By Staff
special to The Star
March 30, 2003
The Northeast Lauderdale Trojans had a great day either winning or placing in every event they competed in at the Falcon Relays in Columbus this week. Depth in all events, however, allowed Amory High School to defeat the Trojans who finished 2nd.
In the first event of the day 8th grader, Jeremiah Raveling finished the 3200 meter run in 12:25.92 to finish 2nd in the event and set a personal record.
The field events then started. In the long jump Dontray Walker jumped 19-feet-5 for 4th. Cedric Blanchard in his first attempt ever in the triple jump went 33-11 for 4th place.
The 100 meter dash came next and the Trojans shined with Ed Pierce finishing first in 11:08 and Calvin Scott a close 2nd in 11.12. With only a short rest Ed Pierce and Calvin Scott along with Cedric Blanchard and Dontray Walker ran away with the 4X200 meter relay winning in 1:33.54 which set a school record.
Next event up was the 1600 meter run. In a great come from behind victory Matt Rich won with a time of 5:22.38 and Jeremiah Raveling coming back from the 3200 finished 4th in 5:49.28 both of these times were personal best for the guys. The sprinters were then back in business with ED, Calvin, Cedric, and Dontray combining for a runaway victory in the 4X100 meter relay in a school record 44.68.
The next race for the Trojans was the 300 meter intermediate Hurdles with 8th grader Owen Lidde finishing 6th in 58.71 and 9th grader Tyler Fleming finishing 7th.
Ninth grader Antonio Serton then finished third in the 800 meter run with a time of 2:23.93, a personal record.
Then it was the dynamic duo of Calvin Scott and Edward Pierce back in action with Calvin winning the 200 meter dash in 23.65 and Ed finishing 2nd in 23. 84.
The Lady Trojans came from behind in dramatic fashion, scoring 46 points in the last three events to defeat Amory High and win the 3A/4A division.
Scoring was started by Melissa Brents as she crushed the field lapping almost everyone running a school record 12:50.55 in the 3200 meters.
The Lady Trojans then continued winning in the field events. Monique Truman won the long jump in 16-feet-5, only 5 inches from the school record set in 1987. Quinn Jackson finished 3rd in the long jump. Quinn then took the center stage with victories in the shot put 33-5 and discus 81-8to be the top Lady Trojans scorer with a total of 28.5 points.
Shirlonda Jackson kept the scoring going with a 30-10/12 win in the triple jump is her first competition of the year. The Lady Trojans continued to dominate the 1st place podium when Monique Truman scored her second win of the day in the 100 meter dash with a time of 12.67, which is a new school record.
The 4X200 meter relay dominated the competition with Audrea Harrison, Tonicia Giles, Sholanda Truman and Yolanda Truman winning going away in 1:54.78. Brents then took the stage in the 1600 meter running winning easily in 6:02.73.
The surprise of the 1600 meters though was when 7th grader Carlisha Barfield stunned a lot of older runners with a 3rd place finish.
Yolanda Truman (2nd relay), Shirlonda Jackson, Quinn Jackson and Monique easily won the 400 relay with a 52.45 clocking.
Yolanda Truman was back in action winning the 400 meter dash with a 65.55 clocking along with Andrea Hampton who ran 71.15 for a 5th place finish.
Teshae Portis won the 800 run in 2:43.96.
and April Lussier finishing 2nd in 3:01.64. Sprinters then stepped up with Sholanda Truman winning the 200 meter dash in 28.5 for her personal best time and Shan Portis finishing second in 29.00. The final event of the day in the 4X400 relay pitted the Trojans with Amory in a showdown for the championship.
It was no contest as the lady Trojans team, consisting of Teshae Portis, Yolanda Truman (3rd relay), Sholanda Truman, and Shirlonda Jackson (2nd relay), defeated the field by 40 meters and Amory could only finish 4th so the final score was 166 lady Trojans to 156.5 for lady Panthers and the championship trophy came home to Northeast for the 2nd time in three years.
Next competition for the Trojans and Lady Trojans will be April 5th at the Meridian Invitational where they will square off against 3 other teams in their division.