Dallas County shines in second Hornet Invitational

Published 9:09 pm Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Dallas County High School’s Xavier Knight leaps over a hurdle during Tuesday’s Hornet Invitational at Memorial Stadium. -- Robert Hudson

Dallas County High School’s Xavier Knight leaps over a hurdle during Tuesday’s Hornet Invitational at Memorial Stadium. — Robert Hudson

Teams from all around the state competed in Memorial Stadium on Tuesday in the Second Annual Dallas County Hornet Invitational.

A total of 25 schools from all six Alabama High School Athletic Association classifications participated in Tuesday’s meet at Memorial Stadium.

The hosts Dallas County High School finished first overall in the girls with a total of 88.5 points, while Prattville finished second with 86 points, and Stanhope Elmore finished third with 78 points.

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For the boys, Prattville finished first with 119 points, Jeff Davis finished second with 88.25 points, Stanhope finished third with 73 points, and Dallas County finished fourth with 58 points.

Robert Dolbare, head track and field coach of Dallas County High School, said he was proud of his team’s performance, and that the meet as a whole was a success.

“We fought hard all day long against some great competition from around the state. I am very proud of my team,” Dolbare said. “The meet was a great success. We look forward to it continuing to grow in the coming years.”

Dallas County team member Shay Spradley said it’s great for the Lady Hornets to have finished first overall, and the meet will help them prepare for sectionals and the state meet.

“It’s liberating because I know we’ve worked so hard for it. I know we could have done a little bit better, but I know our girls pushed it too the max and we brought our A-game to the meet,” Spradley said. “For sectionals, I think it’ll give us more of an idea who our competition is. State meet will definitely be a challenge, but we can do it.”

For Dallas County, Karissa Smiley finished second in the girls high jump with a jump of 4 feet, 8 inches.

Spradley finished first in girls triple jump with a jump of 29 feet, 2 inches, and Smiley finished second in girls triple jump with a jump of 28 feet.

Dallas County’s Shaquitta Shields finished second in girls long jump with a jump of 16 feet, 1 inch.

Dallas County’s Jay Barnett finished second in boys high jump with a jump of 6 feet, Xavier Knight finished first in the boys triple jump at 43 feet, 3 inches, and Spradley finished first in the girls discus throw at 92-03.

Ivery Williams, head track and field coach of Selma High School, said he was pleased with the Saints’ performance in Tuesday’s meet.

“It helps tremendously simply for the fact that there were about 30 teams here and it kind of had the feel of sectionals. There was good competition,” Williams said. “Our kids competed. We didn’t win, but we came in second and third in some events, won our heats, but didn’t win our events. Overall, I was pleased.”

Southside track and field coach Jason Bothwell said the meet provided his team with a look against great competition.

“This meet, it helps us get ready for sectionals in many different ways. The level of competition that comes in to this particular track meet is tremendous,” Bothwell said, “and by us being a 3A school being able to run against the heavy hitters 6A schools and 5A schools, it just betters us for our area in every event that we compete in.”

Keith track and field coach Clifton Reeves said the meet provided his team with valuable experience and confidence moving forward.

“I think it helped our kids. It gave them a great view of what they’ll see in sectionals and help them gear up for what they’ll see at state, so overall it gave them a pretty good experience with the timers, with the other big schools that they’ll have to see,” Reeves said. “It helps with confidence because we have a lot of ninth graders and first-time runners, and some seventh graders. And we had some seventh graders that finished first in their heat against seniors and juniors, so overall it helped their confidence a lot.”

Other highlights from Tuesday’s meet include Selma’s Tikeysha Shields finishing third in girls long jump with a jump of 15-7 1/2.

Selma’s Ezekiel Ufomadu finished seventh in the shot put throw at 40-06.

Shaquitta Shields finished third in the girls 200-meter dash with a time of 27.36, and finished second in the girls 100-meter dash with a time of 12.79.

Knight finished first in the boys 300-meter hurdles with a time of 43.42.

Keith’s Jareece Bryant finished 11th in the boys 800-meter run.

Selma’s Devonta Snow finished third in the boys 100-meter dash with a time of 11.19.

Keith’s Quomila Johnigan finished sixth in the girls 400-meter dash with a time of 1:05.40.