PHILADELPHIA, Pa.—In this City of Brotherly Love, there was little to be found over Labor Day.
With a score to settle, host Philadelphia made a shambles of this 77th AYF Olympiad with a record 296.5 points.
The “Sebouhs” were not to be denied after dropping a nail-biter to Providence a year ago. They mustered 81 points in the pool, added another 10 in golf and tennis, and entered Sunday’s track a whopping 50 points up on any challenger.
They captured every relay—be it swimming or track—men and women.
Going back two years, Philly toppled Providence by 183 points, only to succumb a year ago. Truth be told, it was the biggest one-year improvement in AYF history. The “Sebouhs” erased the former mark of 292 points set by Detroit exactly one decade ago.
The “Varantians” were caught in futility this time around, compounded by a lack of usual numbers. They finished with 119 points and wound up losing by 177 points. The record for largest margin of victory is still held by Detroit with 192 points. Last year, Providence posted 252.5 points in victory to Philly’s 232.
More than 200 athletes took part, giving rise to greater numbers destined to escalate even further with a resurgence in Greater Boston and New Jersey. Most all who registered participated with fewer no-shows.
One Providence coach showed his dismay and lauded Philly in the same breath.
“I was disappointed we couldn’t represent ourselves on the road as well as we did last year at home,” said Bob Tutunjian. “I want to commend Philly for its effort last year. They came to Providence with numbers and battled us down to the end. Unfortunately, many of our members couldn’t make the trip this year. Those who did show performed well and I was proud at how they competed.
We have a good core of young and old and will continue to build toward the future.”
Detroit placed third with 68 points, 22 more than in 2009, followed by Greater Boston with 57, and Most Improved Chapter New Jersey with 40, doubling its output from a year ago. The “Arsens” had added joy in winning their first softball crown.
Granite City with its handful of athletes tallied 27 points. Next year’s host Chicago managed a disappointing two points. North Andover rounded out the scoring with 1.5. Racine and New York also took part.
There were eight high scorers with 15 points apiece, five of them from Philly: Lara Kaiserian, Angela Soorikian, Sylvia Zohrabian, Michael Kaiserian, and Emanuel Mkrtchian.
They were joined by Andrew Hintlian and Stephen Tutunjian (Providence) and Michelle Hagopian (Granite City).
Aside from team scoring, three individual records were broken, two by Tutunjian. He eclipsed a 52-year-old mark in the long jump at 22’1”, then bettered his own triple jump standard at 46’5”. The previous LJ record was held by Leo Derderian and had reigned as the oldest in the books.
Mkrtchian bettered Alex Sarafian’s former mark in the discus with a heave of 150’2”—a scant .5” better. Sarafian had held that record since 1993.
Providence’s Justine Douvadjian pulled out a victory in the pentathlon with 2,795 points after a tussle with New Jersey’s Karine Birazian-Shnorhokian, who nearly doubled her point output from last year in this her swan song. The men’s pent was taken by Philly’s Mardiros Khatchadrian with 2,177 points after a close encounter with teammate Aram Gregoryan.
Ani Megerdichian of Providence walked away with the Ernest Nahigian Sportsmanship Award following her exemplary efforts at tennis. The Cory Tosoian Alumni Golf Award went to Granite City’s Jeff Hagopian with an 81—his third such award.
WOMEN’S DIVISION
For the fifth straight year, it proved the Hagopian story once again. The gal has never wavered from her 15 points—not even close—as she dominated golf, baseball throw, and discus, ringing up 75 points. Could be the best ever from this city of granite.
She tossed the baseball 159’4”, some 25 feet better than anyone else. Another bulge was seen in the discus with a heave of 96’6”. No one else got past 80 feet. In golf, she shot a 47 to prevail by 19 shots.
Kaiserian tallied all her points in swimming while Zohrabian also picked up two golds at the pool and added her third in track, breezing to victory in the 400 meters (1:04.8) over teammate Alexis Nedurian, who bounced back to win the 800 (2:38.2).
Of the nine runners in the 800 meters, five represented Philly in their medal sweep.
The dashes were owned by Philly turbojet Angela Soorikian, sprinting to victory in the 50 (7.3), 100 (13.4), and 200 (28.6).
