Aviano's Yoakum wins duel in 1,500 meters

RUSSELSHEIM, Germany — The girls 1,500-meter run was so close the winner didn’t know the race was hers until an official at the finish line said "red jersey."

Senior Shelby Yoakum, in her scarlet Aviano singlet, beat Ramstein freshman Lillianne Thomas by less than an inch in a thrilling runner’s duel during the first day of competition Friday in the DODDS-Europe Track and Field Championships.

With iron legs pumping lactic acid after 3¾ laps, the two middle-distance aces staggered to the finish in 4 minutes, 58 seconds, a personal best for both.

"I actually thought she had me," Yoakum, 18, said. "I just tried as hard as I could. I usually have no one to run with, so it’s nice to have some competition."

Thomas, who was running despite a broken right arm and an inflamed tendon, said she was proud to break 5 minutes and shave 12 seconds off her personal best in her first year of competitive running.

"I tried to duke it out at the end. She’s a really good runner," Thomas, 14, said of Yoakum.

The tight finish on the track coincided with another nail-biter nearby at the high-jumper’s pit, where Bitburg junior Kristen Willeford was gunning for a DODDS-Europe record. When Willeford arched over the bar on her third and final attempt at 5 foot, 4 inches, the bar wiggled but didn’t budge, giving Willeford the championship over Ramstein sophomore Tara Lookabaugh, who cleared a personal-best 5-2.

Willeford then tried to clear 5-6, which would have broken the record of 5-5 set in 1993. Willeford earlier in the season made 5-6, but DODDS only recognizes records set during the championship meet. On this day, Willeford couldn’t match her earlier feat, bowing out at 5-4. Afterward, she didn’t hide her disappointment, allowing that nerves got the better of her.

"Usually during big meets I can’t focus, with everything going on," she said.

Earlier in the morning, the Ramstein boys’ 3,200 relay team almost eclipsed a school mark with a surprising 8:19.55, about 2 seconds shy of the Ramstein record for the event. The runners and their coach, Dennis Edwards, said they didn’t expect to knock 15 seconds off their seed time.

"Last year, we got passed in the last 10 meters, so it feels good this year to get the win," said junior Matt Lein, who teamed with senior Kel Secrest and juniors Drew Thomas and Gus Meyners.

Other gold-medal performances Friday included:

• Kaiserslautern sophomore Rio Harris won the girls’ 800 meters in 2:23.37. Harris built a huge lead and held on for a 4-second victory over Shannon Cuthbert, a Naples High School junior.
• Black Forest Academy senior Katelyn Kieffer soared 16- 6¾ for victory in the long jump over up-and-coming freshman Sara Sawyer of AFNORTH. Sawyer’s mark was 16-0½.
• In the boys triple jump, Ramstein junior Michael Wallace was tops with a leap of 43-2, beating Aviano junior Sean Outing by 5 inches.
• Jonathan Sellers, a senior at Ramstein, muscled his way to gold in the discus with a toss of 122-10 ¼. If there was a medal for most improved, he might have earned that one, too. In 2008, he came in last in the same competition. This year, extra practice in the backyard and watching other athletes’ techniques on YouTube made the difference, he said.
• Also in the throws, sophomore Latrisha Jones of Ansbach won the girls shot put by more than 2 feet, with a mark of 34-6 ½.
• Back on the track, lanky Sterling Teall of Ansbach outlegged Ramstein’s Secrest in the 3,000 meters. The two talented seniors were expected to compete twice more on Saturday, in the 800 and 1,500.

The meet concludes Saturday, with the first championship field events starting at 11 a.m.