Big numbers roll into Armory for Hispanic Games

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

The U.S. Army Hispanic Games, Friday and Saturday at The Armory in New York, is one of the biggest indoor track meets in the country. 

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How big? Try 558 boys running the mile in sections ranging from freshman to invitational. 

At the height of the action Saturday, the Armory will become hot, stuffy, crowded, noisy and the athletes on the track will go round and round with the non-stop energy of a river rushing through a turbine. 

In other words, it's a sight to behold. And it's beautiful. 

At the tip top of the program Saturday are a handful of invitational events. Saratoga Springs sophomore Kelsey Chmiel is entered in the 3,000 meters and Shoreham-Wading River junior Katherine Lee is entered in the 800.  (Both are scratched from the mile).

Chmiel and Lee finished fifth and 10th, respectively, Dec. 3 at Nike Cross Nationals and both of them could be primed to run fast Saturday.

Two of the top 400-meter sprinters on the East Coast are going head to head as well. Rodney Agyare-May from Burncoat MA ran 47.67 outdoors last year and was ninth at New Balance Nationals Outdoors. Aaron Robinson of Oxon Hills MD is the Maryland 3A state champion at 48.78 seconds.

In the girls 400, Cameron Hinton, Terri Turner and Paris Peoples are set to go in a race that pits three strong sprinters from three different states. Hinton, a junior transfer to Franklin MD, ran 56.08 last spring for Maryvale Prep MD. Turner, of Penn Wood PA, was a state finalist last year and had a best of 55.96. Peoples, of Benjamin Cardozo NY, ran 55.27 indoors last year.

William Henderson from Baltimore Poly MD is entered in the long jump. He was third at the Penn Relays last year with a leap of 24-4.50.