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Past track
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Photo by Craig T. Greenlee
Mount Tabor sophomore Chamessa Reid turned in a surprise third-place finish in the girls' 55-meter hurdles at the Class 4-A state indoor track championships.
Spring
from page B1
second-place finish at the
state.
In the 4x200 relay.
Parkland clocked 1 minute
45.26 seconds for third,
which was only .01 sec
onds behind second-place
High Point Central.
Whether this crew can suc
cessfully challenge state
champ Southeast Raleigh
is anyone's guess.
The outlook in the
4x400 relay is the same.
Although Southeast
Raleigh is clearly domi
nant, the Mustangs should
prove to be viable con
tenders to finish no worst
than second at the state out
door meet in late May. The
team of McNeill, Davis,
Cannon and Francis ran
3:59.97 to claim the run
ner-up spot in that relay at
the state indoor meet.
Spartans' newcomer:
One of the more sur
prising performances at the
state championships was
delivered by Charnessa
Reid, a sophomore hurdler
and long jumper at Mount
Tabor. Reid raised a few
eyebrows with her medal
winning, third-place finish
in the 55-meter hurdles
(8.30 seconds).
At this point in her
career, there is a lot of
upside. That's because
she's just beginning to
improve her technique. As
Reid gains more experi
ence, there's no question
that in time, she could
develop as a legitimate
challenger for a state title.
Reid didn't fare as well
in the long jump at states.
While she didn't medal
(finish among the top four)
as a jumper, she did place
eighth, which is not bad for
a still budding novice. In
her case, it appears to be all
a matter of how much work
she wants to put in to ele
vate her skill set to another
level.
On the rise:
Based on the results
from the winter season, it's
clear that Parkland's boys'
team is on the rise. Quarter
miler Lorenzo Graise is
expected make a strong
push for the outdoor 400
title. He ran well during the
indoor season and more
than held his own at the
state meet with a third
place finish in the 500.
Graise (1:06.79) was in
contention from start to fin
ish in an intensely-contest
ed race. The top three run
ners (Joshua Cooper of
Charlotte Ardrey Kell,
William Hoffman of Cary
Green Hope, and Graise)
were separated by .47 sec
onds.
In the 4x400 relay, the
Mustangs are indeed for
real. They won the relay at
last year's Central
Piedmont Conference out
door championships. But
now, this relay is proving
itself worthy against the
best.
At the state indoor
meet, Trequan Barnes, #
Graise, Chris Hayes and
Braxton Ford showed that
the Mustangs figure to be
in the thick of the chase to
win the 4x400 at the state
outdoor meet.
Ford put together a grit
ty anchor leg which helped
Parkland (3:27.56) go from
third to second place
behind champ Green Hope
(3:26.64).
V
Formidable jumper:
By the time the high
school outdoor season ends
in May, Jordan Johnson of
East Forsyth could prove to
be the best long jumper in
the state. For now, though,
he's close.
At the state indoor
championships, Johnson
battled Marcus Krah of
Durham Hillside for
supremacy. In the end,
Krah (22-feet, 4 * inches)
prevailed over Johnson,
who came in second at 22
feet, 4 inches.
This spring, Johnson
looks to rise in the rankings
in the triple jump. He was
seventh at the state meet.
Photo by Craig T Greenlee
Connor Sparrow (33) was the
true centerpiece for East
Forsyth this season.
"I take my hat
off to our guys."
-Rodney Minor, Coach
No.l
from page Bl
"I take my hat off to our
guys," said coach Rodney
Minor. "They're a great
group who came to practice
every day and worked
hard. They deserve all the
credit. I'm just blessed to
coach a group of guys like
that. I'm going to love see
ing them play in the
future."
In the season-ender
against Northwest
Guilford, the outcome was
n't decided until the final
buzzer. East Forsyth went
up 65-60 with a little under
two minutes left in the
fourth quarter, but the
Vikings managed to stay in
contention.
Connor sparrow 01
East Forsyth provided what
proved to be the game-win
ning points when he con
verted a pair of free throws
to put the Eagles up 67-63.
Northwest Guilford
answered with a 3-pointer
by Jacob Riddles to make it
a one-point game with .7
seconds left remaining.
On the next sequence.
East Forsyth successfully
inbounded the ball to end
the game and claim the vic
tory. Sparrow led the
Eagles with 22 points,
which included eight of his
team's 16 points in the
fourth quarter. Tanis
Samuels performed well at
both ends and contributed
18 points to the cause. Josh
Mahaffey added 13 points
and Josh Wiley finished
with nine points.
