National class athletes and marks made their way to Columbia at Spring Valley High School last weekend as over 2,000 athletes and 144 schools competed at the 13th Annual Taco Bell Classic.
Cedric Goodman of Newnan High School (Ga.) captured the win in the boys 400 meter event in 46.34. Goodman\'s time is a meet record and also qualifies him for the Adidas Outdoor Championships (AOC). First in for South Carolina was Broome\'s Garett Blakely. Blakely crossed the line in 49.29.
South Caldwell\'s (N.C.) Chase Eckard finished first in the mile run with a 4:22.04. Reid Wilson rounded out the top three in the mile with a 4:24.88. Daniel Eils\' strong kick at the end moved him into the fourth spot. Brian Raymond (Spring Valley), Brandon Hudgins (Northwestern) and Brad Orr (Wren) placed eighth, ninth and tenth, respectively in the mile. In the fastest heat, mentioned above the first lap split was 66 seconds, 67 second lap, 64 second third lap and a final lap of 63 seconds.
Richland Northeast\'s Marshawn Martin set a new meet record and qualified for the AOC with a 1:53.96. Christopher Woods II of B.E. Mays (Ga.) brought home the bronze with an AOC qualifying mark of 1:54.54. Martin\'s teammate Antonio Green rounded out the top three with a 1:57.99. Ridgeview\'s Richard Williams was the last runner from South Carolina to break the two-minute barrier with a 1:58.48. Marshawn Martin ran the first quarter in 55 seconds, coming back with a 58 final lap.
Ryan Jank rounded out the top two in the boys 3200-meter with a 9:22.33, 65-hundreths of a second behind winner Jesse Marino of Collins Hill (Ga.). Jank\'s time is the fastest in the state. Wilson (Spring Valley) placed fifth in 9:37.99. Wilson\'s teammate Raymond came in next with a 9:41.55. Stratford\'s Dmitri Virnig rounded out the top eight in 9:45.97.
Brandon Brown captured the win in the boys 110-meter hurdles in 14.19, an AOC qualifying time. Brown finished third in the preliminaries with teammate Dennis Martin having the fastest time in the preliminaries. Dyestat.com has Brown Brown\'s time as Jim Spier\'s U.S. top five. Antoine Fant, Trey Fletcher, Cade Liverman and Brown\'s teammate Dennis Martin were also mentioned on the list. T.L. Hanna\'s Antoine Fant finished second in the 110 hurdles. Martin finished fifth in the hurdles final.
Martin\'s experience in the hurdles showed when the Westside junior placed first in the 400 hurdles in 54.55. Dominick Bailey (Ridge View) was next in from South Carolina with a third place finishing time of 55.04.
On Friday Spring Valley\'s 3200 relay team ran a 7:56.53 time. The Vikings took home the win in the event and also were recognized on dyestat.com as a performance that almost made the top five in the U.S. The fastest 4x800 time is 7:52.30, by Upland in Calif., set a the Arcadia meet.
Ridge View\'s George Fields effort of 22-09.50 in the long jump was good for a second place finish. Field\'s teammate Dominick Bailey missed the top three by one-half of an inch with a 22-08.50.
A trio of North Rowan (N.C.) athletes placed one, two and three in the boys triple jump Wren\'s Derek Pressley was the first South Carolinian in with a 47-10.00, good for a top four position.
Terrence Brown (Summerville) qualified for the AOC after winning the boy\'s shot put with a 59-06.25 best heave. Brown is a junior at Summerville that threw the implement over four inches further then his closest competitor. Mauldin\'s Chris Abercrombie rounded out the top three with a 50-01.25, the last athlete to break the 50 foot mark. Abercrombie sealed a win in the discus with a 166-00 best. Northwestern senior Jonathon Caldwell finished second overall in 165-04. Summerville\'s Justin Shinta placed third (155-05) and Zack Berg (154-09) of Fort Mill placed fourth.
Andrew Brunson III of Shiloh (Ga.) took home the high jump title after having to jump off with Westside\'s Martez Brown at 6-06. Mitch Greeley broke former Brookland-Cayce pole vaulter Chase Shealy\'s 2003 record of 16-08 ater clearing 16-09 in the vault. Greeley\'s mark is currently the best in the nation for the 2004 outdoor season and he has automatically qualified for AOC. Broome\'s Jeremy Longshore set a mark of 15-00.00 to finish second.
