By Carl Little
Special to The Washington Post
Saturday, June 2, 2007

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. T.C. Williams All-Met senior Samella Koroma wobbled on tiptoe at the edge of the thrower's circle before finally teetering out. Koroma filled her cheeks with air and stomped away in reaction to her second straight foul in the shot put at Friday's Virginia AAA track and field meet at Todd Stadium.

Doubt and frustration were beginning to set in, so Koroma retreated to a private corner to find release.

A refocused Koroma let loose a throw of 41 feet 1 inch on her final attempt -- and, more important, remained inbounds -- to win her first outdoor state title.

"I had to tell myself I could do it," said Koroma, who will compete for Richmond. "It definitely wasn't my best throw, but I'm proud of myself."

After Friday, which featured the preliminary rounds of the running events and half the field events, Koroma's win and a runner-up finish in the long jump by sophomore Tynita Butts (personal-best 19-5 1/2 ) have the Titans in first with 18 points, ahead of Westfield (17 points) and Bethel (15).

Westfield senior Betsy Alter had a dramatic finish in the pole vault. While attempting to clear 12 feet, the Northern Region champion clipped the bar on her descent, causing it to bounce several times on the standards. The bar appeared to settle, but fell at Alter's feet two seconds later as she lay in the pit. She finished third with a clearance of 11-6.

There was no such drama for the Bulldogs in the 4x800 relay. The team of Brittany Sevachko, Eman Bani, Kerry Hartman and a poison ivy-covered Tasia Potasinski won in 9 minutes 21.36 seconds, five seconds ahead of Midlothian.

On the boys' side, Denbigh is in first place with 20.5 points, ahead of Hickory's 16 and Deep Creek's 15. Forest Park earned a win in the 4x800 relay and, with 10 points, is the top area boys' team. The quartet of Adam Swingle, Daniel Crosson, Zack Williams and Ryan Shea won in 7:51.88.

Colonial Forge's Joshua Capriani finished third in the discus (150-3).