Thomas Dale won its first outdoor Central Region title yesterday at Hermitage
High School with a score of 73 points, and James River's Jay Price recorded a
time of 14.03 seconds to win the 110-meter hurdles and break two meet records.
Petersburg finished second with 54 points, Atlee was third at 45, Dinwiddie took fourth with 44, and James
River rounded out the top five with 40.
Thomas Dale coach Doug Sable said the win was a real treat for him and the
team.
"It's a nice feeling to do this for once," said Sable, who has
coached the boys team for the past three years. "I'm glad for the kids,
they worked real hard. It's good for the seniors to go out like this."
Sable also said winning the region title should give the Knights some
momentum heading into the state meet next week.
"I think it'll help, but I don't know how we'll do there," he said.
"I haven't been following [the other regions]."
Another advantage the Knights had coming into the outdoor season was the strength and experience of the
team itself. The team finished second in the region during the indoor season and
took seventh at the state indoor meet.
"I got the whole group," Sable said. "We got a lot of young
kids coming in, which is what we need to keep things moving."
Although he was named Central Region coach of the year, Sable said coaching
was a team effort.
"Greg Whisler is the distance coach, while I stick with the
sprints," Sable said, adding, "We let the relays do their own thing. I
don't fool around with them. They've been running together for years, so they
don't need the help."
While Thomas Dale stood out as a team, Price stole the spotlight with his
record-setting sprint. Price, a senior sprinter and hurdler, shattered the modern-era region record
for the 110-meters, set in 1997 by Lee-Davis' Cary Chandler at 14.20. He also beat the all-time region record, set in 1976 by George Wythe's Karl
Williams at 14.04. Williams' original time was in the 120-yard high hurdles, but that time has
since been adjusted by a formula to make all scores standard.
Price, who was named Central Region runner of the year, said setting the new
record means a lot. "That's one of the biggest accomplishments of my life," Price said.
"I'm realizing it right now. It feels good." The hurdles seem to come natural to Price, who has been competing in the
hurdles and sprints since he was in the seventh grade. Price, who also played tailback for the Rapids' football team, said he will
attend Virginia State in the fall.
Price may have dominated the sprints, but another athlete stood out in the
field events. Petersburg's Godwin Mbagwu won the long jump and the triple jump to earn
Central Region field performer of the year honors. Mbagwu also finished fifth in
the 200 and seventh in the 100.
Team scores and key -- 1. Thomas Dale (TD) 73, 2. Petersburg (Pete)
54, 3. Atlee (A) 45, 4. Dinwiddie (Din) 44, 5. James River (JR) 40, 6. Douglas
Freeman (DSF) 39, 7. Thomas Jefferson/Governor's School (TJ/GS) 36, 8. (tie) J.R. Tucker
(JRT) and Monacan (Mon) 34, 10. Mills Godwin (MG) 30, 11. Clover
Hill (CH) 29, 12. Hermitage (Herm) 28, 13. (tie) Midlothian (Mid) and Manchester
(Man) 26, 15. George Wythe (GW) 18, 16. (tie) Highland Springs (HS), L.C. Bird (LCB), Huguenot (Hug) and Varina (V) 16, 20. (tie) Henrico (Hen) and Meadowbrook
(Mead) 12, 22. J.F. Kennedy (JFK) 8, 23. Prince George (PG) 6, 24. Patrick Henry
(PH) 4.
Discus -- 1. Doug Twiddy (DSF) 149-6; 2. Charlie Wardwell (Mon) 140-2;
3. Jim Tiller (TD) 139-6; 4. Jimmy Myers (DSF) 129-11; 5. Jesus Cruz (Din)
129-9; 6. Young Hong (JRT) 127-2; 7. Marcus White (JRT) 126-6; 8. Jerry
Robertson (LCB) 124-8.
High jump -- 1. Javius Wynn (A) 6-6; 2. Chris Clementson (CH) 6-6; 3.
Steve Beasley (Din) 6-5; 4. Marcus White (JRT) 6-4; 5. Meco Harper (Din) 6-4; 6.
Zach Schaffer (CH) 6-2; 7. Stephen Martin (MG) 6-1; 8. Lino Davenport (Mon) 6-0.
Triple jump -- 1. Godwin Mbagwu (Pete) 46-2 1/2; 2. Chad Southers
(Mead) 46-1 3/4; 3. Randy Ashton (TJ/GS) 45-8 3/4; 4. Marcus White (JRT) 45-1
3/4; 5. Jimarr Gallon (TD) 44-5 3/4; 6. Louis Counter (TD) 44-4; 7. Clarence
Clemmons (GW) 43-11 3/4; 8. Michael Day (Din) 43-7 3/4.
100 -- 1. Meco Harper (Din) 10.98; 2. Jerome Mathis (Pete) 11.08; 3.
David Smith (JRT) 11.12; 4. Jay Price (JR) 11.18; 5. Joseph Mallory (PH) 11.19;
6. Ross MacDonald (CH) 11.28; 7. Godwin Mbagwu (Pete) 11.30; 8. Chris Harris
(Din) 11.31.
