation's fastest.

Osbourn Park could find itself among the top contenders in the event, which is very deep in Virginia. Bethel -- led by star Francena McCorory -- Kecoughtan, Menchville (Saturday's runner-up), Robinson and Salem of Virginia Beach are among the annual contenders.

"We're maybe the new girls on the block against the same cast of characters," Feldman said. "But I think we should be pretty strong."

Other top Prince William area performances at Saturday's meet, which attracted 2,183 athletes from 141 schools, included:

· Stonewall Jackson senior Jared Simmons defeated several of the Washington area's top runners to win the 55-meter dash in 6.52 seconds, one of the area's best times this year and less than one-hundredth of a second better than Bishop McNamara's Aaron Anderson, who had not lost a race this season.

· Simmons's teammate, and fellow sprinter, senior Thelma Breezeatl, finished sixth in the girls' 55, in 7.29 seconds, but she was the only Washington area sprinter to qualify for the final. Salem's Shamika Kentish won in 7.11 seconds.

· Against a stacked field in the 400, Potomac senior Chris Harrison clocked a time of 50.75 seconds to finish fourth. Carroll senior All-Met Randy Lee won in 49.95 seconds.

· Forest Park senior All-Met Cameron Perry won the boys' long jump with an effort of 22 feet 3 inches. Perry set the meet record (22-9) last season.

· Osbourn Park junior Katie Trizna finished third in the high jump with a 5-2. Brooke Point's April Sinkler won with a jump of 5-4.

· Forest Park senior All-Met Stefanie Slekis finished fourth in the mile run (5:12.86) and was runner-up in the 3,200 (11:15.25). Northside's Catherine White won both events, with a 5:08.79 in the mile and a 10:51.56 in the 3,200.