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| OPEN DIVISION -- UMS-Wright Preparatory School -- Friday, April 4, 2008 @ 3PM
INVITATIONAL DIVISION -- St. Paul's Episcopal School -- Saturday, April 5, 2008@ 1PM
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No (Lightning) Flashes in the Pan
Mundy’s Mill’s Mickens’ 23-7 LJ highlights Mobile Challenge of Champions Open Division before lightning suspends competition
By Arthur L. Mack
MOBILE, Ala., Friday, April 4—Under the threat of heavy weather, scores of athletes competed in the Open Division of the Mobile Challenge of Champions at UMS-Wright’s Erwin S Cooper Stadium, and fans got their money’s worth.
Most of the competition was finished before lightning moved into the area, forcing suspension of the meet. The remaining events were scheduled for Saturday morning at St. Paul’s E.E. Delaney Stadium, the site of the meet’s Invitational Division.
The highlight of the meet was Mundy’s Mill GA’s Tyler Mickens going an impressive 23 feet, 7 inches to decisively win the open boys’ long jump. Mickens beat his nearest competitor, Auburn, Alabama’s Chance Jackson, by two feet.
Other notable field event performances came from McGill-Toolen AL’s Jordan Haynes, who won the shot put with a toss of 52-4, and Vestavia Hills AL’s George Solujich, who won the discus (149-1).
Mickens was one of many athletes who took advantage of last-minute openings created by late scratches to qualify for the Invitational Division.
A strong headwind created problems for sprinters, but it didn’t stop Auburn’s Terrence Smith from winning the 100-meter dash. Running into a 1.2 mile per hour headwind, Smith and St. Thomas Aquinas’ Josh Reed finished 1-2 with times of 11.16 and 11.23 respectively. In the 200, Reed finished second (22.42) to Hoover AL’s Terence Patton’s 22.41.
The boys’ open 400 was quite an adventure, as runners had to contend with a stiff wind in the homestretch. Still, Brent Duke from nearby Spanish Fort had enough grit, holding off Northeast LA’s Demascus Jackson 50.41 to 50.77.
Duke was especially overjoyed with going into the invitational division, even though he was disappointed with his time.
“I didn’t know if I was going to be able to do it (qualify for the invitational division),” he said. “I was upset that I didn’t break 50 seconds, but I’m excited about making it.”
On the open girls’ side, Hoover’s Nicole Charley qualified for the invitational girls’ long jump after winning the open division in that event with a leap of 17- ½. Her teammate, Krystine Peak, wound up in the invitational division girls’ triple jump after finishing second in the open division (35-7).
Foley AL’s Shakeria Williams and Towers GA’s Charente Jackson finished 1-2 in the 100 meter dash (12.98 to 12.99). For Williams, the 100 will be the second event on her plate in the invitational division—she was already in the invitational long jump field.
Other notable qualifiers on the girls’ side included Bayside Academy’s Savannah Summers (104-1) and Hoover’s Magen Schrimsher in the javelin (103-10), and Mundy’s Mill’s Timethia Bennett in the discus (109-8).
Mobile COC Index
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