With his final event complete and a D.C. State Athletic Association title comfortably in hand for his school, Joshua Thompson of St. John’s strutted around the track rocking multicolored shades as he went looking for answers.
It remains to be seen whether the Stanford football signee did enough to get Instagram’s attention Thursday at Dunbar High, but he did more than enough to ensure he would be remembered on the D.C. track scene for years.
On Wednesday, during the first day of the meet, Thompson captured the first of three individual titles when he won the long jump (22 feet 6 inches) by three inches. The senior’s dominance continued Thursday: He took the 300 hurdles in a meet-record 39.85 seconds as well as the 110 hurdles in 15.12. He was second in the triple jump.
Thompson’s 38 individual points outpaced 11 of the 17 teams that competed and propelled the Cadets to a meet-high 212. Gonzaga was second with 70.5; Sidwell Friends had 62.
“Coming in, I felt like I’d already proved myself as far as legacy and stuff,” Thompson said. “So there was no real pressure today. I was able to be free and do my thing.”
Elon signee Carlos Moore had himself quite a meet as well. He took gold in the discus (130-4) on Wednesday, then broke the shot put meet record Thursday by nearly four feet by throwing 50-2.
“It felt really good to just get out here and compete with my teammates one last time,” said Moore, the meet’s field MVP. “I had sort of plateaued distance-wise in the middle of the season, so it was really cool to break through and set a record in my last meet.”
The St. John’s girls led the way with 217 points, giving the Cadets a sweep of the team titles. After winning the D.C. Interscholastic Athletic Association championship a week ago, Jackson-Reed (formerly known as Wilson) finished second with 88 points; Dunbar was third with 87.5.
The Cadets girls dominated the relays, setting meet records in the 4×100, 4×200 and 4×400. Junior Meredith Gotzman set a meet record in the 3,200 (10:55.72) and also won the 1,600 (5:03.93).
“Honestly, what can I say that hasn’t already been said about these girls?” St. John’s Coach Desmond Dunham said. “To dominate the WCAC meet last weekend, then come here four days later and put up huge numbers again is incredible. From top to bottom, this is a special group of girls.”
Jahari Miller of Jackson-Reed and Thompson were co-track MVPs; Miller won the 100 and 400 meters. On the girls’ side, Gotzman and Takiya Henson of St. John’s were co-track MVPs, and Jackson-Reed’s Kymia Bridgett was the field MVP.
