Morgan girls have strong showing in state track meet
Published 11:20 pm Thursday, April 16, 2015
Despite a little bit of rain, the final day of the Alabama Independent School Association track and field championships at Memorial Stadium went according to plan.
The Morgan Academy Senators took home third place in the women’s team rankings with 64 total points and 12th place in the men’s team rankings.
Lee-Scott took home first place for the girls with 130 points, and Tuscaloosa Academy took home second with 94.
“It came as a surprise to see [Lee-Scott] win by as much as they did because everybody thought it was going to be real close between Lee-Scott and Tuscaloosa,” said Rob Robinson, Morgan track coach. “As it turned out, it wasn’t even close in the girls.”
For the boys, Escambia Academy won first place with 158 points, and Lee-Scott came in second with 95.
“Escambia Academy won the boys very easily, and that was a surprise,” Robinson said. “Everybody thought they might pull it out, but they won by more than 60 points over Lee-Scott. That is unbelievable.”
Even with a wet track from the rain, Robinson said the results wouldn’t have been much different.
“I think [the results] would have come out the same if it had been bright and sunny all day long,” Robinson said.
“I was very pleased [with the girls performance]. Lee-Scott and Tuscaloosa are just way ahead of everyone else. We were comfortably in third, so I was pleased with the way we came out.”
Morgan’s Kendall Veach took home first place in shot put with a total of 33.25 feet and discus throw with a total of 94 feet.
“She’s been first in shot put every week, and she won the state championship in shot put last year … so that was expected,” Robinsons said. “What was not expected was her winning the discus. She’s come in as high as second before, but she’s never won it. She threw much, much further than she ever has today.”
Senators junior Jaycee Sanders also had a good showing in the championships. She took home first place in the girls 1600 meter run and second place in the girls 3200 meter run.
“Jaycee just loves to run, and I just sort of let her do what she wants to do,” Robinson said. “She knows what her routine is. She knows what she needs to do, and she has her own strategy, and I just let her go.”
Eighth grader Laney Holladay came in third in the 1600 meter run, and Anna Tidmore, who is just a sophomore, came in third in the 800 meter run.
“[Tidmore] is just a 10th grader, so we’re expecting a lot out of her in the future,” Robinson said.
“The 800 is her race, and I bet she’ll be winning it before long.”
While the boys team didn’t have the best showing, Robinson expects them to compete better next year.
“We’re limited because of our numbers, but we’re hoping to have a lot more next year and put a little more emphasis on track,” Robinson said.