Northwest Guilford (8
2 PTC) got a game-high 25
points finom Landon Sutton
and Riddles was next with
19. Thomas Smith rounded
out the double figures scor
ing with 11 points.
"I'm proud of the way
we finished the season,"
said Minor. "Our guys
fought from the beginning
of the game to the end. We
got off to a very fast start
(14-0 in the first quarter).
But I knew they would put
together a run and push
back. We played hard,
played smart and ultimate
ly, we came out on top."
Over the final three
minutes of the fourth quar
ter, East Forsyth held the
lead and slowed the pace of
the game by spreading the
floor and taking time off
the clock. During that
stretch, the Eagles showed
patience in running their
offense. But most impor
tantly, they hit enough foul
snots to Keep tne ieaa.
"We had the lead, so
there was no reason to play
fast-paced, especially with
them playing a packed-in
zone," said Minor. "We
spread them out, which
made them guard us. As a
result, we either got wide
open looks, or we went to
the foul line. At the end of
the game, we were able to
knock down free throws
and make lay-ups."
In retrospect, the
Eagles showing at the
Lash-Chronicle proved to
be a positive sign of good
things to come for the
entire season. During that
0
holiday run, East Forsyth
won each of its four tourna
ment games by double dig
its.
"Entering the Lash
Chronicle, they were hun
gry and they wanted it,"
said Minor. "Then we got
used to winning by big
margins and we got a little
complacent, midway
through the season. We had
some games where we did
n't play well and we ended
up losing one of those
games (58-55 to Glenn in
late January).
"That loss really woke
them up. They learned that
you have to come out and
play every night. You can
not just show up and expect
to win."
East Forsyth beats
Northwest Guilford 67-66
NWG ? #10 Thomas
Smith 11 points
#11 Land on Sutton
25 pts
#12 Jacob Riddles 19
pts
EF - Tanis Samuels
18, Josh MahafTey 13,
Connor Sparrow 22 (8 of
EF's 16 points in 4th quar
ter). Josh WDey 9
Entering game ....
East 8-1 PTC NWG 8-1
PTC
East finished 19-2 9-1
PTC NWG finished 8
2 PTC
? 1
Photos by Craig T. Greenlee
At the ClAA championships,
Rams distance runner Taska
Johnson was second in the mile,
third in the 800 and she was
part of the winning Distance
Medley Relay and the 4x400
relay that finished third.
WSSU't Domtila Kiplagat was voted the
women's track MVP at the CIAA Indoor
Track and Field Championships.
Freshmen show up at CIAA
championships
Sh'Naiya Chapman (4th, 60-meter hurdles)
Jenele Terry (4th long jump)
Halvandra McNeill (6th, pentathlon)
Aaliyah Craft (4th high jump)
New Faces
from page B T
Turner. "It's special because last year, I
graduated all of the athletes who came in
with me, which was over half the team.
But we were able to rebuild and bring in
some freshmen who really stepped up to
the plate. That makes me very proud of
everyone.
"Looking ahead, I believe our team
has a bright future. This year, what our
athletes have learned is that it's in them
(winning championships)."
There's still three weeks remaining in
the winter seasoH before' the NCAA
Division II indoor national track and field
championships on March 11-12 in
Pittsburg, Kan. For the time being, though,
it's not certain if any Rams will make the
trip.
The most likely candidates to compete
at the nationals are provisional qualifiers
Raven Covington (CIAA runner-up in the
? 0
60-meter dash) and the 4x400 relay four
some of Tametris Morrison, Ty-Leah
Hampton, Taska Johnson and Fazwia
Kheir.
Athletes can qualify for the NCAA
championships by making the automatic
qualifying standard or on a provisional
basis. Automatic qualifiers have a guaran
teed spot at the nationals.
To go as a provisional qualifier in the
women's competition, individuals must be
ranked among the nation's top 17 in their
respective events. ReUy teams are
required to rank among the top 12. As of
Feb. 21, Covington was ranked 10th
nationally at 60 meters and the Rams
4x400 relay was 20th.
WSSU athletes have one more oppor
tunity to better their performances in an
effort to enhance their chances to make the
provisional cut for the nationals. The
Rams will compete in the Mason Last
Chance Meet on Sunday at George Mason
University in Virginia.
t