Poly’s Will Henderson sets meet record

‘Good start’ leads to time of 6.31 seconds in 55 meters

Will Henderson of Poly set a meet record in the 55-meter run at the prestigious Millrose Games held at the New Balance Track & Field Center at the Armory in New York on Saturday.

Henderson won the race in a blistering time of 6.31 seconds, easily beating the previous mark that Deangelo Cherry set just last year (6.40). MileSplit USA’s website said Henderson already had the best time in this event in the nation this winter — another 6.31, which was confirmed later on.

The Poly senior said meet officials told him this was a record, and it was announced as such to the crowd.

In the race, Henderson, who will attend Penn State, said he started well and kept rolling to cruise past his opponents.

“I had a good start and picked up speed quickly,” Henderson said from New York. “I stayed relaxed and executed the end of my race and ran through the line.”

Henderson beat out Ade Jones-Roundtree from Imhotep Charter in Philadelphia (6.37, which also beat Cherry’s record) and Eric Allen of Bullis, who tied the previous record at 6.40 in a fast race.

Henderson knew this would be a tough field, but that didn’t bother him before the race. He came to run and win, and enjoyed being able to do both at such a big meet.

“I loved the competition and big stage,” Henderson said. “I felt really comfortable on the track and knew I can run fast like I have all year. I knew I could perform well when I stepped on the track. I just stayed relaxed and executed.”

Henderson won the 55, the 55 hurdles and the high jump at the recent Baltimore City title meet in which the Engineers finished second overall. He again captured all three at the Class 3A Central Region meet last week.

The Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association state meets are next for Henderson next week.

Dalton Hengst of McDonogh, the Runner of the Year in cross country this past fall, turned in a personal best in the mile but came up just short of a victory.

Hengst posted a time of 4:08.99 in that race. However, the McDonogh junior finished third behind Noah Affolder (Carlisle, 4:07.24) and Brodey Hasty (Brentwood, 4:08.04).

McDonogh distance coach Jeff Sanborn said Affolder wanted to win this race and set a record, and the Carlisle runner did just that. Affolder took the lead from the start and made everyone chase him, a difficult task.

But Hengst nearly pulled it out, moving into second for much of the race until Hasty passed him in the final stretch.

“It was just a really, really smart race by Dalton,” Sanborn said from New York. “It was perfect because the leader put the hammer down, and so Dalton decided that he was going to go with the leader and do the best he could. Clearly, the guy was going for the record.”

The third-place finish was an improvement for Hengst, who finished seventh in this race last year. He’ll have one more chance to win it next year as a senior with McDonogh.

Hengst also did well in his recent championship week, sweeping the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 as the Eagles finished fourth in that meet.

In the men’s 2-mile race, Matthew Centrowitz, a Broadneck alumnus, finished seventh. The Olympic gold medalist in the 1,500 at the Rio Games last summer finished in 8:21.07. Ben True took first place in 8:11.33.