Lancer girls track finishes second, boys third in Seminole District meet

By Laura Clark

Published: May 22, 2008

The Amherst girls team placed second in the Seminole District Track Meet, while the boys team finished third on May 14 at Brookville High School.

Both teams were in second place after the field events on May 13. Brookville won the meet, and held a steady lead in the boys competition throughout the two days. Heritage jumped ahead of both Amherst teams after the 200-meter dash (boys) and the 800 (girls).

Amherst girls trailed by 1.25 points to Heritage coming into the 4 x 400 relay, the final event of the evening. First- and second-leg runners Allyssa Knight and Olivia Turner held the lead for Amherst. Heritage closed the gap and passed the Lancer’s third runner, Jessie Schurner, on the backstretch. Rustburg eased up as well, putting Amherst in third place as the final runner, Candace Davis took the baton.

Davis passed the Heritage and Rustburg runners with half a lap to go, and held them off to win by less than a second and move the girls team into second place overall.

“We knew that we were behind by a point or something,” Davis said. “I think we stepped up a whole lot from last year. We didn’t get to finish the 4 x 400 last year because Ashley (Harris) had an asthma attack. (We) just came out here to prove to everybody that we can contend.”

The girls team earned the bulk of their points in the field events and relays. Davis and Knight joined Lacear Hubbard and Shawna Kyle on the winning 4 x 100 relay. They set a new meet record with their time, 49.86. Brookville, seeded fractions of a second ahead of Amherst, was disqualified for a false start.

“It was our best time ever,” Kyle said. “The handoffs were great. We were very excited.”

Kyle also came up big in the long jump, reaching a new personal record and winning the event. She jumped 17 feet, 3 inches to edge Heritage’s Destiny Dubose by a foot. Kyle finished fourth in the 100 and 200 events.

Coach Lance Carter said the girls 4 x 400 relay was close to qualifying for state and would have another chance at the Region III meet May 23 and 24.
“I think they can run a lot faster. Tonight they had a lot more events,” he said.

Carter has a similar goal for both teams next week. For the girls team, he thinks they can finish in the top three, and the boys in the top five. Compared to last year, the Lancers had competitors in every event final.

Like the girls, the boys placed high in several field events. Senior Kyle Brown won discus and Tyrease Brown won triple jump. Devonte Brown was third in shot put. Jeff Ware tied for fourth in high jump. Jaze Spradley tied for fourth in pole vault. Jeremy Lewis, making a tentative comeback from a pulled thigh muscle, earned third place in long jump.

Lewis, a senior, pulled out of the short sprint prelims, and sophomore Terrance Morse stepped up. Morse was on the team as a freshman, but did not qualify for any district final event. Morse credits Lewis, as well as Antwon Chilton and Chris Cabell for helping him improve.

“The seniors, they push me and help me a lot in practice. This is the best I’ve done so far the whole year,” Morse said of his 400 race. “I’m trying to break my brother’s school records in the 200 and 400.”

Morse’s brother, Shoun, set the records in 1998 as a senior. He is currently stationed in Texas with the Army, but ran with his younger brother during a month-long leave this season. Morse finished second in the 100, third in the 400 and fourth in the 200.

The top six individuals and top three relay teams qualify for the regional meet, which will be held at Liberty University.