Amberly Nesbitt, a senior form J.L. Mann qualified for the finals in the 100 meter event after running a preliminary time of 12.08. Nesbitt finished first with a 11.53 in the finals, breaking the meet record however the wind speed exceeded the limit allowed for a new meet record. Nesbitt\'s time is also the fastest wind-aided mark in the nation. Northwestern\'s Tiaerra McLaurin rounded out the top two with a 11.80 time in the finals. Nesbitt also finished first in the 200 preliminaries with another AOC qualifying time. McLaurin captured the win in the 200 finals. Ridge View\'s Jessica Young and Dominque Ward of Beaufort finished third and fourth, respectively in the 200. Ward automatically qualified for AOC in the 400 with a 55.52, good for a first place finish. Young of Ridge View finished second in 55.69, another AOC qualifying mark.
Florida\'s Kelly Parrish of Ocala Vanguard swept the competition in the girls one mile run in 5:00.42. The lead pack in the girls mile went through lap one in 73 seconds. The group went through the halfway mark at 2:32 and lap three in 3:46. Northwestern\'s Angelina Blackmon was the first in for South Carolina with a third place time of 5:04.66. Niehaus of Spring Valley finished in the top five with a 5:13.38. Angelina\'s sister Tiayonna placed sixth in 5:17.14 and 3A top runner Sunday Ford of Wren came across the line in ninth with a 5:29.81.
Sarah Bowman of Fauquier High School (Va.) swept the field in the 800 member run with a new meet record of 2:07.69. The pack with Bowman went through the first lap in 60.64 seconds. Bowman was not alone as Mackenzie Pierce, the former record holder finished first in the private division of the 800. First in for South Carolina was Byrnes sensation Candice Johnson. Johnson, a junior Rebel crossed the line in 2:20.83, good for a sixth place overall finish in the member division.
Kate Niehaus dominated the field in the 3200-meter run with a 10:41.54 final time. Niehaus\' personal best time qualifies her for AOC. Angelina Blackmon placed second, 11.07 seconds behind Niehaus. Laura Cummings traveled from New York for the meet to represent Bay Shore. Cummings brought home the bronze in the 3200 with a 10:55.56, also qualifying for the AOC. Dorman freshman Stephanie Buffo\'s strength in the 3200 helped her finish fourth in 11:07.56, missing the AOC qualifying mark of 11:05.80 by a slim margin. The first lap of the girls 3200 event was a 78, lap two was a 79, lap three an 80.69, an 81 fourth lap, 81 second fifth lap, 81 second sixth lap, 80.75 seventh lap and a 78.63 final lap.
Northwestern High School Lady Trojans finished third in the 4x100 relay, second in the meet\'s final event the 4x400 relay and the Trojans started off the meet on Friday with a 9:33.60 finishing time in the 4x800. All three Northwestern teams ran times good for the AOC meet.
Ashley Maddox placed third in the high jump after jumping off with North Carolina\'s Jennifer Webster at 5-04. Claire Young (Thornwell) led South Carolina in the pole vault with a second place height of 10-06. Liza Todd (Dreher, fourth) also cleared 10-06 in a jumpoff with Watauga\'s (N.C.) Sallie Gurganus.
Lower Richland\'s Myra Hawkins captured the long jump title with a AOC qualifying mark of 18-09.00. Dreher\'s Brittany James finished third in the event. Sierra Douglas outjumped the field in the triple jump event with a best mark of 39-06.75, an AOC qualifying distance. Westside\'s Tempest Vance rounded out the top three in the event.
Columbus (Ga.) High School\'s Khadija Talley set a shot put meet record of 46-08.25. The record surpasses the 11 year old previous record set by Ayokka Green of Westside in 1993 by 1-08.75.
Post season action is underway in South Carolina. Check back with scrunners.com throughout the next few weeks for results. A photo gallery from the 13th Annual Taco Bell Classic will be posted tomorrow evening.
