Mobile County Championships
Saturday, April 8, 2006 - Theodore HS, Theodore AL

GIBSON, SPRADLEY STANDOUT AT MOBILE COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIPS

Gibson's winning TJ of 47-10 and Spradley's 400 win in windy conditions crack Dyestat list

By ARTHUR L. MACK

            Theodore, Ala. April 8--It was a miracle that anyone was able to run decent times and jump respectable distances at the Mobile County Championships held at Theodore High School.
            But UMS-Wright's Brandon Gibson and LeFlore's Brandon Spradley managed to do just that--especially in very windy conditions.
            Gibson--who failed to get a legal jump at the Mobile Challenge of Champions the week before, managed to get his first legal jump on his first attempt at the county championships, and then in round two soared to a season-best 47 feet, 10 inches to handily win that event.
            It was the spark that led UMS-Wright--the smallest school population-wise--to win the boys' division, defeating archrival St. Paul's 134.5-111, with McGill-Toolen (87.5) and LeFlore (81) rounding out the top four.
            Spradley had a busy meet, winning outstanding male performer honors with his most notable mark a 48.32 second win in the 400, easily defeating St. Paul's Louis Watson, who ran 49.05. Despite headwinds which at times exceeded 20 miles an hour, the winning time was fast enough to get into the Dyestat rankings.
            Spradley showed a lot of range as well, winning the 800 (2:00.59) and the 200 (22.16).
            With Challenge of Champions winner Phelon Jones of McGill-Toolen out with a strained hamstring, Gibson was basically the favorite. His first jump was only a modest 45-6, but in the second round, improved dramatically to 47-10.
            After that jump, he decided that it was enough, as there was nobody else even close.
            "I didn't want to hurt my back, because it was a little bit sore," he said. "It was the first competition where I had a legal jump. It's nothing major, and hopefully in a couple of weeks I can give Phelon a run for his money."
            Murphy's Tony Anderson won the long jump with a jump of 23-1 1/2 into the wind, just missing the Dyestat cutoff of 23-4.
            On the girls' side, St. Paul's easily defeated Baker 166-101. One of the most notable performances came in the high jump, where St. Paul's seventh-grader Katherine White won the high jump with a 5-4 effort. St. Paul's 4 X 800-meter relay had an easy victory, running 9:43.18.

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