Komolafe Storms to Two Wins, Shatters Own School Record
CARLISLE, Pa.--Senior Ola Komolafe of the Hood College men's track and field team jetted out of the blocks to win the men's 55-meter dash in a solid time of 6.62 seconds breaking his own school record at the season-opening Holiday Invitational hosted by Dickinson College.
Komolafe returned later in the program to capture the 200 meters
in a time of 23.84 on Dickinson's tight oval and contributed the
400 leg on the Blazers third place distance medley relay.
"This was a very solid opening for us as a team and an outstanding
one for Ola," said head coach Brent Ayer. "Ola is just in very good
early season form."
The meet featured eight colleges and universities, including
several regional powers. While team scores were kept, they were
inconsequential, as schools competed with limited squads and
experimented with new events.
Additional school records were set by first-year Nicolas Aldana and
sophomore Brett Shelley. Aldana, a Middletown High School
product, ran 8.19 to finish third, second collegian, in his first
college 55-meter hurdles race.
"In college, the high hurdles rise to 42", a three-inch jump
over high school. Many hurdlers have difficulty with the
adjustment, but Nick has found his footing early," observed Ayer.
"We are fortunate to be attracting more talented athletes and to
have three-time U.S. Olympic Coach Jack Griffin working with
them."
Shelley ran 16:51.96 over 5,000 meters for his school record, a new
personal best that also exceeded his outdoor personal record. "I am
pleased for Brett," said Ayer. "He struggled some in cross country,
but he is committed to his craft and worked very hard over the
summer. He was due this bit of success."
Also impressive were Hood's jumpers. Senior Justin Everett and
first-year Nick May finished second and third in both the long jump
and the triple jump, losing only to an unattached athlete and, in
the process, racking up 28 of the Blazers' 93 team points.
"We are beginning to score points in bunches in several events,"
Ayer said. "In the long jump we went second-third. In the triple
jump, we went second-third. In the 800, we finished second-eighth.
And, in the 200, we scored first-eighth. This is a great
trend."
Sophomore Jordan Acton gathered in second place at 800 meters,
beaten only by an unattached athlete. First-year Steven Powell
finished second in the pole vault, and first-year Chris Catalfamo
was fourth at 1,000 meters.
First-year all-Capital Athletic Conference cross country runner Dan
Jacobs finished fourth at 3,000 meters despite having his appendix
removed three weeks ago. "I am almost speechless," observed Ayer.
"He was cleared by his physician and wanted to give it a go.
The guy is just tough."
Completing the scoring for the Blazers were the third place
distance medley relay (Stephen McNamara, Komolafe, Acton, Shelley),
the 4 x 400 meter relay in sixth place (Chris DiGangi, Matt Dyjack,
Powell, Dave Gudeman), first-year Stephen McNamara (seventh in the
mile), first-year Matt Dyjack (eighth at 800 meters) and Naseem
Zietoon (eighth at 200).
Hood's next meet is slated for January 22, 2011 at West Virginia University.
