WASHINGTON POST: On Saturday afternoon, Mirai Bernard found herself on a secluded part of the warmup track at the University of Pennsylvania’s Franklin Field. She had just placed 22nd in the girls’ 400 meters, her signature event, at the New Balance Nationals Outdoor meet.
“I had to just sit by myself to be upset for like five minutes,” the Bullis senior said. “I gave myself time to … [get] the disappointment out of my system so that I wouldn’t have anything lingering for the next race. … One race does not define your season.”
Later in the day, Bernard ran in a preliminary of the 4×100 relay, which Bullis easily won. And a day later, she was as a key member of two relay teams that took first: The Purdue-bound sprinter helped her team win the 4×100 (45.63 seconds) and the 4×400 (3 minutes 39.07 seconds) to go with Friday’s victory in the 4×200 (1:33.71), all of which set meet records. The time in the 4×200 was the second fastest all-time among U.S. high school teams.
“[Bernard] bounced back and showed some true courage by leading us off to victory in the [4×400],” Bullis Coach Joe Lee said. “It’s a great way for her to finish the day, the meet and her career — I couldn’t be more proud of her.”
The Bulldogs swept the 4×100, 4×200 and 4×400 for the second year in a row, with Bernard and fellow senior Sage Hinton having run on all three teams each year. Bullis also won the 800 sprint-medley relay (1:42.60), the 1,000 sprint-medley relay (2:10.26) and the shuttle relay (55.97). Each of the team’s six titles set a meet record.
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Also for Bullis, Myla Greene came in second in the 100-meter hurdles (13.63), Sydney Sutton was second in the 400 (53.88), Jade Ofotan placed fourth in the 100 (11.65), and Kennedy Flynn was seventh in the 100 hurdles (13.90). And in a move that is going viral, sophomore Tatum Lynn fell in the “rising stars” 400 hurdles but still won her heat.
Elsewhere, Tuscarora’s Alysa Carrigan tied for third (5 feet 8 inches) in the high jump, Herndon’s Gillian Bushee was fifth in the two mile (10:09.21), and West Springfield placed fifth in the distance-medley relay (11:55.09).
On the boys’ side, Tinoda Matsatsa of St. Andrew’s finished first in the 800 in 1:47.61. After leading by three-hundredths of a second after the first lap, he turned on the jets in the second to prevail. It was a personal record for Matsatsa.
Matsatsa tweaked a hamstring about two weeks ago while training. He felt better after two days of recovery but still noticed slight discomfort. He had to mentally prepare to trust his leg and run the way he wanted.
“When I crossed the line and saw my name first,” he said, “I was like, ‘Finally.’ I didn’t know if I was running this meet 12 days ago, but I’m glad I was able to win it.”
Archbishop Carroll’s boys took home two titles: Dezmone Starks, Nyckoles Harbor, Damill Bostic and Marcus Brown won the 4×100 (40.97), and Starks, Harbor, Camren Williams and Brown won the 4×200 (1:24.05, a meet record).
Quincy Wilson of Bullis set a personal record and finished second in the 400 (45.99). Potomac’s Ty’Heak Buie was second in the triple jump (49-7.75). Harbor was sixth in the 100 (10.31), and DeMatha’s Anthony Waterman was seventh in the 110 hurdles (14.62).
Photo: From left, Sydney Sutton, Sage Hinton, Myla Greene and Mirai Bernard helped Bullis win the 4×400 at New Balance Nationals Outdoor. (John Nepolitan)
