Track: Western Branch still reigns in Eastern Region

HAMPTON

A track official approached Western Branch coach Claude Toukene halfway through Saturday’s Eastern Region meet and presented him with a large envelope full of medals.

After handing Toukene the medals, the official jokingly said, “You should have just brought me a cart.”

Toukene laughed, but the official was right – Western Branch’s boys and girls racked up with medals and points.

The boys scored 71 points to win their sixth consecutive region title. Ocean Lakes was second with 48 and Grassfield third with 47.

The girls scored 107.33 points to win their fifth consecutive title. Ocean Lakes was second with 52 and Phoebus was third with 42.

“This is the last tune-up before the state meet,” Toukene said about his 20th region title in eight years at Western Branch. “So we wanted to come in here and just do enough to get the win and at the same time be sharp and get ready for next week’s state meet.”

Senior Tiffany Ellick led the girls. She won the triple jump with a leap of 38 feet, 4 inches. She also placed second in the long jump and 55 hurdles. And she ran on the victorious 800-meter relay along with Taranisha Taylor, Shamia Lassiter and Javette Lee.

Tyson said having a good region meet was just what she needed after a subpar district meet last week.

“Coming in here gave me all the motivation I needed and made me more hungry to win,” she said. “Everybody ran hard and people who weren’t expected to do well scored points.”

Some of the other top Western Branch performances included Taylor, who won the 55 hurdles in a meet-record time of 7.94 seconds, which ties for second nationally this season. She also placed fifth in the long jump. Lassiter finished third in the 55 hurdles and sixth in the long jump. And Milan Parks was second in the 55 meters and fourth in the long jump.

Byron Robinson’s victory in the 500 meters led the boys. Josh Marriner was second in the 55 meters and Chris Crawford was second in the 55 hurdles and long jump.

Grassfield’s Kiara Howell also had a big region meet. She won the shot put with a meet-record throw of 48-4¼, bettering the old mark set in 2001 by nearly three feet. She also beat her nearest competitor by nearly 10 feet.

Indian River’s Shannon Morton held off Ocean Lakes’ Audrey Batzel to win the 1,000 meters in a meet-record time of 2:25.05. Batzel did win the 3,200 (11:16.12) and ran on the victorious record-setting 3,200 relay team. Batzel, Sarah Derrick, Erica Jackson and Olivia Bethune ran 9:27.06. 

First Colonial pole vaulter Jaqueline Meeks cleared 10-10 to set a meet record. Lakeland’s Anaquan Peterson won the long (22-9¼) and triple jump (47-0). Landstown’s Brent Coulter and Princess Anne’s Matthew Schwartzer battled in the 1,000 and 1,600. Coulter won 1,000 with Schwartzer second. They reversed places in the 1,600. 

Larry Rubama, 757-446-2273, larry.rubama@pilotonline.com