TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Gaither Girls, Plant Boys Win

ADVERTISEMENT

A Tribune staff report

The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 24, 2009

TAMPA - Gaither's girls and Plant's boys easily won the team trophies at Tuesday's Western Conference American Division track meet at Jefferson, but they may not have performed well enough to expect the same finish at next week's Vernon Korhn Hillsborough County Championships.

Tuesday's meet - along with the Federal and National Division meets staged at Armwood and Spoto - served as the qualifier for the county championships. The top four place winners from each of the three competitions, plus the next four best marks across the board, earned berths in the title meet.

Led by Yesenia Perez, Morgan Scherschel, Sandra Pratt and Rikka Lovely, Gaither rolled up 206 points to beat Plant by nearly 100. Perez won both hurdles and ran on the winning 4x400 relay, Scherschel took the pole vault and scored in three other events, Pratt captured the 800 and ran on two winning relays, and Lovely won the 100, was second in the long jump and 200, and third in the triple jump.

But Gaither coach Ladd Baldwin said in order to have a shot at knocking off defending county champion Wharton next week, he'll need an even better effort from his squad. And with Lovely coming out of this meet with a sore knee and unable to qualify in the 200, that could be difficult.

Plant's boys, meanwhile, came into the meet with injuries to key athletes, most notably sprinter Allen Sampson (ankle sprain) and Trenor Wilkins (sore hip). Neither competed Tuesday, but the Panthers still had enough to beat Sickles 128.5-88. Plant was paced by winners T.J. Glover (400), Brian Baird (pole vault), Orson Charles (shot put) and Nick Bergin, who produced a county-best discus throw of 157 feet, 4 inches.

Bill Ward

National Division

GIBSONTON - Newsome's boys and East Bay's girls didn't dominate the individual titles at Tuesday's Western Conference National Division qualifier, but in the end the Wolves and Indians did enough to win overall championships.

Newsome's boys won with 125 points, edging Durant's 123. East Bay's girls had a bit of an easier time, collecting 154 points, 16 ahead of Newsome.

"Once again we had a great team effort," said East Bay coach Jessica Miller, who guided her team to a victory in Friday's Jack Rice Invitational.

Individually, Plant City's Jasmine Pope and Brandon's Desmond McGill had arguably the best overall performances.

Pope won the 100-meter dash (13.02 seconds), the 200 (26.42) and the long jump (16 feet, 7.5 inches).

McGill won the 300 hurdles (42.33) and the 110 hurdles (15.66), placed third in the triple jump (41-9.75) and anchored the Eagles' 4x400 relay (3:31.13).

Durant's John Mitchell was another shining individual bright spot, winning the 1,600 (4:35.96) and 800 (2:05.06).

Scott Purks

Federal Division

SEFFNER - As expected, the Hillsborough boys and Wharton girls took first place Tuesday at Armwood, the Terriers putting up 167 points while the Wildcats scored 168 in the Western Conference Federal Division meet.

But for a pair of Hillsborough top runners, the meet was bittersweet because they didn't qualify for two of the premier events in the upcoming Hillsborough County Championships, which could hinder the Terriers' chances of defending their 2008 title.

Terrence Mitchell could not run in the 100-meter final due to shin splints suffered during the long jump, and Lindsey Lamar wasn't able to qualify for the 200 due to a leg cramp suffered during the final.

Despite the setbacks, Mitchell still won the long jump, triple jump and the 300 hurdles, while Lamar won the 400 and finished second in the 100.

Wharton's Amani Bryant won the 100 hurdles (14.89), 300 hurdles (44.71), 200 (26.01) and long jump.

"She's just a tremendous athlete," Wharton coach Wes Newton said. "She wins about everything she runs."

Other notables were Wharton sophomore Brooke Foley, who won the 800, Chamberlain's Dentarius Locke, the defending Class 3A state champ in the 100, winning the 100 and 200, and Tampa Bay Tech's Tanesha Maxwell, who won the girls 100.

Jeffrey Jones

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT