Photos by Crag T Greealee
In spite of being slowed by an ankle injury, Ila Mumford of Parkland finished fourth in the long jump and
fifth in the triple jump.
Parkland
from page B1
ly matched," said Sherman,
who also placed third in the
55-meter dash. "On any
given day, it could me who
wins, or it could be her."
The 4x200 relay
belonged to the Mustangs
from the very start.
Miaysha Bryant, Sherman
and Shanone Cannon gave
Williams a comfortable
cushion and she sealed the
victory with a strong
anchor leg to set another
state record (1:39.92). Cary
was a distant second at
1:42.07.
Parkland put the finish
ing touches on its state
championship with a pul
sating victory in the 4x400
relay (McKinley McNeill,
Sherman, Kimani Davis
and Williams). Sherman
lost the lead on the second
leg and was in fourth place
with 160 meters to go.
Coming out of the final
turn, she brought the crowd
to its feet with a blistering
kick to put the Mustangs
back in front. In the
process, Sherman ran past
Layla White of Cary, the
three-time state indoor
champ at 500 meters and
last year's state outdoor
champ at 400 meters.
Cary regained the lead
on the third leg. By the
time Williams took the
baton as anchor, she was 30
meters behind. Gradually,
Williams began to gain
ground, then she opened
full throttle over the final
90 meters to run past
Cary's Lakeshia Warner.
The dramatic come-ffom
behind victory produced a
third state record (3:55.16)
for Parkland. Runner-up
Cary finished seven meters
off the pace at 3:55.76.
"I went out on that first
lap a lot faster than I antic
ipated and my legs started
to tie up," Sherman
explained. "Then I got
caught by three teams.
That's when I made up in
my mind that I wasn't
going to go out like that.
This is my senior year and
my last state indoor cham
pionship, so I just left
everything I had on the
track."
Given the lead that
Cary had on the final leg,
Williams figured that at
best, the Mustangs only
realistic hope was to con
centrate on finishing sec
ond. But as the race contin
ued, Williams sensed that
there might be a remote
chance to pull off a star
tling comeback.
"At first, 1 didn't think
it was possible to catch the
first-place runner," said
Williams. "But as I started
to get closer and closer, the
crowd got louder and loud
er. I came around that last
curve and decided to just
go for it and things worked
out in our favor."
One
VI UIC
most
hotly
contest
ed races
of the
state
meet
involved
McNeill
o f
Parkland
and White of Cary in the
500-meter dash. McNeill
surged ahead to take the
lead with 190 meters to go
and pushed White hard all
the way to the finish line.
With 20 meters to the
finish, McNeill tied up
badly and couldn't main
tain her running form.
White won by a stride in
1:14.10 and McNeill was
second at 1:14.92. White
collapsed from exhaustion
Hughes
after crossing the finish
line.
Winning the team title
serves as strong evidence
of the
Mustangs depth.
Entering the state champi
onships, sprinter Erin
Morrison (500, 4x200
relay, 4x400 relay) was
unavailable because of an
Achilles injury.
Jumps specialist Ila
Mumford returned to
action, but was still slowed
by an ankle injury.
Even so, Mumford
contributed to Parkland's
cause by finishing fourth in
the long jump and fifth in
the triple jump.
Nateja Hale and Jahnae
Bowman exceeded expec
tations. Hale
was second in the triple
jump (37-feet, 6 ^ inches)
and fourth in the 55 hurdles
(835 seconds).
Bowman placed sixth
in the long jump (17-feet, 3
inches) and seventh in the
55 dash (734 seconds).
"With Erin being out
and Da not being 100 per
cent healthy, Nateja and
Jahnae really stepped up
big for us," said Hughes.
"They finished higher than
where they were seeded in
both of their events."
Phoao by Liviegswee College Athleoo
Cierra York has played at an all-star level during
her time at Livingstone.
York
from page El
Winning next week's
CIAA Tournament, she
explained, is not a case of
wishful thinking.
"Getting adjusted to the
bad news is hard," said
York, an All-CIAA pick
last season and All-Rookie
in 2012. "Our record has
changed, but there's still
some season left and the
(CIAA) tournament. We
know how to win and we
know what winning feels
like. It all comes down to
us playing good basketball
and allowing our perform
ance to speak for itself. Our
goals to win the CIAA and
go to the NCAA
Tournament haven't
changed. But regardless of
what goes on, we're a fam
ily, and we'll stick togeth
er."
York, who played at
Winston-Salem Prep, has
performed at an all-star
level during her college
career with the Lady Blue
Bears. Through 23 games,
the 5-foot-8 senior guard
averaged 12.7 points, 5.7
rebounds, 2.4 assists and
1.7 steals per game.
