A language barrier was about the only thing hindering Perry Hall's Krissy Jost at yesterday's fifth Pangaea International Track and Field Meet at the Fifth Regiment Armory.
Competing in a meet that featured 37 teams, including two from the Russian cities of Krasnoyasrk and Orenburg, Jost began her final indoor track season by picking up two gold medals and a congratulatory message from a Russian opponent.
"After one of my races, one of the Russian girls came up to me, and I was talking to her and she didn't understand a word I said," said Jost. "She kept saying, 'Welcome to Russia,' which didn't make sense, but I think she was trying to congratulate me.
"I've come to this meet since I was a freshman, and I've been to Russia and I know that they are very competitive people. But, after a race, win or lose, they're nice to you." Jost won her first major indoor race of the season by holding off Russian runner-up Marina Lyuisuk and Dulaney's Meghan White in the girls 1,500 meters and later edged Tamika Coombs of Northwestern in the girls 800 in a winning time of 2 minutes, 23.77 seconds. Erin Cecil of Dulaney was fourth at 2:32.43.
"This was my first time running indoors and I was nervous before the race, but once I started running I felt relaxed and it all came back to me," said Jost.
Oksana Orekhovskaya of Krasnoyarsk took first in the high jump with a leap of 5 feet, 4 inches and teammate Andrey Malkin placed second in the boys 500 run.
Dave Russell of Perry Hall rose above the rest of the field and won the pole vault with a jump of 12-6, six inches better than runner-up and teammate Jeff Newman and Leonardtown third-place finisher Jason Herr. Jason Berger (South River) took fourth after clearing 11 feet.
Ryan Stevens of Chesapeake-AA won the boys 1,500 in 4:16.18, less than a second ahead of Wilde Lake's Faisal Hasan and nearly three seconds ahead of Parkville's fourth-place finisher Joe Smith.
Dulaney's 3,200 relay team of Cecil, Maria Derrer, Suzanne Sclafani and White took first in 10:29.02, well ahead of runner-up Perry Hall (10:40.32).
Kyle Walker of Oakland Mills recorded a convincing victory in the boys 55 high hurdles as he won the event in 7.8 and Monica Stevens took second in the girls 55 hurdles in 8.7, just shy of Roosevelt champion Jeanna Johnson (8.6). Walker later took fifth in the 55 dash.
Becky Bays of Hammond took third in the girls shot put (29-11), and David Keller of Parkville was runner-up in the boys shot put with a toss of 47-10 and South River's Adrian Newman took third by clearing 47-7.
Megan Makowski of Perry Hall took second in the girls 3,000, followed by Parkville's Leeza Curnoles (11:38.04) and Jennifer Geroux (12:03.75).
Timothy Mechlinski of Dulaney was runner-up to Central's Edward Allen in the boys 800 and Berger was fifth followed by Marc Baron of Wilde Lake.