Katherine Warden (Dreher Class of 2003) and Dex Badgett contributed to this article.
Cedric Goodman of Newnan High School (Ga.) captured the win in the boys 400 meter event in 46.34. Goodman\'s time is a meet record and also qualifies him for the Adidas Outdoor Championships (AOC). First in for South Carolina was Broome\'s Garett Blakely. Blakely crossed the line in 49.29.
South Caldwell\'s (N.C.) Chase Eckard finished first in the mile run with a 4:22.04. Reid Wilson rounded out the top three in the mile with a 4:24.88. Daniel Eils\' strong kick at the end moved him into the fourth spot. Brian Raymond (Spring Valley), Brandon Hudgins (Northwestern) and Brad Orr (Wren) placed eighth, ninth and tenth, respectively in the mile. In the fastest heat, mentioned above the first lap split was 66 seconds, 67 second lap, 64 second third lap and a final lap of 63 seconds.
Richland Northeast\'s Marshawn Martin set a new meet record and qualified for the AOC with a 1:53.96. Christopher Woods II of B.E. Mays (Ga.) brought home the bronze with an AOC qualifying mark of 1:54.54. Martin\'s teammate Antonio Green rounded out the top three with a 1:57.99. Ridgeview\'s Richard Williams was the last runner from South Carolina to break the two-minute barrier with a 1:58.48. Marshawn Martin ran the first quarter in 55 seconds, coming back with a 58 final lap.
Ryan Jank rounded out the top two in the boys 3200-meter with a 9:22.33, 65-hundreths of a second behind winner Jesse Marino of Collins Hill (Ga.). Jank\'s time is the fastest in the state. Wilson (Spring Valley) placed fifth in 9:37.99. Wilson\'s teammate Raymond came in next with a 9:41.55. Stratford\'s Dmitri Virnig rounded out the top eight in 9:45.97.
Brandon Brown captured the win in the boys 110-meter hurdles in 14.19, an AOC qualifying time. Brown finished third in the preliminaries with teammate Dennis Martin having the fastest time in the preliminaries. Dyestat.com has Brown Brown\'s time as Jim Spier\'s U.S. top five. Antoine Fant, Trey Fletcher, Cade Liverman and Brown\'s teammate Dennis Martin were also mentioned on the list. T.L. Hanna\'s Antoine Fant finished second in the 110 hurdles. Martin finished fifth in the hurdles final.
Martin\'s experience in the hurdles showed when the Westside junior placed first in the 400 hurdles in 54.55. Dominick Bailey (Ridge View) was next in from South Carolina with a third place finishing time of 55.04.
On Friday Spring Valley\'s 3200 relay team ran a 7:56.53 time. The Vikings took home the win in the event and also were recognized on dyestat.com as a performance that almost made the top five in the U.S. The fastest 4x800 time is 7:52.30, by Upland in Calif., set a the Arcadia meet.
Ridge View\'s George Fields effort of 22-09.50 in the long jump was good for a second place finish. Field\'s teammate Dominick Bailey missed the top three by one-half of an inch with a 22-08.50.
A trio of North Rowan (N.C.) athletes placed one, two and three in the boys triple jump Wren\'s Derek Pressley was the first South Carolinian in with a 47-10.00, good for a top four position.
Terrence Brown (Summerville) qualified for the AOC after winning the boy\'s shot put with a 59-06.25 best heave. Brown is a junior at Summerville that threw the implement over four inches further then his closest competitor. Mauldin\'s Chris Abercrombie rounded out the top three with a 50-01.25, the last athlete to break the 50 foot mark. Abercrombie sealed a win in the discus with a 166-00 best. Northwestern senior Jonathon Caldwell finished second overall in 165-04. Summerville\'s Justin Shinta placed third (155-05) and Zack Berg (154-09) of Fort Mill placed fourth.
Andrew Brunson III of Shiloh (Ga.) took home the high jump title after having to jump off with Westside\'s Martez Brown at 6-06. Mitch Greeley broke former Brookland-Cayce pole vaulter Chase Shealy\'s 2003 record of 16-08 ater clearing 16-09 in the vault. Greeley\'s mark is currently the best in the nation for the 2004 outdoor season and he has automatically qualified for AOC. Broome\'s Jeremy Longshore set a mark of 15-00.00 to finish second.
