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Locke, Mitchell Capture Crowns At 4A State Meet

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By BILL WARD

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 4, 2008

WINTER PARK - This time last year, Dentarius Locke had won three medals at the state track championships but was on the verge of academic ineligibility. And John Mitchell? He wasn't even running track because of his love of basketball.

By the end of Saturday's Class 4A state finals, however, each of them had stood on top of the awards podium at Showalter Field wearing a gold medal around their neck.

Locke, a Chamberlain junior, captured the event he has been aiming for all season - the 100-meter dash - and came back to earn a silver medal in the 200. Mitchell, a Durant junior, stunned the field by winning the 1,600-meter run in his first season in the sport.

For Locke, the medals represented more than countless hours spent of training. It was also a reflection of the time he has spent in summer school, taking extra classes and studying on his own.

"I told him when he came to Chamberlain that he might be able to beat anyone on the track but it doesn't matter if you don't have the grades," said Locke's coach, Hansford Johnson. "What he has done in the classroom in the past year is one of the things I'm most proud of."

Johnson is also impressed with the technical improvements Locke has made sprinting. Saturday, Locke was nearly flawless en route to his first state crown in 10.72 seconds.

"This feels great," Locke said, "This is what I've wanted to do all year. I would've been upset with anything except first place."

Locke also was hoping for a win in the 200, but there he faced the nation's top-ranked athlete in the event, Miami Southridge senior Brandon O'Connor. Locke made the race interesting through 150 meters but that's where O'Connor used his long stride to power past Locke for the win in 20.82. Locke, however, felt some solace in the fact his second-place time of 21.02 sliced nearly two tenths of a second off his personal record and was the fifth consecutive race where he lowered his lifetime best.

Mitchell's win in the 1,600 wasn't surprising, but it wasn't expected, either. He entered the event with a personal best 4:23.39, a time he ran to win the Disney Showcase earlier this year. And his 800 speed - 1:56.37 at last week's regional - proved he had room to improve his mile time. But Mitchell, who played basketball last summer and this winter instead of logging miles, had no experience in the state finals.

So Mitchell opted to hang on to someone with plenty of state meets under his belt: Sickles junior Derek Wehunt. Through three laps, Mitchell ran right behind Wehunt. And when Wehunt took off with 300 meters to go, so did Mitchell, along with Sebastian Castillo of Pembroke Pines Flanagan. With 200 to go, Mitchell turned on the kick he is known for and powered home for the win in a new personal best, 4:21.63.

"Derek is such a great runner and I was just glad to be able to hang on to him," Mitchell. "I knew that if I could be there down the stretch, I could win it."

Wehunt, who had beaten Mitchell at both districts and regionals and was the top seed entering the race, wound up third in 4:25.05. Wehunt earned two medals Saturday, joining Sean Kilbride, Brett Wilson and his brother, Dan, to earn seventh on the 4x800 relay in 8:03.81.

Mitchell's only disappointed came in the 800, where he did something rare for a race of that distance: a false start.

Gaither's Rikka Lovely was the area's lone triple medal winner, taking fourth in the triple jump (37-6.75), sixth in the long jump (17-10.75) and seventh in the 100 (12.47). Sickles junior Bianca Morrison was fifth in the triple jump (37-5).

Mark Parrish of Chamberlain earned a bronze medal, running 9:43.56 in the 3,200. Another standout distance runner, Durant freshman Grace VanDeGrift, was sixth in 1,600 in 5:06.13 and was seventh in the 3,200 (11:22.68).

Gaither junior Morgan Scherschel tied for third in the pole vault at 11 feet, Sickles' Nicole Smith was fifth at 10-0. Plant City's Jasmine Pope was eighth in the long jump (17-7.75). Alonso junior Iesha Campbell was sixth in the discus with a personal best 116-6. Gaither's Aaron Overton earned a tie for seventh in the high jump at 6-4. Riverview's Earnest Polite also cleared 6-4 but had more misses and finished ninth.

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