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Scherschel Glad To Get Record

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By BILL WARD

wward@tampatrib.com

Published: March 16, 2009

When Morgan Scherschel cleared 12 feet at last summer's Golden South Classic in Orlando, she thought she finally owned Gaither High's record in the girls pole vault.

She thought wrong.

Like other schools, Gaither's policy for its records is they have to be set during the high school season. So even though Scherschel was a junior and competing at the meet as a prep athlete accompanied by Cowboys coach Ladd Baldwin, the height did not count as Gaither's record.

So after she cleared 12 feet again at Saturday's Charles Johnson Invitational at King, Scherschel was understandably excited to officially eclipse former Gaither star Dara Altman's 8-year-old school record of 11-9.

"I'm so happy I finally have this record," said Scherschel, who last month signed with the University of Florida, the same school Altman competed for. "I thought I had it last summer, but that's OK. I have it now and getting 12 feet this early, now I'm thinking 13 is possible."

If Scherschel can consistently clear 12 feet the remainder of the season, she has a good shot at the Class 4A state crown. She was third at the state finals last year at 11-0 and the winning height of 12-0 was cleared by a senior.

McALLISTER STAYS BUSY: After signing his football scholarship with Florida State, you would think Alonso senior defensive end Demonte McAllister would relax the remainder of the school year and take it easy. Or, at the most, hang out in the Ravens' weight room.

But McAllister says he's the type of athlete who likes to stay busy. To him, if he's not training and competing, he just doesn't feel right.

That's why he was out there at the crack of dawn Saturday tossing the shot and discus in the Charles Johnson Invitational. McAllister was not only competing, he was dominating. His shot put of 46-9.5 and discus throw of 145-8 were the top marks in both events - by far. He won the discus by more than 15 feet and the shot put by nearly two feet.

"I've been doing track for four years now and I've always wanted to be one of the top guys in the county," McAllister said. "I just want to stay active. I'm not motivated to just work out and doing nothing else. I want to compete."

DREAM HALF MILE: They may never run this fast the rest of the season. And considering they ran fresh under near-perfect conditions, many coaches believe they won't.

But for one night, seven local runners dipped under two minutes for the 800-meter run, four of them cracked the 1:54 mark and one, Sickles senior Derek Wehunt, broke 1:53. It all came together at Jesuit's track Wednesday night and if you were there, you know there was a real buzz in the air for this "Dream Half Mile."

It was set up to help Jesuit senior Connor Revord break Mike Akins' school record of 1:54.75 for the 800. Revord took the field through 400 in 55.5 and, in the final 200, the chase pack turned it on. Revord was overtaken in the final 100 by Wehunt, his brother, Dan Wehunt, and Robinson's Darrin Gibson.

When the handheld times were written down, no one could believe it. Wehunt had run 1:52.9 to break Dan's school record by more than four seconds, Gibson went 1:53.2 to crush the Knights' 800 mark, Dan ran 1:53.8 to better his own record and Revord finally owned his school record with a time of 1:54.0.

It was likely the fastest 800 field ever in county history. But the county record is still believed to be held by former Brandon great Tommy Curtis, who in 1975 ran 1:52.0 for 880 yards, the equivalent of about 1:51.4 for 800 meters.

Reporter Bill Ward can be reached at (813) 259-7456.

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