The East Coast International Showcase on May 3 and the Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAC) Championships on May 9 marked a series of significant achievements for several Sidwell track athletes.
At the East Coast International Showcase held at Morgan State University, juniors Omar Burik and Langston Hill, along with seniors Noah Warren and Clayton Gary, broke the current 4-by-100 meter relay school record with a time of 42.18 seconds. In addition to breaking this record, Gary broke the school record for the triple jump event by jumping 48 feet.
The Baltimore showcase featured elite track athletes from the East Coast, including Bullis’ Quincy Wilson, an Olympic gold medalist in the 4-by-400 relay. According to Burik, this event was one of the most competitive meets he has attended. Burik added that he recognized that he and his peers would have to compete at the high level they knew Wilson and the other athletes at the event were capable of before the race. “I knew they were going to push us,” he said. Burik highlighted the change in attitude, noting how he “knew this year was going to be a big year.”
“[Our attitudes] really brought us the whole way,” he added. Burik also thanked the coaches and showed appreciation for their toughness on him and his teammates while still giving the team opportunities to train on their own.
Hill, another record breaker, was happy with the broken record but is still confident in the team’s ability to imrpove. “Breaking that record means a lot, but we plan to break it again,” he said.
A few days later, during the MAC championship, Burik and Warren both broke the 200-meter record on the same day with respective times of 22.18 seconds and 22.11 seconds in the preliminary race.
According to Burik, the race was intense and difficult, calling it his “exact limit.” The final race was neck and neck, coming down to the last hundredth of a second, he explained. In the end, Warren finished first with a time of 21.98 seconds, followed by Burik with a time of 21.99 seconds.
