Staff Writer
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| The boys become state runner-ups. |
The Mideast Regional
Meet on May 10, 2014 sizzled with tight competition under the warm sun. As Coach
Paul Lockwood describes, “the record book was rewritten.” In addition to the
boys placing first and the girls fourth, Apex saw many athletes advance to the
state meet under sometimes trying circumstances.
Senior Joe DeVries
qualified for states in pole vault despite a broken wrist, alongside
his junior teammates Michael Utecht and Drew Pedersen. DeVries recounts
his first event when he suffered the injury. “I tripped over a hurdle someone
had knocked into my lane; fell, rolled back up, went under the next hurdle,
over the last, and finished...I was disqualified because going under hurdles is
illegal.” After the injury, DeVries was undeterred from competing in States. “The
doctor said it’s going to hurt, but I can do it if I tape it up,” he said. Coach
Mark Trezona reflected on the meet positively. “I was pleased when [our
vaulters] qualified. Regionals is not necessarily a great performance meet but
an advancement meet.”
Senior Callie Scull had
another superior performance in the 800-meter run, placing third with a time of
2:19.54, edging her way into the state competition. It was a close race with
Elisa Sargent from Green hope who finished 5/100th of a second in
front and G'Jasmyne Butler, who finished fourth .33 seconds behind. “Turning the last
corner on the second lap, I moved out to lane three to pass and it was just a
sprint to the finish,” says Scull.
Coach Roy Cooper
recounted the state meet on May 17, 2014. “The 2nd (boys) and 5th
(girls) place team finishes were our highest combined finishes ever.”
With
the boys finishing only six points behind Mount Tabor, there was some
controversy over the scoring in regard to the wheel chair athletes.
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| Pole vaulters Anna Eaton and Sydney Isgett |
The boys totaled 21
points. Pedersen placed first with a 15-06.00, DeVries placed third with a
14-06.00, and Utecht placed fourth with a 14-06.00.
Junior Sydnei Murphy and
senior Reyho Tshiama placed first in triple jump. Murphy’s jump was a 39-07.50 and
Tshiama went 46-05.00. “It was the first time my teammates were able to see me
jump. They told me, ‘it’s the last jump of your high school career.’ And I
ended up winning it,” says Tshiama.
The
boys’ 4x800-meter relay crossed the line in sixth. Coach Lockwood was very
proud of the team he trained throughout the school year. “They did exactly what
they needed to do to set up the day for potentially winning the state title.”
Murphy
came second in the 100-meter dash with a 11.97, behind Katlin Sherman from
Parkland who ran an 11.88.
Senior Mihret Coulter
placed second in the 1600-meter run with a time of 4:18.37. Coulter ran an even
split race and set a new personal record. “I started running track freshman
year to keep in shape for soccer. Junior year is when I decided to get serious,”
says Coulter. This year, Coulter has especially improved upon his speed and
stamina in addition to his endurance, as is exemplified by his 1:56.21
800-meter time.
The
boy’s 4x100-meter relay of junior Fred Sharpe, sophomore Isaiah Totten, senior
Tim Darcelien, and junior Tyler Cook placed 5th with a time of 42.42.
When asked to recount the race, Totten described it as, “Fast. It all happened
so fast. We didn’t have the best handoff, but we placed, and set a new school
record.” It was Sharpe’s first year running track, having moved from Virginia
Beach last year. "I learned how to
really run- and when I got to do it, it felt like a family,"
