McDonogh MD Standout Runs US#1 52.33 And 11.40 In South Carolina

By Oliver Hinson for DyeStat

DyeStat archive photo

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Elise Cooper pulled off the 100/400 double at the All American Track Classic on Saturday, making a strong statement in the early stage of her final high school track season.

Cooper, a senior at McDonogh MD and a Texas commit, shattered the meet record in the 400 meters, clocking a 52.33 for a new US#1 and a massive personal best. The previous meet record was 53.71, and her old personal best was 54.01.

Heading into the race, it seemed like Sophie Rambo, a junior at Grassfield VA, was the favorite given her strong credentials in the long sprints — she took second in the 400 at New Balance Nationals Indoor and won the 500 at the VA Showcase — but Cooper showed that she has the endurance to be a force in the longer events, beating Rambo by about two tenths of a second.

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Rambo didn’t have a bad day, either. Her 52.47 earned her a US#2 and a personal best, and she also easily dipped under the old meet record, as did Ataja Stephane-Vazquez (Southeast Guilford NC) and Tianna Spinks (Southern Guilford NC), who ran 53.342 and 53.349 for third and fourth, respectively.

Cooper’s win in the 100 meters was equally impressive. She didn’t break any records, but she beat a loaded field that included Rambo, South Carolina commit Kymora-Lee Williams (John Overton TN) and Nike Indoor Nationals 60-meter hurdles champion Madeline Cooper (Drew Charter GA). She broke the tape in 11.40, equaling her personal best and nearly earning one of the top 10 fastest times in the country.

Cooper has long been a force at 200 and 300 meters — she advanced to the semifinals of the U.S. Olympic Trials in the former last summer and set a national record in the latter this winter — but her double on Saturday showed some impressive range.

The other story of the day, no surprise, was Bullis’ dominance. The Maryland powerhouse won the girls 4x400 and 4x100 relays, while Sydney Sutton, Payton Jones and Colin Abrams picked up individual wins of their own.

Sutton took down Olympic silver medalist Anna Cockrell’s meet record in the 400 meter hurdles and demolished the rest of the field, crossing the line in 57.75 for a three-second victory and earning US#1 status by a wide margin. Sutton won the flat 400 meters at New Balance Nationals Indoor this March, but it’s fair to say this performance came as a shock; prior to Saturday, Sutton’s most recent hurdle race came in June of 2023.

Two of her teammates, Kennedy Brown and Kassidy Hopkins, also placed in the top five; Brown ran 1:00.95 for second and Hopkins ran 1:02.24 for fourth. Sky Bleu Tyson (Palisades NC) took third in 1:01.75.

Abrams set a meet record in the boys 800 meters with a 1:50.79, winning a nailbiter over Kyle Barney (Marvin Ridge NC), who ran 1:50.91. Abrams had a relatively slow start to 2025, but he’s been dominant so far in the outdoor season; last week, he picked up a win and a personal best in the 800 at the Florida Relays with a 1:49.75 performance.

The girls 4x100 relay team broke a meet record of their own and cruised to a win, throwing down a 46.03 to win by seven tenths of a second. 

No records went down in the 4x400, but the Bullis squad won easily with a 3:55.53 performance. Ridge View SC took second in 4:01.53.

Jones added to her team’s accolades with a win in the girls triple jump. She jumped 19-7, a personal best by 11 inches. Ciara Williams (Lexington SC) took second with a jump of 19-1.50.

The Bulldogs weren’t the only ones making fireworks, though. Ja’Neil Harris (T.W. Andrews NC) pulled off the second sprint double of the night, winning the boys 100 meters and 200 meters. He had solid margins in both, winning the 100 by 0.16 seconds and the 200 by 0.25 seconds. The Florida commit has long been hunting for a marquee win, and Saturday’s races were among the most impressive of his career. His 10.35 performance in the 100 was a personal best, and his 21.16 in the 200 wasn’t too far off his PB of 21.00.

Bullis’ Connor Salmin took second in the 100 and third in the 200, running a personal best 10.51 in the former. In his first season at Bullis, Salmin has emerged as one of the best sprinters in the country; he took sixth in the 200 at New Balance Nationals Indoor in March.

Le’Ezra Brown (Dudley NC), building off his win in the 110-meter hurdles at the Florida Relays last weekend, picked up another win in that event Saturday and broke the meet record in the process, running 13.67 to win by over half a second.

Ava Rice (Battlefield VA) won the girls 100-meter hurdles in 13.48, beating a trio of talented Bullis runners including Hopkins, Gabby White and Solai Russell.

Cuthbertson NC nearly swept the relays; they won the 4x200 and 4x400, but they narrowly missed the win in the 4x100, taking third behind Fairfield Central SC and Independence SC.

Cardinal Gibbons Dominates Distance Events

The Arcadia Invitational may have been a sub-9:00 fest, but the East Coast also saw some quick distance races Saturday night. Hannah Rae Shaffer, a Cardinal Gibbons NC senior and North Carolina commit, demolished the meet record in the 3200 meters with a time of 10:16.57. 

Shaffer finished 26th at Nike Cross Nationals last fall and 22nd in the mile at New Balance Nationals Indoor this winter; in the spring, she’ll be looking to climb even higher in the national ranks.

Her teammate, freshman Kaitlyn Estep, won the 800 meters in 2:11.13, beating the field by over a second. Estep has been impressive in the outdoor season thus far; her 4:49 mile makes her the second fastest freshman in the country.

Estep also ran the mile on Saturday, and she didn’t come close to that 4:49, but she did take third in 4:58.85, coming in behind Sofi Alexander (Asheville NC) and Olivia Ferraro (North Lincoln NC).

Michael Haskin (Asheville NC) ran 9:03.58 in the boys 3,200 meters, narrowly beating his personal best of 9:03.96 and taking the win by two seconds.

Kaleb Burroughs (West Florence SC) won the boys mile in 4:10.79. Haskin took second in 4:12.57.

Natalie Brown Wins Shot Put/Discus Double

Natalie Brown came to win on Saturday, and she did just that, keeping her undefeated seasons alive in the shot put and discus.

Brown, a senior at Weddington NC, set personal bests in both events and made her way into the U.S. top 10 of each, tossing 47-4 in the shot put and a 155-2 in the discus. She was consistent in her field series for the former, recording three throws over 46 feet (each of which would have earned her the win), but in the latter, she had a single throw over 150 feet, and it was her farthest by over 10 feet. Hannah Hoffman (Eastside SC) took second with a throw of 149-1.

Walker Ferguson (Mauldin SC) also had an undefeated season to maintain in the javelin, and he did so in dominant fashion, breaking the meet record with a throw of 194-3. He won by nearly 20 feet.

Nse Uffort (Swain County NC) won the boys shot put with a throw of 61-2, and he looked like he was well on his way to pulling off another throws double, but Aidan Graham (Rock Hill SC) had other ideas. Graham threw 181-5 on his fourth attempt, narrowly beating Uffort’s best throw of 179-3.

Jaxon Jerabek went relatively unchallenged in the boys pole vault, clearing 16-0 for the win. Only Lucas Kowlok (Stratford SC), who cleared 15-0 for second, was within a foot of him.

Mackenzie Boggess (Clover SC) and London Myles (Hopewell NC) won the girls and boys triple jumps, respectively. Boggess jumped 40-1.5, and Myles jumped 47-8.