Vicenza's Brandy James, center, on her way to winning the 100-meter hurdles race at the DODEA-Europe track and field finals in Kaiserslautern, Germany, Saturday, May 27, 2017. She won in 15.74 seconds. At left is Ramstein's Sybella Crespo, who was second and Stuttgart's Annika Rivera, who was fifth. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Vicenza's Brandy James, center, on her way to winning the 100-meter hurdles race at the DODEA-Europe track and field finals in Kaiserslautern, Germany, Saturday, May 27, 2017. She won in 15.74 seconds. At left is Ramstein's Sybella Crespo, who was second and Stuttgart's Annika Rivera, who was fifth. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Wiesbaden's Garrett Armel clears a hurdle on his way to winning the 110-meter event in 15.82 seconds at the DODEA-Europe track and field finals in Kaiserslautern, Germany, Saturday, May 27, 2017. At left is Vicenza's Dawson Merkel who came in second. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Vilseck's Derek Davis won the shot put competition at the DODEA-Europe track and field finals in Kaiserslautern, Germany, with a toss of 43 feet, 7.75 inches. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Bitburg's Elise Rasmussen tossed the discus 108 feet, 7 inches to take the gold at the DODEA-Europe track and field finals in Kaiserslautern, Germany, Saturday, May 27, 2017. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Stuttgart anchor Abigail Braa waits for teammate Anna Riley to run the last leg of the 3200-meter relay at the DODEA-Europe track and field finals in Kaiserslautern, Germany, Saturday, May 27, 2017. Along with teammates Anja Meier and Katie McLellan they took the title in 10 minutes, 20.16 seconds ahead of Ramstein and SHAPE. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Brussels' Tariziana Thompson, left, beats Vicenza's Brandy James to the finish line in the 100-meter dash at the DODEA-Europe track and field finals in Kaiserslautern, Germany, Saturday, May 27, 2017. Thompson won in 12.75 seconds ahead of 12.83 for James. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Ramstein's Colin McLaren leads Lakenheath's Austin Burt onto the back stretch in the 1600-meter race at the DODEA-Europe track and field finals in Kaiserslautern, Germany, Saturday, May 27, 2017. Burt passed McLaren on the home stretch to win the race in a new DODEA-Europe record of 4 minutes, 24.18 seconds. McLaren's 4:24.86 also would have beat the old record. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Kaiserslautern's Jada Branch set a new DODEA-Europe record in the triple jump with a leap of 39 feet, 2.25 inches at the DODEA-Europe track and field finals in Kaiserslautern, Germany, Saturday, May 27, 2017. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Baumholder's Nathaniel Horton won the long jump competition with a leap of 21 feet, 1 inch at the DODEA-Europe track and field finals in Kaiserslautern, Germany, Saturday, May 27, 2017. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Vilseck's Zavier Scott celebrates after anchoring the 4x100-meter relay team at the DODEA-Europe track and field finals in Kaiserslautern, Germany, Saturday, May 27, 2017. Scott and teammates Corey Coombs, Hayden Swan and Devin Gamble won the race in 43.95 seconds. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Kaiserslautern's Jada Branch breaks out of the blocks on her way to winning the 400-meter race in 57.75 seconds at the DODEA-Europe track and field finals in Kaiserslautern, Germany, Saturday, May 27, 2017. Branch also won the 200-meters and the triple jump today and the long jump on Friday. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Lakenheath's Austin Burt, center, won the 1600-meter race at the DODEA-Europe track and field finals in Kaiserslautern, Germany, Saturday, in a new DODEA-Europe record of 4 minutes, 24.18 seconds. Ramstein's Colin McLaren's 4:24.86 also would have beat the old record. At right is Black Forest Academy's MacRoberts, who took third. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Wiesbaden's Clarissa Paniagua takes the last hurdle, on her way to winning the 300-meter hurdles race at the DODEA-Europe track and field finals in Kaiserslautern, Germany, Saturday, May 27, 2017. Her winning time was 46.67 seconds. At left is Evin Harper of Brussels, at right Wiesbaden's Brigantia O'Sadnick, who finished second and third. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
After clearing the last hurdle Kaiserslautern's Oliver Powdar powers his way to the finish line to capture the 300-meter hurdles race in 41.15 seconds at the DODEA-Europe track and field finals in Kaiserslautern, Germany, Saturday, May 27, 2017. At left is Wiesbaden's Garrett Armel, at right Baumholder's Solo Turgeon (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Ramstein's Jose Serrano on his way to winning the 800-meter race in 2 minutes, 4.16 seconds at the DODEA-Europe track and field finals in Kaiserslautern, Germany, Saturday, May 27, 2017. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Vilseck' Zavier Scott sprints to the finish line on his way to winning the 200-meter dash at the DODEA-Europe track and field finals in Kaiserslautern, Germany, Saturday, May 27, 2017. His time was 22.47 seconds. Scott also won the 100 the 200 and anchored the winning 4x100-meter relay on Saturday. At left is Baumholder's Nathaniel Horton, at right Rota's Jake Anderson. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Stuttgart's Rachael Dickenson leads teammate Tatiana Smith in the 3200-meter race at the DODEA-Europe track and field finals in Kaiserslautern, Germany, Saturday, May 27, 2017. Dickenson won in 11 minutes, 29.28 seconds. The Panthers took all the girls' long-distance races at the finals with Dickenson winning the 1600-meters and Smith the 800-meters. Stuttgart also won the 3200-meter relay. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Wiesbaden's Clarissa Paniagua anchored her school's winning 4x400-meter relay at the DODEA-Europe track and field finals in Kaiserslautern, Germany, Saturday, May 27, 2017. She and teammates Chloe Edison, Catianna Binyard-Turner and Ta?Nya Thomas won in 4 minutes, 9.74 seconds. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Caleb Brown Jr. anchored the winning Wiesbaden 4x400-meter relay team at the DODEA-Europe track and field finals in Kaiserslautern, Germany, Saturday, May 27, 2017. Brown and teammates Isaiah Devane, Joel Waan and David Williams won the race in 3 minutes, 31.28 seconds. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Kaiserslautern's Oliver Powdar took the high jump title at the DODEA-Europe track and field finals in Kaiserslautern, Germany, clearing 6 feet, 2 inches for the gold. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany – Two more records fell Saturday in the final day of competition at the DODEA-Europe Track and Field Championship - and two more barely survived.
