| |
After a one-day rain delay, Howard County track and field fans were rewarded with exciting competition at Northwestern High School, and for the fourth consecutive year, Western took home the top spot in both the boys and girls meets.
Western led the boys meet with 113 points, followed by Northwestern 54.5, Eastern 44.5 and Taylor 32.
For the Panther boys, senior Jerel Hall led an impressive number of firsts as Western won nine of 16 events.
Hall was the meet’s only quadruple winner and the only individual three-time winner on his way to garnering the high-points award.
Hall began the evening by tying the county mark in the 100-meter dash held by Yan Searcy (Taylor, 1986), edging Taylor’s Shawn Fogleman in 10.9 seconds.
Hall added firsts in the 400 meters (51.8), the 200 meters (22.8) and anchored the winning 4x400 relay team in 3:31.6, bringing the Panthers back after taking the baton in third place.
Western coach Marvin Boswell said only this week he took Hall out of the 4x100 relay and added him to the open 400 meters, “which is probably where his strength is.”
“We just wanted to try it here and see what kind of condition he’s in getting ready to go into the big meets,” said Boswell. “We’ve got two more weeks to really go out and practice and I think that will make him just that much stronger.”
Hall said running the 400 is tough but that his speed is improving, and Boswell noted that running the 400 will help Hall’s 200 times.
“I’m kind of learning to enjoy the 400 and getting more used to it, working the stride,” said Hall. “Why not use it when I can?
“My times [in the 200] have gone from the mid-23s to the low-22s. Eventually I’ll get in the 21-[second] range hopefully by regional.”
ON THE FAST TRACK: Taylor senior Shawn Fogleman and Western senior Jerel Hall lead the way in the 100 dash during the Howard County boys meet Thursday night. Hall won the event in 10.9 seconds, tying the meet record and edging Fogleman by a tenth of a second. Hall also won the 200 and 400 dashes and ran a leg on the winning 4x400 relay team. KT photo
Another senior, Corey Scott, returned to his normal schedule to capture the 1,600 meters in 4:33.3 and the 3,200 in 9:56.0. Scott, after setting the school record for the 3,200 indoors this spring, sat out a few weeks with tightness in his calf and heel.
“I asked [Scott] how he was feeling and he goes, ‘I’m tired,’ which is good because he’s not hurting or anything,” Boswell said. “He’s as healthy as can be now, and that’s great news.”
Other Panther winners were Aaron Van Auken (6-0) in high jump, Indy Mathew (20-101/4) in long jump, Dean Shepherd (14-6) in pole vault and Jake Askren, Zac Martinez, Lucas Luckey and Hall in the 4x400.
Taylor’s Austen Conwell was a triple winner. He easily won the 110-meter high hurdles in 15.3 seconds, tied the meet record held by Sean Holsapple (Western, 2006) in the 300-meter hurdles in 40.7 and led off the Titans’ winning 4x100 relay team that included Walter Wheeler, Seth Stockdale and Fogleman.
“He ran well,” Taylor coach Steve Hanlon said of Conwell. “It wasn’t real clean there at the end [of the 300 hurdles] or else he would have taken that record instead of tying it.
“This is the first time he’s really been pushed, with the exception of running against [Taylor] Maxey at Tipton. I thought he did a great job and had a great night.”
Hansen Martin had an outstanding meet for the Comets. His first effort was a monumental comeback while anchoring the 4x800 relay team of Sam Clark, Caleb Gibson and Dylan Buck, bringing them home in a meet-record 8:23.6.
Martin added a first-place finish in the open 800 meters in 2:02.8, and on his split of the 4x400 relay, the third leg, he gave his team the lead before Hall’s anchor heroics.
“He absolutely made the 4x800 happen,” Eastern coach Paul Nicholson said of Martin. “He ran a 1:59.5 [leg] to catch the Northwestern [runner], who had a sizable lead.
“He runs with all heart and his best race is the last turn. He just refuses to die and I’m real proud of him.”
Tiger senior Brock Ford will finish his career with an unprecedented feat, winning the discus for the fourth straight time and having never lost a county meet since middle school.
Ford tossed the disc 140 feet, 9 inches and added the shot put title as well at 46-2.
“And he’s a hard worker, a good leader and he does everything for me that I ask him to do,” said Northwestern coach Dave Stevens of Ford. “He even takes time to teach middle schoolers, so I couldn’t ask any more of him. It’s nice to have a leader like that.”
|
