THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 3, 1996 TAG: 9603030220
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KEITH POMPEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FARIFAX LENGTH: Short : 50 lines
Centreville's girls scored 69 points to run away with the Group AAA state indoor track and field championships at George Mason Saturday.
But you wouldn't have known that by the look on Bayside coach Keith DeLong's face. Despite having only six girls competing, the Marlins finished third with 34 points.
West Springfield won the boys competition with 42 points. Oscar Smith was the area's top finisher with 14 points for 12th place.
``I'm extremely happy with the way we ran,'' Delong said. ``They were just running real well. My girls were looking to run fast, but they surprised me. I didn't know they were going to run that fast.''
DeLong wasn't the only South Hampton Roads coach who enjoyed the Marlins' performance.
``That was a real accomplishment for them,'' First Colonial coach Ben Kaminiski said. ``I would have liked to see our whole district do better. It's a disadvantage that we don't compete on an indoor track all the time. But when we get to the outdoor season, you'll see our teams do better.''
But Bayside didn't wait for the outdoor season. The Marlins 800-meter relay team of Timika Williams, Davon Lamb, Ebony Shelton and Lashanda Cutchins walked away with the gold medal. The foursome's time of 1:43.42 shattered the meet record set by Bethel (1:44.22) in 1988.
``I had a feeling that we were going to win, but I wasn't expecting that to happen,'' Shelton said of breaking the record. ``But I'm happy I had a chance to run on that relay.''
While Shelton reflected on becoming a part of history, Cutchins took first place in the 300-meter run in :39.78 and second place in the 55 at :07.16. Lamb finished third in the 300 in 40.09.
Bayside wasn't the only team from South Hampton Roads with outstanding performers. Norcom's Missy Banks took second in the shotput at 40-feet-1. Great Bridge's Jason Buckley took second in the 500 (1:06.36) followed by Tigers' Antonio Wilson in third (1:06.44), Oscar Smith's Thywenston Swain armed a second in the shot put (53-1 3/4, First Colonial's Daniel Baxley took fourth in the 300 (:36.19) trailed by Green Run's Sevend Mason in fifth (:36.19) and Western Branch's Kenny Mosely in sixth (36.26).
Princess Anne's Megan Kaminski (11:32) was fifth in the 2-mile, Kellam's Matt Morgan took fifth in the mile (4:28), Salem's Ques Smith took fourth in the triple jump (44-11) and Churchland's Jamin Elliott finished fourth in the long jump (22-8). by CNB