The first record to go was in the sand pit. Kaiserslautern phenom Jada Branch soared 39 feet, 2.25 inches to obliterate the triple jump record of 38-6, set by former Raider Lynndsey Hyter in 2006. Branch, a junior, hit the mark on her second jump in preliminaries, leaping more than a foot farther than her winning jump at Europeans a year ago.
“It feels great,” Branch said, after accepting her gold medal for the triple jump. “I love improvement. It just clarifies and justifies why I’m doing this and how it makes me feel on the inside. It motivates me to keep going and it lets me know this is where I’m supposed to be.”
Branch would go on to collect two more titles on Saturday – adding to her win in the long jump Friday - but not before another record fell.
This time it was on the track, in the boys’ 1,600 meters, where the stage was set for a classic duel between Lakenheath junior Austin Burt and Ramstein senior Colin McLaren, separated by only three seconds in seeding times going into the race.
McLaren, who on Friday set a new European record in the 3,200, was chasing a second. He shot out to an early lead, but with about 500 meters to go, Burt made a move and pulled ahead. McLaren regained the lead just as fast and Burt tucked behind him until the last curve on the bell lap. The two were neck and neck down the homestretch, with Burt outkicking McLaren by less than a second at the finish, 4:24.16 to 4:24.86.
The big digital clock display at the Kaiserslautern High School stadium wasn’t on for the race but the gutsy effort by both runners left little doubt the former record of 4:27.28 – set in 2012 by Kaiserslautern’s Michael Lawson – was history.
“It feels like I just got done running an 800 or a sprint,” Burt said after the race.
Of McLaren, he said, “We both really won that. We set the record together.”
It was Burt’s first European title, coming a day after he finished second to McLaren in the 3,200 and a year after he placed third in the 1,600 at Europeans. “I wanted a gold. Something to take back home, to make my school proud, my family and friends proud,” Burt said.
Stuttgart’s Rachael Dickenson fell two seconds short in her bid to break the European record of 11:27.24 in the 3,200. Dickenson earlier in the season had run 11:25 in a combined race with boys and girls at Black Forest Academy. On Saturday, Dickenson was all alone. She crossed the line in 11:29.28, nearly a minute ahead of her closest competitor, teammate Tatiana Smith, but just shy of the record.
Throughout the race, Dickenson, a junior, said she focused on her pace, checking her watch to see “where do I want to be when I cross the next 200? How am I going to slow it down so I’m not too fast and burn out, and if I’m behind, how am I going to speed it up, make sure I get there.”
“I’m happy because I know that I did what I could today,” Dickenson said.
Like Dickenson, Branch missed the record in the 400, in this case by fractions of a second. Her winning time was 57.75, just short of the record of 57.30, set in 2000 by Christina McDuffie of Hohenfels.
Also having a “good day,” in his own words, was Vilseck senior Zavier Scott.
Scott dominated the sprints, winning the 100, 200, 400 and anchoring the 400 relay team.
The impressive haul comes a year after Scott finished second in the 400 and fourth in the 100 and 200 at Europeans.
“I use that, what happened last year, as my drive for this year,” he said. “Loss helps you … want to become better.”
Scott was named the meet’s most valuable track athlete for the boys. Ansbach senior Joxua Baughman was named the boys’ MVP for field events. Branch swept girls honors on the track and on the field.
Baughman won the discus throw on Friday and took third in the shot put Saturday, behind Vilseck’s Derek Davis and Ramstein’s Eli Roberts, and third in the long jump behind Baumholder's Nathaniel Horton and Lakenheath's Kobe Cox.
In the team competition, scores were relatively close, except for Division I girls. Showing their tremendous depth, the Stuttgart girls won six of 17 events and scored points in 14 - everything except the 100, the long jump and the discus throw, prevailing over runner-up Ramstein and third-place Kaiserslautern by more than 50 points. Black Forest Academy was first in Division II girls, and Brussels toppled Ansbach in Division III.
For the boys, Ramstein beat out Vilseck and Kaiserslautern in Division 1. Rota took first in Division II and, in Division III, Baumholder came out on top.
Other notable performances Saturday included:
-Kaiserslautern’s Oliver Powdar won both the 300 hurdles and the high jump. The latter was a tight competition between Powdar, Vilseck’s Kenya Pinckney and Nathaniel Horton of Baumholder. Powdar cleared the bar at 6-2 on his third and final attempt at that height to get the win.
-The Wiesbaden girls and boys won the 1,600 relay. Clarissa Paniagua anchored the girls’ team - after gutting out a win in the 300 hurdles. The boys, meanwhile, had been waiting to get another chance at gold, after the finals last year was rained out. The Warriors in 2016 had to settle for third, based on their finish in preliminaries. “We made it a mission this year to make it happen,” said Wiesbaden senior David Williams.
-Bitburg senior Elise Rasmussen ended her stellar high school track and field career with victory in the discus. Her throw of 108-07 was eight feet farther than runner up Tiombe Long of Brussels.
