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School Sports
Langley, Fike relays look for track titles By Paul Durham | Sports Editor More than 20 track and field athletes in The Wilson Daily Times readership area will compete at Friday's N.C. High School Athletic Association 3-A championship meet but only one knows what it's like to win it. Southern Nash senior Laura Langley returns to Greensboro to defend her high jump crown with a more diverse portfolio. Langley, who will also compete in the pole vault and triple jump, heads the female contingent while the Fike boys will take 11 competitors to the nearly day-long meet at Irwin Belk Track on the campus of North Carolina A&T State University. Joining Langley will be Ladybirds miler Miranda Johnson and triple jumper Domonica Coleman. From SouthWest Edgecombe, discus thrower Denise Harrison will be accompanied by sophomore long jumper Ny'Neka Euwell. Allison Ray of Hunt will also compete in the discus while Charles B. Aycock senior Chantel Gaines is entered in the 400. The Golden Demons placed all four relay teams -- the 400-meter, the 800, the 1,600 and the 3,200 along with Darrus Parker in the long jump, Josh Foster in the triple jump and Joseph Speight in the 800 run. Also in the meet are Aycock pole vaulter Cameron George, Southern Nash long jumper Mike Jones and Hunt senior Jonas Dewald in the 800. "The last few weeks she's been having ankle issues,"' Ladybirds head coach Crystal Joyner said. "We have talked about scratching her out of one (event) on Friday. We'll wait and see where she's seeded." Langley, who has signed with Western Carolina University, will resume her season-long battle with Nash Central's Williams, who finally beat Langley at the East Regional last weekend. "They should finish 1-2 in the state," Joyner said. "Those two girls, for 3-A, are probably the best two in the state." While Johnson probably won't win the 1,600 -- her best time is still nearly eight seconds off the pace -- she is hoping to break a personal barrier. Johnson ran a personal-best -- and school record -- 5:24 in the Wilson Daily Times Track Classic in late April. Joyner said a 5:20 mile is within reach for the senior. "I'm hoping that she'll have another day like at the Wilson Daily Times meet," Joyner said. Coleman emerged from the regional meet with a triple jump of 34-8, nearly a foot longer than her previous best. With just three girls competing in four events in Greensboro, Joyner knows the team finish can only be so high. "I just hope we go and everybody has their best day," Joyner said. "If everybody does the best we can, we'll do well in the team score. I'll be happy as long as we do our best." The Fike boys have a chance to to crack the top 10 -- or better. "I think we might be closer to top seven than top 10," assessed Demons head coach Tom Griffith. "I would be very happy with top seven but the boys probably want to do better than that." Leading the way is senior Kevin Smith in the 400 dash and as a member of the 4 x 200 and 4 x 400 relays. Each of those quartets stands a solid chance at state gold, Griffith reasoned. "Saturday (at the regional meet) is the first time this year we've had two guys with 49 splits (in the 4 x 400)," Griffith said. "So in my opinion, none of those guys have run as hard as they can yet ... I think we're fully capable of running with the best time that have been put up in the state." The Demons' 4 x 200 foursome comes in with the third-best time on the state performance while the 4 x 400 ranks fourth. Junior Darrus Parker and senior Josh Foster will compete in the long jump and triple jump, respectively. Foster was the 3-A indoor state champion in the triple jump as a junior. Both will run in the relays. Joseph Speight, the anchor on the 4 x 800 relay, will also run in the 800. Running against him in Jonas Dewald, Hunt's only representative. Dewald missed most of the track season after sustaining a stress fracture in his right tibia in the 1,000 run in the state indoor championship in February. "It's a great story," Griffith said. "Our first meet of the year was at Hunt and the kid was on crutches." Griffith said that Dewald, with the blessing of Hunt coach Sonny West, worked out with the Fike runners earlier this week. LADY PANTHERS IN 1-A MEET North Johnston will send five athletes to the 1-A championship meet Saturday in Greensboro. Competing in the triple jump will be Ashley Knight (30-8.5, 14) while the 1,600 will have Elizabeth Baker (6:08.94, 14). The Lady Panthers 4 x 800 relay team of Baker, Brittany Pate, Olivia Pope and Amber Watson arrives with the 12th-best qualifying time of 11:46.64. On each day, the championship meet begins at 11 a.m. with the field events, followed by the track preliminary races, begin at noon with the relays. This is the 88th observance of the boys track championships and the 37th for the girls. paul@wilsontimes.com | 265-7808
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