Date posted online: Sunday, February 26, 2006
Nearly 500 compete at Northern Championships
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That's Rebecca Neville's philosophy in the long
jump. And who's going to argue with success?
"I choose to take off from the first board
because it's deceptive for my opponents," said the
Though several long jumpers made deeper pit
impressions, no one came close to Neville's flight of 17 feet, 5 3/4 inches
which won the Intermediate Girls division at the AAU Northern Indoor Track
Championships, Feb. 18 at
Neville, who comes from a prominent track family, also took gold in the 55
hurdles (8.85 seconds) -- an event she also won last year. Also last year,
Neville broke a meet record in the high jump, but settled for second when an
opponent subsequently set another standard.
"The long jump is my best event," said Neville, who has
a particular one step forward, one-and-a-half steps back start before
heading down the runway.
"It's my way to add a little 'flavor' to the event," she said.
Marc St. Amour was another local athlete who struck gold at the Northern
Championships. The Schererville 16-year-old won the Young Men's 800 with a
time of 2:13.22.
"I just run as hard as I can, especially the last two laps," said St. Amour,
who runs track for
"It (the 800) is my favorite distance," he said. "It's too short for a
long-distance race, but too long for a sprint ... just right for me."
There were several meet records set that weekend. One was set by Dyer's Alex
Zona, who cleared 16 feet to win Young Men's
pole vault.
"We got it down to a well-oiled machine," said Jason Sands, sales manager
for the Lake County Convention and Visitors Bureau. "Most of our volunteers
have done this before, so everyone knows where they're
suppose to be and what to do."
The event attracted nearly 500 competitors from across the nation.
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