Ashbrook sweeps Big South track championships

GASTONIA - Add this to the resumes of Justin Crawford, Jheranie Boyd and the rest of the Ashbrook track senior class: conference championship perfection.

Crawford and Boyd won two events each and plenty others chipped in as the Green Wave won its fourth straight Big South 3A/4A Conference cham-pionship Wednesday at Ashbrook Stadium. The Green Wave girls made it a clean sweep, taking their third consecutive title.

"I think it's nice that people can't remember the last team to win other than us," Ashbrook coach Chad McAlister said. "I think it's representative of how we work and what we do our here."

Crawford helped continue the streak by sweeping the 110- and 300-meter hurdles, breaking his own conference meet record in the 110s with a time of 13.81 seconds. His 39.13-second run in the 300 hurdles wasn't far off his own mark. The Georgetown-bound senior also placed third in the long jump and third in the 100 meters to earn the meet's overall most outstanding athlete award.

"I'm really proud of myself because I didn't think I'd do this well," said Crawford, sidelined the previous two weeks with a right calf injury. "I think I'm recovering pretty quickly."

Boyd, the heralded wide receiver headed for North Carolina this fall, broke his day-old record in the 100 meters with a mark of 10.32 seconds, getting a strong push from Crest sophomore Kendall Kee. Boyd also won the 200, placed sixth in the 400 and ran a leg for the 800-meter relay team that set a meet record at 1 minute, 28.37 seconds.

Ashbrook scored a meet-record 178 points, easily outdistancing second-place Forestview (135). Crest was third with 80 points, followed by South Point (55), East Gaston (54), Hunter Huss (45) and North Gaston (10). The Green Wave had built a hefty lead on Day 1, when field MVP Jordan Toomer won the shot put and discus. Ashbrook also got a second-place finish from Bradley Leeper in the shot put.

Then, on Wednesday, Ashbrook kept piling up the points. Willie Kennedy won the 400 and Steven Goode was right behind him to give the Green Wave a 1-2 finish. Jordan McKoy added a second-place finish in the 800 meters, and Ashbrook capped the meet by winning the 1600-meter relay. The Green Wave surpassed the previous meet scoring record by 3 1/2 points, beating the mark held by the 2007 Ashbrook team.

Forestview's Jacob Englert was voted most outstanding track athlete after winning the 800 and 1,600 meters, placing second in the 3,200 and running a leg of the record-setting 3,200-meter relay team. Englert broke his own meet record in the 800 with a time of 2:01.47. The second-place Jaguars did the bulk of their damage in the distance events, led by Englert and Zack Queen (first in the 3,200, second in the 1,600, fourth in the 800).

Ashbrook easily won the girls title despite not having an award winner on its team. The Green Wave scored 142 points, far ahead of second-place For-estview (90 points).

Ashbrook's Janay Brickey won the high jump and set the meet record in the 100 hurdles, crossing the line in 16.04 seconds. Another Ashbrook athlete, Ashley Strothers, set the meet record in the 300 hurdles, running a 48.48 to beat her year-old mark by three-tenths of a second. The Green Wave also got first-place finishes from Alyssa Hunt in the discus and from its 1,600-meter relay team.

The girls' individual honors went to North Gaston's Maleena Reid and South Point's Elyse Will, who each won four events each and set records along the way.

Reid, the overall and field most outstanding athlete, set two meet records Tuesday before winning the 200 and 400 on Wednesday. Reid, a junior, on Tuesday had covered 36 feet, 6 inches in the triple jump, eclipsing by two inches the 2005 mark set by North Gaston's Monica Johnson. Reid also tied Johnson's long jump record of 17 feet, 4 1/2 inches set in 2004.

"I don't want to say I knew I was going to win (four events), but I knew it was in me to do it," Reid said.

Will, a senior, broke her record in the 1,600 with a time of 5:37.99. She set the previous record of 5:40.54 last year. Will also won the 800 and 3200 by a long shot and ran a leg for the winning 3,200-meter relay team.

Hunter Huss was third in the girls' standings with 78 points, followed by South Point (70), North Gaston (67), East Gaston (55) and Crest (40).

You can reach Phillip Gardner at 704-869-1843.