Philly’s Alyssa Soorikian picked up two golds in the long jump (13’8.25”) and triple jump (30’6”), also adding a second in the high jump (more misses at 4’4”) to finish with 13 points.
Other golds were harnessed by the following: Alexis Williams (Philly), javelin (72’7”); Sara Selverian (Philly), high jump (4’4”); Ani Sarajian (New Jersey), shotput (37’5.5”); Liz Arakelian (Philly), 100-meter hurdles (18.1); and Michelle Miller (Philly), 1,600 meters (6:13.3).
Philly and Providence battled it out in the relays with the “Sebouhs” taking the 400 (55.0) and 800 (2:00.5)—the latter a near photo finish. They also added the co-ed 400 relay their way in 1:50.7 during another seat-squirmer.
Selverian made it an 11-point afternoon with silver medals in the long jump and triple jump to complement her high jump gold.
Providence got a wholesome effort from Ariana Abbott with silver medals in the 100 and 200 meters, joined by a bronze in the 400. Two other medals went to Varantian teammate Sonig Varadian.
MEN’S DIVISION
Tutunjian’s remarkable records in the long jump and triple jump were joined by a third gold in the high jump where he cleared 5’10”, outdueling Philly’s Armen Kazanjian, who stalled at 5’8”. He nailed the triple jump by a full nine feet over Philly’s Mark Santerian. The long jump record was 3.5’ better than what Greater Boston’s Berj Chilingirian had to show.
Mkrtchian harnessed his third high scorers’ trophy with another dominant show in the field. Aside from the discus mark, he also prevailed in the javelin (160’11”), taking that event by 35 feet over Philly teammate James DerHagopian.
His shotput gold came after a 49’8.5” toss—nearly 9 feet better than New Jersey’s Raffi Sarajian.
A year ago, Mkrtchian switched to the pentathlon and won that before handing that event over to two other teammates who placed one-two. He now has 60 points in his fourth year.
Kaiserian gained his points in swimming, giving him 56 points total. As far as siblings go, the four Karapetians still hold the overall record of 44 points in a single meet. The Kaiserians with their 43 points are three siblings.
Hintlian swept the distances for the first time since 2005 when Granite City’s George Schweitzer turned the trick. He prevailed in the 800 (2:10.3), 1,600 (5:15), and 3,200 (11:56.6). Ironically, his dad Fred won the 800 on this very same Wissahickon High track when Philly hosted the Olympics in 1982.
Sixteen runners entered the 1,600 while the 800 drew 14. The 3,200 also boasted similar numbers.
Philly speedster Mark Williams checked out with a double gold in the 200 (23.2) and 400 (55.1), adding a bronze in the 100 for a 12-point day.
Other victories were posted by the following: Chris Torcomian (Philly), 100 (11.2), and Ara Markarian (Detroit), 110-meter hurdles (17.4).
Both relays went Philly’s way in the 400 meters (47.6) and 1,600 meters (3:59.0) with Detroit gutting out seconds.
Chilingirian picked up three medals for Greater Boston with seconds in the long jump and hurdles, along with a third place in the triple jump.
Philly’s James Kazanjian harvested three silver medals in the dashes for nine points. Other seconds came from Gary Dodakian (Providence), 3,200; Sevan Zobian (Providence), 1,600; Armen Arakelian (Greater Boston), 800; Mark Santerian (Philly), triple jump; Raffi Sarajian (New Jersey), shotput; and Aram Afarian (New Jersey), discus.
A large field turned out for the alumni mile. In the end, it was former Chicago harrier Raffi Killian who took the honor in 6:25. Kudos go out to Merrimack Valley’s Carol (Boloian) Minassian, a Camp Haiastan nurse, who gave it another endurable whirl.
For the first time, there was a Camp Haiastan race during which youngsters were joined by their counselors. This was in addition to the kiddies race and drew a share of interest.
By the time the dust had cleared, Philly had lined up for its team photo and spectators were long gone as the afternoon drew to a halt. The weather was perfect and officiating among the best ever. Mark Alashaian deserves a gold medal for his long stint in the announcer’s booth—and still maintaining his vocal chords.
Tom Vartabedian
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