Sports

Westover girls track captures 1-AAA title

Derek Barichello

ALBANY — The Westover’s girls track team got their revenge Tuesday — and right when it counted.

The Lady Patriots, who finished behind Monroe’s girls, 99-88, at the Westover Relays on April 12, won the Region 1-AAA track meet held at Hugh Mills Stadium on Tuesday to earn a trip to the AAA State Tournament held May 1 at Hugh Mills – and get their revenge.

With a team score of 184, the Lady Patriots scored 34 points better than their city rival and region runner-up Monroe, which finished with 150.

What was the difference?

“We had some big surprise performances that helped us,” Westover coach Harley Calhoun said.

Those unsung heroes included: Megan Golinski winning the pole vault, Lelghandrea Clyde finishing third place in the 200 meters, Alexis Crawford finishing second place in the 300 hurdles, and Clennysha Jones finishing second in the high jump and the triple jump.

“Our girls worked really hard and I’m very impressed,” Calhoun said. “Hopefully we can carry the momentum to the state meet.”

Not all coach Calhoun’s girls were unsung performances. Winning events for the Lady Patriots were Moneka English in the 400, Moneque English in the 800 and Ashley Johnson in the 300 hurdles.

While the Lady Tornadoes did not come away team region champs, they did come away with six individual titles, earning each a trip to the state tournament.

Those ladies included; Jasmine Harris in the shot put, Lakeisha Jackson in the long jump, Hyniece Snell in the 1,600, Kenza Wilson in the 100 and 200 and Sekelia Anthony in the 3,200.

Monroe coach Octavia Jones also noted the second-place finish by Sandrianna Cribb in the 100 and 200 as a highlight of the event.

However, it was tough to swallow his team finishing second.

“I was disappointed with some of our performances in the field events,” Jones said. “That was one area we could do well. In the Westover Relays, there was stiffer competition to break up points. With a smaller meet, there are not as many athletes to break up the points, so that played a factor. But hey, Westover stepped up and wanted it just a little bit more (Tuesday).”

Back to today's Sports>>