Earlier in her career,
York posted better num
bers. But now that
Livingstone has more scor
ing on the roster, there's no
need for York to go solo as
often as she did in past sea
sons. Aside from York, the
Lady Blue Bears have
ample firepower with new
comers Amber Curtis (123
points) and Precious
Roberts (11.9 points).
"At first, it was difficult
to adjust," York confessed.
"I've always been the one
who was expected to take
over offensively. But I've
learned to share the basket
ball. Now, I get very excit
ed when my teammates go
off (scoring). The defense
has to focus on stopping
them, which creates more
openings for everyone else
and that makes the game
easier. I'm thrilled to Anal
ly have a team that I fit in
well with.''
First-year coach Anita
Howard has a deep appre
ciation of York's value as a
key ingredient and steady
ing influence on and off the
court. Howard refers to
York as the respected veter
an voice who's been the
go-to player on a struggling
program for most of her
college career.
"Cierra is the epitome
of what we try to instill in
our newcomers," said
Howard. "She's the old
soul who keeps everybody
grounded and humbled.
Anytime she's on the floor
- whether it's in practice or
in a game - she plays hard
and she plays with a lot of
pride.
Howard's coming to
Livingstone represents a
re-connect of sorts for the
coach and York. Having
conducted a summer work
out with York while she
was in high school,
Howard was impressed
with her outside shooting.
As an assistant at Shaw, she
attempted to sign the for
mer
Phoenix playmaker.
But York opted to join the
Lady Blue Bears instead.
When York learned last
spring that Howard would
be the new Livingstone
coach, she was ecstatic.
"Knowing Coach
Howard's background, I
knew that she'd come in
and make things happen,"
said York, a biology major
who has a 3.1 grade-point
average.
"There was never a
doubt in my mind that
things would begin to
change few the better in her
very first year."
Not long after her
arrival on campus, Howard
wasted no time outlining
her expectations. The new
coach wanted York to fur
ther fine-tune her game,
which in turn, would help
accelerate
Livingstone's turn
around. For that to happen,
York and everybody else
would have to fully
embrace the concept of
doing more in every facet
of the sport.
"Ciena needed to speed
up the release on her jump
shot," said Howard. "Once
opponents found out how
good a shooter she is,
defenders staned closing
out on her very quickly. As
a result, she ended up tak
ing fewer shots.
Developing a quicker
release, though, was just
one of the items she needed
to work on.
As a guard, she has the
size to grab more rebounds
and she's doing a good job
with that."
Howard understands
how hungry York is to win
a conference champi
onship.
York is keenly aware
her new coach's handiwork
at Salem College. Under
Howard's watch, the
Spirits went from being
worst to first in two pro
gram-changing seasons.
So, the two made a
pact. Howard promised
York that she would bring
in the needed pieces to help
Livingstone become a
legitimate
CIAA title contender.
In response, York promised
Howard that she would
help deliver a
conference tournament
championship, which
would be the first for the
Livingstone women since
2000.
*
Above, Tyrek McNeil dribbles
past a Reagan defender.
At left, Mount Tabor JV coach
Willie Harrison talks to his
team during a time-out.
Photos by Craig T. Greenlee
Mount Tabor
from page Bl
did what they were asked
to do," said Coach Jeff Noe
of Reagan. "Not being able
to rebound the ball really
hurt us. I won't say that our
lack of size was the reason
we lost. We just weren't
/ prepared to handle Mount
Tabor's size, and that's on
me. That's my fault."
Bond Craver gave
Mount Tabor a big lift,
scoring 16 of his team-high
23 points in the first half.
Wtfkins (16 points) and TJ.
Stevens (15 points) turned
in strong offensive per
formances in the second
half.
Mount Tabor delivered
the knock-out blow mid
way through the fourth
quarter. Reagan had sliced
the Spartans lead to 59-54.
It appeared that the Raiders
would pull closer when
Malik Miles darted to the
basket on a drive.
But before Miles to get
to the rim, he was stripped
of the ball and Wilkins
headed down-court in the
opposite direction on the
break. He finished with a
finger-roll lay-up to push
the lead back to 7 points
(61-54). After that
sequence, the Spartans
pulled away to win com
fortably by double digits. ?
Maverick LaRue pro
vided much of the offen
sive spark for Reagan with
a game-high 24 points.
Miles added 13 points,
Reynolds Craver followed
with 11 and Trey McDaniel
scored 10 points.
The Spartans managed
to remain No. 1 in the CPC
despite losing two starters.
Point guard Jake R utter and
power forward Karron
Jeter were recently moved
up to the varsity. Rutter
was the Spartans best
shooter and Jeter served as
a formidable factor in the
lanes at both ends of the
floor.
"We don't have to
depend on one or two play
ers all the time," said
Harrison. "Bond Craver
came ready to play against
Reagan. In every game
we've played this season,
it's been a different person
who has gotten the job
done. Our guys stepped up
at the right time. That's the
n^me of the game."