Video: DQ given to wrong runner
A feel-good story emanated from Tuesday’s Class 4A East Region indoor track and field championships.
North County runner Israel Ogwu, who fell to the track after being pushed from behind and therefore finished last in the 500-meter run, was given a rare reprieve. Meet officials huddled and decided to allow Ogwu to rerun the race. Ogwu then pulled off the improbable, running a time that vaulted him into first place despite having no competitors to pace with.
A raucous crowd at Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex cheered wildly as Ogwu came across the finish line with a time of 1 minute, 7.29 seconds to capture the region championship.
However, the other side of the story does not have nearly as happy an ending.
Broadneck runner Aiden Vanderbilt, who won the original race, was disqualified for pushing Ogwu. However, video evidence provided by multiple sources clearly shows that Vanderbilt was not the runner who caused Ogwu to go down.
The incident occurred with one lap remaining as the lead pack of runners passed by the finish line on approach to a turn. Ogwu can be seen making a move to pass a South River runner on the right and draws even with Vanderbilt, who is on the outside of the track.
Video shows the inside runner, and not Vanderbilt who was on the outside, reaching out and contacting Ogwu, causing his fall.
Unfortunately, that is not how the only meet official who was watching at the time saw the incident.
Vanderbilt outsprinted Meade’s Matthew Calinda in the home stretch to finish first. However, moments after meet officials gathered to discuss the incident, it was announced that Vanderbilt had been disqualified.
“I was surprised and shocked that I was DQ’d because I knew I didn’t do anything
wrong,” Vanderbilt told The Capital on Wednesday evening. “I moved out of the way when Israel fell so maybe it looked like I touched him, but I definitely did not.”
Broadneck coach Josh Webster hustled to the finish line area to look into the situation. He initially questioned Vanderbilt, who was emphatic that he was not the runner who pushed Ogwu.
“I had to pull Aiden aside and tell him he’d been disqualified. Naturally, he was very upset and swore he did not touch the runner that went down,” Webster said.
Webster was told by the head official that the decision to disqualify was based on the report provided by the lone official who witnessed the incident. Webster then sent assistant Robert Kichler, the program’s distance running coach, to seek clarification from the meet official who made the call.
“I asked the official what happened and he said he saw No. 4 [Vanderbilt] reach out with a full extension of arms and shove the guy who fell,” Kichler said.
However, two separate video replays of the race contradict that account. Austin Vanderbilt was taping his son’s race and provided The Capital with a video clip of the incident that shows the pushing incident from behind the runners. Chasing the Standard, a YouTube channel covering cross country and track and field in Maryland, also posted a video from a different angle. It can be seen in both that Vanderbilt was not the runner to make contact with Ogwu.
Webster was told that Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association rules do not allow track and field meet officials to consult video when rendering rules decisions. Furthermore, because the disqualification was considered a judgment call, Webster had no avenue for protest or appeal, according to the MPSSAA rulebook.
“The one official who claimed to have seen the contact reported it to the head official and our athlete was unjustly disqualified,” Webster said. “I tried to get the officials to rescind the decision and they would not. As a result, Aiden, who had won the event fairly, was unable to qualify for the state meet.
“It’s grossly unfair, but there seems to be no recourse under our current rules system.”
Webster was incredulous that no other meet official witnessed the incident. Several other officials were in close proximity to the area of the track where Ogwu fell, but none saw what happened.
Apparently, meet officials also did not take into account the testimony of Ogwu.
“Israel told them he was pushed down from behind and even the one official who was the witness agreed that Aiden was alongside Israel,” Webster said.
Breanna Bostic, who served as Class 4A East Region meet director, referred all questions to MPSSAA executive director Andy Warner. Warner did not respond to an email from The Capital seeking comment or clarification.
As a result of the disqualification, Vanderbilt will not compete in the event at the Class 4A state meet, which is being held Feb. 22 at the Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex.
“Aiden is one of the top 500-meter runners in Maryland and I think he was very capable of winning the state championship,” Webster said. “It was a very sad outcome to an otherwise great meet. I feel awful for Aiden. It really hurts me that I wasn’t able to help him.”
“I’ve been working really hard toward peaking for the state meet and I wanted to prove that I’m a lot better than I showed last year,” Vanderbilt said. ‘To have this happen is just really heartbreaking.”