110 hurdles -- 1. Jay Price (JR) 14.03; 2. Javius Wynn (A) 14.26; 3.
Kevin Watson (Hen) 14.29; 4.
Shamel Williams (Mon) 14.39; 5. Chris Tuck (Man) 14.43; 6. Wayne Kee
(GW)
15.03; 7. Marcus White (JRT) 15.06; 8. Lino Davenport (Mon) 15.13.
200 -- 1. Jimarr Gallon (TD) 22.43; 2. Chris Moten (Hug) 22.56; 3.
Clifton James (HS) 22.66; 4. Aaron Jackson (JR) 22.79; 5. Godwin Mbagwu (Pete)
22.83; 6. Jay Price (JR) 23.06; 7. Matt Hughes (JR) 23.09; 8. James Soloman
(Hen) 23.16.
300 hurdles -- 1. Shamel Williams (Mon) 38.14; 2. Chris Tuck (Man)
39.54; 3. Marcus White (JRT) 39.66; 4. Wayne Kee (GW) 39.70; 5. Justin Ballinger
(CH) 40.0; 6. T.J. Snellings (LCB) 40.44; 7. Steven Bryan (A) 41.10; 8. Clegg
Leiv (Herm) 41.75.
400 -- 1. Nigel Ingraham (TD) 49.59; 2. Chris Moten (Hug) 50.06; 3.
Brian Ford (A) 50.09; 4. Louis Counter (TD) 50.29; 5. Ryan Franklin (Pete)
51.13; 6. Jerome Mathis (Pete) 51.79; 7. Ramaad Comer (HS) 52.89.
800 -- 1. Zach Davis (Mid) 1:58.02; 2. Robert Fulton (JFK) 1:58.88; 3.
Matt Wolak (MG) 1:59.65; 4. Leo Rohr (TJ/GS) 2:00.15; 5. Seth Kistner (TD)
2:00.65; 6. Trevor Pierce (CH) 2:01.12; 7. Gary Haskins (Mead) 2:03.66; 8. Larry
Gooss (Herm) 2:06.79.
1,600 -- 1. Michael Amirkhanian (MG) 4:25.59; 2. Graham Kearney
(DSF)
4:26.72; 3. Sam Pritchard (TJ/GS) 4:27.16; 4. Leo Rohr (TJ/GS) 4:30.53; 5. Bryan
Meador (A) 4:32.80; 6. Josiah Oliver (TJ/GS) 4:34; 7. Anthony D'Amato (Mid)
4:36; 8. Mike Morton (TJ/GS) 4:37.77.
3,200 -- 1. Austin Smith (Mid) 9:36.44; 2. Matt Sinclair (Herm)
9:36.47; 3. Drew Stockdreher (JR) 9:44.24; 4. Ahmed Qureshi (JR) 9:46.18; 5.
Michael Amirkhanian (MG) 9:54.09; 6. Adam Otstot (MG) 9:55.79; 7. Graham Kearney
(DSF) 9:59.39; 8. Daryl Thomas (Mon) 10:02.63.
400 relay -- 1. Thomas Dale (Counter, Ingraham, Powell, J. Gallon)
43.21; 2. Highland Springs 43.41; 3. Dinwiddie 43.74; 4. J.R. Tucker 43.75; 5.
George Wythe 44.11; 6. Clover Hill 44.28; 7. Monacan 44.68; 8. L.C. Bird 44.73.
1,600 relay -- 1. Thomas Dale (J. Gallon, Counter, A. Gallon,
Ingraham) 3:20.73; 2. Petersburg 3:21.63; 3. L.C. Bird 3:25.63; 4. Mills Godwin
3:26.30; 5. Manchester 3:26.80; 6. Atlee 3:26.97; 7. Hermitage 3:27; 8. Douglas
Freeman 3:28.87.
3,200 relay -- 1. Manchester (Jensen, Bates, Powers,
Allin) 8:09.75;
2. Hermitage 8:11.56; 3. Thomas Jefferson/Governor's School 8:12.19; 4. Clover
Hill 8:17.90; 5. Midlothian 8:23.70; 6. James River 8:28.70; 7. L.C. Bird
8:29.34; 8. Meadowbrook 8:31.28.
All-Academic -- Long jump: Kevin Watson (Hen); High jump, 110 hurdles:
Javius Wynn (A); Triple jump: Randy Ashton (TJ/GS); Shot put: Arrus Farmer
(TJ/GS); Discus: Young Hong (JRT); Pole vault: Jason Taylor (A); 100: Ross
MacDonald (CH); 1600: Michael Amirkhanian (MG); 400: Brian Ford (A); 300
hurdles: Justin Ballinger (CH); 800: Zach Davis (Mid); 3200: Austin Smith (Mid).
Field event performer of the year -- Godwin Mbagwu, Petersburg.
Runner of the year -- Jay Price, James River.
Coach of the year -- Doug Sable, Thomas Dale
