Pam Pack track and field making strides towards regionals
Published 12:04 pm Friday, March 21, 2014
The Pam Pack boys’ track team came through with the upset on Thursday, defeated perennial track dynamo South Central in a tight contest, 83-80.5. D.H. Conley finished in third place with just 5.5 points.
By the slimmest of margins, the Washington girls finished in third place with 40 points, just one point behind D.H. Conley. South Central’s girls finished with more points than the other two competitors combined (87).
“I thought our boys did an excellent job today,” said head coach Jon Blank. “They set a lot of personal records, which is one of our first goals out every single day. South Central is a powerhouse 4-A team in track, and we were on their heels all day long. They pushed us to get better times today, and that’s what we wanted.”
In the long jump, Javon Whitney and Stevie Green both leaped their ways into regionals, taking first and second place respectively in the event. Green chalked up a 21-foot, 3-inch leap, while Whitney notched an even 22 feet. The regional qualification is Green’s third on the season after recording a time of 15.90 in the 110-meter hurdles later in the day and a 6-foot, 4-inch high jump in a previous meet.
The Washington 4×200-meter relay team finished second to South Central with a time of 1:32.5, but managed to qualify for regionals with its best time this season.
Myron Brooks locked up a spot in regionals with a time of 51.59 and a second-place finish overall, while teammate Daniel Maultsby recorded a time of 52.59 for third place. South Central’s Tramorris Murphy blew away the competition with a time of 50.9.
It was a photo finish in the boys’ 300-meter hurdles with Washington’s Tarahje Burke beating three South Central runners by a .01 of a second to take the five points and a first place finish.
Victor Santos had a commanding first-place finish in the grueling 3200-meter run with a time of 11:13, 37 seconds better than the second-place finisher.
Other notable Washington wins were Kyle Krajewski in the discus throw, Lexroy Brown in the shot put, Shaneen Midgette in the high jump and Cierra Hales in the 100-meter hurdles.
“Overall, it was a really strong day out of a lot of different kids,” Blank said.
The Pam Pack will lace up for their third home meet of the season against Riverside and D.H. Conley on Monday.