Amberly Nesbitt, a senior form J.L. Mann qualified for the finals in the 100 meter event after running a preliminary time of 12.08. Nesbitt finished first with a 11.53 in the finals, breaking the meet record however the wind speed exceeded the limit allowed for a new meet record. Nesbitt\'s time is also the fastest wind-aided mark in the nation. Northwestern\'s Tiaerra McLaurin rounded out the top two with a 11.80 time in the finals. Nesbitt also finished first in the 200 preliminaries with another AOC qualifying time. McLaurin captured the win in the 200 finals. Ridge View\'s Jessica Young and Dominque Ward of Beaufort finished third and fourth, respectively in the 200. Ward automatically qualified for AOC in the 400 with a 55.52, good for a first place finish. Young of Ridge View finished second in 55.69, another AOC qualifying mark.
Florida\'s Kelly Parrish of Ocala Vanguard swept the competition in the girls one mile run in 5:00.42. The lead pack in the girls mile went through lap one in 73 seconds. The group went through the halfway mark at 2:32 and lap three in 3:46. Northwestern\'s Angelina Blackmon was the first in for South Carolina with a third place time of 5:04.66. Niehaus of Spring Valley finished in the top five with a 5:13.38. Angelina\'s sister Tiayonna placed sixth in 5:17.14 and 3A top runner Sunday Ford of Wren came across the line in ninth with a 5:29.81.
Sarah Bowman of Fauquier High School (Va.) swept the field in the 800 member run with a new meet record of 2:07.69. The pack with Bowman went through the first lap in 60.64 seconds. Bowman was not alone as Mackenzie Pierce, the former record holder finished first in the private division of the 800. First in for South Carolina was Byrnes sensation Candice Johnson. Johnson, a junior Rebel crossed the line in 2:20.83, good for a sixth place overall finish in the member division.
Kate Niehaus dominated the field in the 3200-meter run with a 10:41.54 final time. Niehaus\' personal best time qualifies her for AOC. Angelina Blackmon placed second, 11.07 seconds behind Niehaus. Laura Cummings traveled from New York for the meet to represent Bay Shore. Cummings brought home the bronze in the 3200 with a 10:55.56, also qualifying for the AOC. Dorman freshman Stephanie Buffo\'s strength in the 3200 helped her finish fourth in 11:07.56, missing the AOC qualifying mark of 11:05.80 by a slim margin. The first lap of the girls 3200 event was a 78, lap two was a 79, lap three an 80.69, an 81 fourth lap, 81 second fifth lap, 81 second sixth lap, 80.75 seventh lap and a 78.63 final lap.
Northwestern High School Lady Trojans finished third in the 4x100 relay, second in the meet\'s final event the 4x400 relay and the Trojans started off the meet on Friday with a 9:33.60 finishing time in the 4x800. All three Northwestern teams ran times good for the AOC meet.
Ashley Maddox placed third in the high jump after jumping off with North Carolina\'s Jennifer Webster at 5-04. Claire Young (Thornwell) led South Carolina in the pole vault with a second place height of 10-06. Liza Todd (Dreher, fourth) also cleared 10-06 in a jumpoff with Watauga\'s (N.C.) Sallie Gurganus.
Lower Richland\'s Myra Hawkins captured the long jump title with a AOC qualifying mark of 18-09.00. Dreher\'s Brittany James finished third in the event. Sierra Douglas outjumped the field in the triple jump event with a best mark of 39-06.75, an AOC qualifying distance. Westside\'s Tempest Vance rounded out the top three in the event.
Columbus (Ga.) High School\'s Khadija Talley set a shot put meet record of 46-08.25. The record surpasses the 11 year old previous record set by Ayokka Green of Westside in 1993 by 1-08.75.
Post season action is underway in South Carolina. Check back with scrunners.com throughout the next few weeks for results. A photo gallery from the 13th Annual Taco Bell Classic will be posted tomorrow evening.
Katherine Warden (Dreher Class of 2003) and Dex Badgett contributed to this article.