In May 1-7 Issue

The Russell County track team competed in the AA Derby at Boyle County Friday evening.

Many teams were there that were in the region and in their class, so this was an important meet for the athletes to compete in to see their level of competition for the region and state, according to Coach Misty Matney.  

Michelle Copley missed the Most Outstanding Track Performer by three points and the Most Outstanding Field Performer by just two points.

“If they had tallied the points as a meet usually does in awarding the Most Outstanding Female Athlete, she would have won that honor hands down,” Matney said.

Whitney Grider came out strong in her first meet of the season. She placed in the top five of each event she competed in.

Selena Padilla, a sixth grader, placed 4th in the high jump after one day of high jump practice and after being out a week because of sickness.

Ally Harris ran strong in the 400m. dash and in the 800m. run as well as pulling away as the anchor leg in the 4X400 relay for 4th place.

The boy’s team did well compared to the amount of athletes we have on the boy’s side, according to Matney.

Derek Thomas made his high jump debut as he won the event of a jump of 5-10.

“This is not his best jump, and has jumped 6-04 in practice, but it is a good starting point for him,” she said.

Bryon Ellis did well in the discus throw by placing second. Trevor Robertson competed against varsity runners and did very good considering the age gap and strength and experience.

“I was very happy with what I saw in the athlete’s performances,” she said.

“The girl’s team only missed third place by five points. Each athlete is becoming stronger and faster with each practice and competition.”

The results are as follows:

Girls

100m. dash: Whitney Grider-5th, Sarah Bonner-13th, Tara Sayer-17th     

200m.dash: Grider- 4th, Casey Keaton-12th, Sayer-14th

400m. dash: Michelle Copley-3rd, Ally Harris-4th, Heather Flatt- 7th

800m. run: Harris-5th, Suzanne Grider-8th

3200m. run: Suzanne Grider- 4th

100m. hurdles: Copley-3rd, Selena Padilla- 7th

300m. hurdles: Copley-2nd, Lindsay Ramage-7th, Shelby Holder-8th

4X200 Relay: 6th

4X400 Relay: 4th

4X800 Relay: 4th

High Jump: Copley-2nd, Padilla-4th

Long Jump: Whitney Grider-5th, Ramage-7th

Shot Put: Ashley Wilson-2nd, Emmie Sweat- 11th

Discus: Wilson-3rd

Boys

400m. dash: Aaron Pierce-6th, Nickota Wheat-9th

800m. run: Tayler Ragle- 10th, Chris Lawless-11th

1600m. run: Trevor Robertson-4th, Allen Kemp-10th

3200m. run: Robertson-5th

4X400 Relay: 5th

4X800 Relay: 5th

High Jump: Derek Thomas-1st

Long Jump: Lawless-12th, Kemp-13th

Shot Put: Logan Clark-12th, Chad parker-15th

Discus: Bryon Ellis-2nd, Daniel Black-11th