Sports

Tracked down

• The Westover boys track & field team captures the Region 1-AAA title, and does so by coming from behind in the final race — the 4x400 relay — to win the championship.

Derek Barichello

ALBANY — For Westover to win the Region 1-AAA track and field title over defending region champ and city rival Monroe, the Patriots needed to beat the Tornadoes in the 4x400 meter relay – the final event of Tuesday’s meet.

There was only one problem: the Patriots hadn’t done so in any of the last three meets.

Just two points ahead of the Tornadoes heading into the race, the Patriots team — consisting of Greg Green, Kenji Breedlove, Rashad Greene and Brandon Benton — came away with an improbable victory to hold on and win their third region title in four years at Hugh Mills Stadium.

Benton chased down 110-meter hurdles champ Chris Lovett with a late charge, leaning ahead to win by a mere .36 seconds.

“That’s the closest I’ve ever seen (a meet) in my 10 years at Westover,” Patriots boys and girls track coach Harley Calhoun said as the Patriots finished with 182 points, two ahead of Monroe. “Our boys showed a lot of heart to win it and I’m so proud of them.”

And if you blinked, you might have missed it.

Heading into the final lap of the race, the Tornadoes team — consisting of Montravious Williams, Sir Paul Jones, Donquavious Hill, and Lovett — was ahead. But when Benton caught him, the Patriots’ celebration began.

“I first thought he had it,” said Benton, who finished second in the 400 behind Dougherty’s Jamie Jones. “I just kept thinking, ‘I gotta catch him, I gotta catch him.’ When I got to the finish line, I was relieved, I got him.”

For Lovett, it was a matter of trying to hang on.

“I thought I had it,” Lovett said. “Then I saw a shadow and I kept moving but I couldn’t get anywhere. I still feel like we should’ve won.”

That disappointment was shared by Monroe coach Octavia Jones, who saw his Tornadoes lose a 16-point lead heading into Tuesday and a two-point lead heading into the finals of the running events.

“We were counting on our mile relay team,” Jones said. “They've beat Westover all year. We needed them to come ahead to win and Westover gutted it out. They just wanted it more.”

Despite the loss, both Westover and Monroe will compete in the state finals held in Jefferson. The top two qualify for the meet on May 8.

Leading the way for Westover was Jacob Metz, who won his first pole vault region title, while Breedlove won his first long jump title, Thomas Chapman won the 800 and Greg Green won the 100 and 200.

“That’s the great thing about winning by two,” Calhoun said. “It was a team effort. We needed everyone’s points today.”

Green turned heads with a personal best 10.4 seconds in the 100, which would have been good enough to win the 1-AAAAA region title also held at Hugh Mills on Tuesday.

“I just want to finish in the top five in state,” said Green, who won the 200 with a time of 21.53 seconds. “It just felt good today.”

Helping Monroe, Robert Smith won the 3,200, Lil Diamond Jones the 1,600, Lovett the 110 hurdles, Williams the 300 hurdles and David Noel the discus and shot put.

For Noel, it was his first region title in the discus but his third in the shot put.

“I wasn’t happy with my throws today,” said Noel who threw 151 feet in the discus and 46 feet, 9 inches in the shot. “It’s all about focus and wanting it, if I focus, I can throw it more.”

PERSONAL BEST FOR JONES

Dougherty’s Jamie Jones won the 400 region title for the third time but it was reaching his personal best time of 49.07 seconds that made him smile.

“I’ve been working a whole lot,” Jones said. “It can be done (talking about winning a state title). It just takes a lot of work and I’m just going to keep it up.”

Jones was one of two individual winners for a Dougherty team that finished fourth in the region with 41 points, one point behind third-place Crisp County and ahead of fifth-place Cairo (29) and sixth-place Worth County (14).

BRYANT FLYING HIGH

Dougherty’s Brian Bryant won his second region title in the high jump, clearing a height of six feet, six inches. His initial height of 6-4 put him in a tie with Monroe’s Sir Paul Jones and Montravious Williams but in his final jump, he was able to clear 6-6.

“I wanted 6-8, but I’m happy,” Bryant said. “Heading into state, I’m going to have to work on my technique and find my mark, instead of just running and jumping.”

CRISP PERFORMANCE

The Crisp County 4x100 relay team stole the spotlight from Westover and Monroe for just a moment on Tuesday.

The relay team consisting of Darius Gunn, Al Thomas, Jarques Dennard and Quentavious Nance finished with a time of 41.87 seconds to win the event.

Thomas also won the triple jump (47.9 feet).

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