Mitchell Boys and Girls win City Championships

[Galilee]

PRINT THIS STORY | E-MAIL THIS STORY

 

Mitchell's boys, girls sweep city track titles

By Jason Smith

Contact

May 1, 2005

 

On Saturday, they'll have a shot at even bigger bragging rights.

 

But for now, Mitchell's boys and girls track and field teams are content with their titles as MIAA Class AA city champs.

 

 

Advertisement

 

 

 

The Tigers, led by a pair of sweeps in the 100- and 200-meter dashes from junior LaRay Foote and eighth-grader Rachel Williams, racked up more than 170 points on each side in dusting off their competition at the Fairgrounds Saturday.

 

"I thought it was going to be a little closer than it was," said Mitchell boys track and field coach Nathan Cole, whose team beat out defending Class A-AA state champion Raleigh-Egypt (127.33) by a gaping 43 points.

 

"Raleigh-Egypt had (the now-graduated Michael) Joyner last year and he gave you close to 60 points by himself. When he left, the playing field was kind of evened, and my guys have put in a lot of hard work."

 

So, too, apparently have the Mitchell girls, who finished fourth behind Trezevant at last year's Class A-AA state meet, but clobbered the Lady Bears by a convincing 26-point margin (177-151) Saturday to earn the girls Class AA city title.

 

"With what we had coming back from last year, we expected this," said Mitchell girls track and field coach Harold Wooten. "We had the leadership of (senior) Kim Critton, but our young girls played a big part in what took place today."

 

Critton, a Florida basketball signee, was named the meet's most outstanding Class AA female performer for her wins in the long jump (16 feet, 31/2 inches), the triple jump (33-5) and her anchor-leg run on Mitchell's winning 400 relay team.

 

But it was the performances of Williams and sophomore Latoya Monger that may have caught most people off guard Saturday.

 

Williams, just an eighth-grader, was untouchable in the sprints, turning in first-place times of 12.81 in the 100 and 25.94 in the 200.

 

Monger was just as good, winning both the 100 hurdles (16.81) and 300 hurdles (16.81) as well as the pole vault (7-0).

 

"Our young girls understand how important they are and they understand the roles they play on this team," Wooten said.

 

This weekend they'll return to the Fairgrounds, where the top four finishers from each of Saturday's Class AA events will meet the top four from Class AAA in the first Super City Meet.

 

"We'll know then who the fastest in the city is," said Craigmont's Shawn Bayes, the defending Class AAA 200 state champ.

 

ayes won both the Class AAA 100 (10.75) and 200 (21.77) Saturday, beating out Hamilton standout Zack Allen (11.06) in the 100 and Central's Kyle Stevenson (21.83) in the 200.

 

But it was defending boys Class AAA state champion Cordova, paced by senior Simeon Harris's wins in the 110 hurdles (14.18), the 300 hurdles (38.49) and the long jump (22-9), that earned Saturday's boys Class AAA city title.

 

The Wolves, competing in their first season as a city-school squad, turned in a score of 160 to easily beat out East (102) in second and Melrose in third (72).

 

"It was a goal of ours, but we didn't expect to win," Cordova coach Jason Wood said. "Coming away with the city championship in our first year is something we definitely won't take for granted."

 

East, on the legs of sprinters Monica Braswell, Erika Palmer, Lynell Hollins and Sable Gordon, won its 18th Class AAA city title in 20 seasons with 134 points. Ridgeway earned second with 102 points and White Station third with 94.

 

"We're friends off the track, but when I get on the track, everybody's my competitor," said Braswell, who for the first time in her career beat out teammate Palmer in both the 100 (12.15) and 200 (24.94) Saturday.