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Johnson Invitational: Wharton's Bryant Enters 4, Wins 4

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By SCOTT PURKS

Tribune correspondent

Published: March 14, 2009

TAMPA - After more than 10 hours of running and jumping in the hot sun at Saturday's Charles Johnson Invitational, three athletes - Wharton's Amani Bryant and Hillsborough's Terrence Mitchell and Lindsey Lamar - stood above the hundreds who lined up to compete.

Bryant arguably had the best day, winning every event she entered: the long jump (17 feet, 3 inches), 200-meter dash (25.82 seconds), 100-meter hurdles (15.71) and 300-meter hurdles (44.57).

Bryant, however, said she wasn't in full form.

"It's early in the season and I'm still trying to get into the flow," said Bryant, the defending Class 3A state champion in the 300 hurdles. "I feel like I'm making progress, but I'm not there yet."

Mitchell - who won the long jump (22-3), triple jump (43-9), 300 hurdles (40.45) and placed second in the 100 meters (11.10) - voiced a similar perspective.

"I'm happy I won the events, but if I had not have won I would have been pretty upset," Mitchell said. "I would have been upset because I know I can do better. My timing still isn't quite right. But I'm working on it and I'll get there before the season ends."

Lamar, meanwhile, was dominant and swift, despite strong headwinds in the 100, 200 and 400, which he won in 10.87, 21.93 and 50.92 seconds.

"I honestly wasn't expecting to do that good, mostly because of those headwinds," said Lamar, who signed with South Florida on a football scholarship but also plans to run track. "I mean it was really blowing. Getting those times against the wind and so early in the season is really encouraging."

The high finishes by Lamar and Mitchell helped lead Hillsborough to the team title with 158 points, 40 ahead of Wharton.

On the girls side, Gaither, which scored in almost every event, won with 130 points, 13 ahead of Wharton and 29 ahead of Hillsborough.

Other individual performances of note: Alonso's DeMonte McCallister, who won the shot put and discus with county-best throws of 46-9 and 145-8, respectively; Tampa Bay Tech's LeRia Jenrette swept the girls' throwing events with county-best throws of 35-1 and 116-1; Gaither's Morgan Scherschel broke the school's girls pole vault record by clearing 12 feet, breaking the mark of 11-9 set by Dara Altman; and Sickles vaulter Nicole Smith, who set a school record with a vault of 11 feet.

LOCKE ADVANCES: Chamberlain senior Dentarius Locke turned in the meet's second-fastest 200-meter qualifying time to reach today's final of the Nike Indoor Nationals at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston. Running for the first time on an indoor, banked track, Locke covered the 200 in 21.70 seconds. That was just .21 seconds behind Tavaris Tate of Starkville, Miss. The top nine performances advanced to the finals. Locke will also begin qualifying rounds of the 60 today.

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