By Carl Little
Special to The Washington Post
Sunday, January 13, 2008

In between attempts during the high jump competition, Bishop McNamara junior Saniel Atkinson spent her time stretching her body at extreme angles. She sat off to the side, away from the runway, her arms and legs folded in meditative poses. Before taking her mark for her next jump, she raised her torso, back to the ground, in the bridge position.

"It's my way of mentally getting into the game," Atkinson said.

Atkinson's contortions on the ground yesterday paid dividends through the air at Prince George's Sports & Learning Complex, as she captured first in the high jump at the Montgomery Invitational with a clearance of 5 feet 6 inches.

The top four finishers -- Atkinson, Largo's Shantae Boney, Pearl Bickerseth of Potomac (Va.) and Tynita Butts of T.C. Williams -- tied the meet record of 5-6, but each failed on attempts at 5-8. Atkinson was the only one who didn't miss at 5-6, clearing with all three attempts to win first and leave a three-way tie for second.

More than six hours later, still loose, she helped her team to victory in the 4x200 relay.

Winston Churchill senior Eric McManus won two separate events. She captured the girls' 800-meter race in 2:23.97 after helping the Bulldogs' 4x800 relay team set a meet record. McManus, Maryam Fikri, Owoade Ayorinde and Louise Hannallah won in 9:34.10, eclipsing by three seconds the mark set last year by Whitman.

Oakton's Joe LoRusso was the top area finisher in the boys' invitational mile. He entered the last lap in fourth place, but surged on the final curve to finish second in a personal-best 4:17.83.

Atkinson said she performs the same routine in between jumps at every meet, and that her twists and bends are rooted in years of training in dance, ballet and gymnastics. When she was 9, a friend convinced her to try track and field. She joined Marlboro Track Team in Upper Marlboro and discovered she had a knack for jumping events.

Yesterday's win was Atkinson's second of the season at a major invitational. She exhibited a combination of power and grace at the Friends of Indoor Track Invitational in December, clearing the high jump bar at 5-8 and tying her personal-best mark.

"Everything started with Marlboro," Atkinson said. "McNamara just made it better."

No team scoring was kept.

Montgomery Invitational Cannonball: Five throwers went over 50 feet in the boys' shot put. DeMatha's Aaron Brooks was fifth with 50-5 1/4 . Gaithersburg junior Sean Stanley was runner-up with 56-1, behind winner Wesley Lavong of Methacton, who threw 57-3 1/2 .

Silver Star: Mountain View senior Olu Olamigoke posted season bests in two events -- he went 47 feet in the triple jump and 22-0 3/4 in the long jump -- but fell short of first place by inches in both events.