Lady Eagles, Dukes win district titles
Published 12:13 pm Tuesday, May 16, 2017
Prince Edward County High School’s varsity girls and Cumberland High School’s varsity boys outdoor track and field teams turned in outstanding performances to win the 2017 James River District Championships.
Leading the Lady Eagles was sophomore Jordan Booker, who earned five titles, three in individual events and two in relay events.
Of the girls team district title, Prince Edward Head Track and Field Coach James Baker said the Lady Eagles “put that away on the day of the field events because they came out of the field events with 81 points.”
Booker won the girls long jump and triple jump, and freshman Makayla Morris won the girls high jump.
“We stress with the kids that it’s not just the first places but it’s those other places down through there that really help you to win this stuff,” Baker said, as points were claimed by anyone or any relay team placing in the top six of an event.
“The only (girls field) event that we didn’t place multiple people in was the high jump, and Makayla won that, so it was an overall, strong performance,” Baker said.
The Lady Eagles finished with 154 points after the track events, as Goochland High School took second with 117.5.
Booker produced a new personal record in the girls 300-meter hurdles, which she won with a time of 50.04 seconds.
Of her title wins, Booker said, “I thought I could be able to do it, because I’ve been doing it in practice and started doing it in the invitational meets consistently, so I guess it was just a time to shine and not be nervous.”
She helped the Lady Eagles 4×100-meter relay team place first with its new best time of 50.94 seconds. The team also featured sophomore Salma Muhammad, freshman Mia Seay and Morris.
Junior Montiera Wynn, freshman Naomi Jones, Booker and Seay comprised the girls 4×400-meter relay team that won with a time of four minutes, 25.34 seconds.
Cumberland’s boys team won with 130 points, and Prince Edward’s boys tied for second with Bluestone High School as each team had 92 points.
“I felt… wow, I don’t have the words for it,” Cumberland Head Coach Kenneth Jasey said of the Dukes’ performance. “I’m proud of them, extremely proud of them.”
He particularly highlighted first-year members of the team like junior Keyshawn Diming, who won the boys triple jump, sophomore Justin Stimpson, who won the boys 3200-meter run with a time of 10:57.44, and junior Muhammad Fulani, who helped the boys 4×400-meter relay team win with a time of 3:37.04.
Joining Fulani on the relay team were senior Jared Halvorsen, sophomore Jalen Foster and sophomore Devon Rivera-Reed.
Halvorsen placed first in the boys 800-meter run with a 2:09.14 time.
For Prince Edward’s boys team, senior Bryan Moses won the boys 100-meter dash, finishing in 10.94 seconds, and he won the boys 200-meter dash, finishing in 22.84 seconds.
Seniors Quantavis Nash, Brandon Scott and Moses and sophomore J’Sean Dupuy populated the boys 4×100-meter relay team that won with a time of 43.54 seconds.
In field events, senior Markeem Trent won the boys shot put, and Nash won the boys long jump.
For Buckingham County High School, junior Keana Jones won the girls shot put.
Conference championships for Buckingham, Cumberland and Prince Edward are this week.