Sprinters lead CCHS track teams at quad meet

By Jason simcoe

Published: May 1, 2008

B.J. Minor took a deep breath, tried to steady his nerves and waited for sound of the gun Wednesday.

When the starter’s pistol cracked, Minor launched himself down the track, determined to cover the 100 meters to the finish line faster than his opponents.

He strained his burning muscles, willing himself forward, until he crossed the line 11.34 seconds later, more than a tenth of a second faster than his nearest competitor.

It was one of eight individual victories for the CCHS boys track team during the district quad meet held at Broman Field Wednesday.

Minor continued his strong performance in the 200, winning the race in 23.03 seconds.

“I think I was always meant for track,” Minor said. “When I was little, I always wanted to race people. This is what I was meant to do.”

The Blue Devils flashed a balanced attack against Cedar Run opponents Liberty, Fauquier and Stonewall Jackson.

Cameron French, Nick Donovan and Spencer Allen swept the top three spots in the triple jump and Kyle Majors captured the long jump with a leap of 20 feet, 3 inches.

Donovan captured the high jump, Steven Reynolds won the 400 and Tim Smith kicked from 300 meters out to capture the 3,200-meter run.

The Blue Devils also won the 3,200-meter relay.

Throw in strong runner-up performances from Alex Wyman in the 1,600 (4:51) and Daniel Austin in the 800 (2:09) and coach Kim Williams came away satisfied with the effort.

“Our sprinting corps is showing a lot of promise and improving,” he said. “That’s what I look for in meets like this. Our distance group was probably one of our strong points in this meet. They did some things I wasn’t expecting.”

The Devilettes also had strong performances in the sprints. Meyhonia Layne, a freshman, captured the 100-meter dash in 12.84 seconds and finished third in the 200 in 27.10.

Hurdler Sarah Granillo also had a strong showing for CCHS, capturing the 100-meter hurdles race in 21.00 seconds and finishing third in the 300 hurdles in 57.3 seconds.

Denae Rogers and Dira Hansen shared first-place honors in the high jump. They both cleared 4 feet, 10 inches.

“We did better. We’re improving,” CCHS coach Libby Oullette said. “We’ve had a lot of injuries and some of them are coming back.”

Final team scores were not available at press time.

Both teams are back in action Friday when they head to Fluvanna.

Jason Simcoe can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 166 or