Runners on your mark...set...BANG!
The state track meets for Class 6A and 5A are scheduled for Friday and Saturday at Yukon High School, and all three city schools are prepping mightily for their opportunities to log personal bests, bringing home lots of hardware in the process.
Lawton High will compete in the 6A meet, while Eisenhower and MacArthur will test their abilities against teams of the 5A variety. Field events will begin at 10 a.m. on both days, and the running events will feature at noon start time.
Here are some Wolverines to watch at the state meet:
Girls
Danecia and Lanecia Edmundson: There is no denying what the Edmundson sisters bring to LHS track.
Danecia and Lanecia, both juniors, are among the most talented sprinters on the girls team, proving themselves in both individual events and relays. Collectively, the pair will compete in five of the eight events in which the Lady Wolverines qualified competitors.
Lanecia leads the way, qualifying for the state meet in four events, including three relays — the 4x100 relay, the 4x200 relay and the 4x400 relay — and one individual event — the 400 meters.
Danecia joins her sister in the 4x100 and the 4x200, while also running as a lone competitor in the 100 meters.
Danecia was an automatic qualifier in 100 with a time of 12.51 seconds, and Lanecia earned an additional qualifier bid in the 400 at 1 minute, 1 second.
The 4x100 team placed third in the regional meet at Putnam City on Saturday in 48.14 seconds, behind only Midwest City and Edmond Memorial. The 4x200 team made the cut with a time of 1:42.80 to place third.
The 4x400 team advanced to the state meet as an additional qualifier despite placing fifth in 4:16.
Lajine Johnson and Sade Norton are the other two legs on the 4x100 and 4x200 relays.
Danecia said getting to run alongside her sister in the relays is an exciting experience.
“We’ve been running since 8th grade on the same relays,” Danecia said. “It’s good to get to continue it.”
Although the two enjoy running together, there does exist a sibling rivalry. Family and friends often ask the sisters who possess the fastest times, though neither admits to claiming that distinction.
“It’s kind of hard to say because we run different things,” Lanecia said. “(Danecia) runs the 100 better than me, and I run the 200 better than her, so it’s hard to say who is really the fastest.”
However, there is one thing the girls agree on unanimously — their motivation for running track.
Lanecia said her and Danecia’s mother, Candace Morrison, saw their potential early and pushed both of them to get involved in track. With how the sisters have performed thus far in their careers, it is safe to say Morrison’s motherly intuition was correct.
“My mom starting running track when she was young,” Lanecia said. “She just wanted us to do what she did. She wanted us to finish what she started.”
Midajah Riles: The senior is peaking at the right time.
After signing a scholarship to run at the University of Arts and Sciences of Oklahoma early last week, Riles ran two of her best times this season in the 100- and 300-meter hurdles at the regional meet. Riles qualified for the state meet in both events with a pair of second-place finishes, clocking a time of 16.28 seconds in the 100 hurdles and 49.68 seconds in the 300 hurdles.
Those came just nine days after she logged season-best times of 16.21 seconds and 48.53 seconds at the Big 10 Conference meet at Putnam City. She doesn’t want to stop there, though.
Riles’ goal is to break into the 15-second range at the state meet in the 100 hurdles, her proclaimed favorite event, and she said she believes her quick reaction time to the start gun will benefit her in fulfilling her desire.
“I feel pretty confident,” Riles said. “One of my strong suits is getting out of the blocks faster — no one usually gets out of the blocks faster than I do — and that helps me out a lot.”
Riles is also a member of the 4x400 team, and she said though the hurdle races are considered sprints, the 400 requires her to use a different set of skills to run.
“I feel like it’s different because you have to use a different kind of running technique,” Riles said. “The closest to it would probably be the 300s, but the 400 is more complicated, in a sense.”
Lamiya Fitzpatrick will also compete in the 300 hurdles, clocking in at 50.15 seconds for third place at the regional meet. Fitzpatrick, along with Deja Lacey, serve as the remaining two legs on the 4x400 relay.
Destiny Chew: Field events don’t often get the same respect as their running counterparts, but Chew is out to change that at LHS.
Chew was the only Lady Wolverine to qualify for the state meet in field events, making it in both the long jump and shot put. She took third in the long jump with a leap of 16 feet, 6 inches, while also taking home the bronze medal in the shot put, throwing the 12-pound ball 36-04.
The junior just missed out on an additional qualifier spot in the discus throw.
“Throwers don’t get as much recognition, and not many other field events do, either,” Chew said. “So this being my second year going to state, this is really my chance to catch people’s eye and show throwers are important and that we’re actually out here putting work in because we get a lot of points for the teams.”
Chew made the medal stand in the shot put last season, placing sixth with a 36-05 toss, and she plans on exceeding that distance this weekend. For Chew to place in the top three, she said she believes she’ll have to hit the 38-foot mark.
“I know I can throw at least 38 feet, and I looked at other girls’ stats, and they were throwing about 36 or 37,” Chew said. “If I can chunk out a 38, I’ll at least be up there with the top three. To do that, I need to get in the gym and work on my legs because shot put is all about the muscles from your legs. Now it’s getting down to the gritty work when you have to work hard and dig deep.”
The weight room is an important aspect to Chew’s success, for great strength is required to attain competitive throws and jumps. This is especially true for the shot put, which she says includes a combination of strength and technique.
“Shot put is about technique and muscles because you can’t have one without the other,” Chew said. “You really have to put all your power into getting the shot out there, but you also have to have the right technique to stay in the ring. I try to stay in the gym as often as I can so I can keep reaching toward my goal of winning state.”
Boys
Miles Davis: The junior underwent some experimenting this season to find his niche.
He ran the 100 for most of the year, but after failing to reach desired results, he made the move to the 200. There, he went to the finals at the regional meet, recording a blazing time of 22.84 seconds to place fifth, but it wasn’t enough for an additional qualifier slot.
Despite those disappointments, there was one event Davis seemed to excel at from the beginning, and it wasn’t one found on the track, but rather the pit. The long jump pit, to be exact.
Davis launched himself a distance of 21-08 at the regional meet, landing himself a spot at the state meet with a third-place finish. And that was only a small glimpse of his potential.
He logged a personal best of 22-01.50 at the Bethany Twilight Invitational on March 15, the eighth-best leap in 6A this season.
For Miles, the objective is simple.
“Just fly,” Davis said. “That’s my main goal. Once I hit the board, just jump as far as I can and win the whole thing. Now, at last, I got this opportunity to show what I can do.”
Jayquan Lincoln: For the second-straight season, Lincoln is the only runner on the boys team to qualify for the state meet.
Lincoln secured a spot in the 110 hurdles at the regional meet with a time 15.50 seconds, good enough for a fourth-place finish and an additional qualifier slot. This marks the third-consecutive season Lincoln has qualified in the event.
Last season, Lincoln placed 11th in 15.62 seconds, and he finished 13th in 16.33 seconds as a sophomore in 2016.
The humble Lincoln gave credit to those around him for his success.
“It’s a great accomplishment, and I couldn’t have done it without the coaches’ help,” Lincoln said. “My teammates push me every day at practice, and my family supports me so much. It makes me want to make them happy every time I race.”
Lincoln signed to play football at East Central in Ada last fall, and despite having to choose one sport to pursue in college, Lincoln never relinquished his desire to run track.
He said running track helps him improve his football skills during the long offseason.
“I’ve loved track,” Lincoln said. “I’ve been to state two times, and I think I can win it, so I might as well keep running. I honestly run track to help with football because they go hand-in-hand with each other. I can get faster out here, so it’ll help me on the field and get my hips loose — that’s why I run the hurdles.”