INDOOR TRACK: Rosewood's Godwin displays speed

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on December 8, 2016 9:57 AM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

PRINCETON -- While personal bests were the main goal on a chilly Wednesday afternoon, two competitors -- Rosewood's Alex Godwin and Princeton's Austin Sullivan -- went one step further during their Carolina 1-A Conference indoor track meet.

Godwin won the boys' 55-meter hurdles in 8.4 seconds -- matching the qualifying standard for the N.C. High School Athletic Association Classes 1-A/2-A state championship meet.

Although he placed third overall, Sullivan set a new school record -- 1 minute, 48 seconds -- in the 500-meter dash. The senior distance runner has qualified for the state meet in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs.

"The athletes performed a very high level today," said RHS head coach Daniel Baynes, whose team compiled a meet-high 139 points during the team portion of the three-hour affair.

"Even though there weren't a whole lot of state-qualifying times and distances, I think the athletes are getting better every meet."

A multi-sport athlete and senior, Godwin secured first in the triple jump with a mark of 38 feet, 41/2 inches.

Bryton Lambeth logged the top throw of 40-3 in the shot put. Cameron Smith won the 3,200 run in 12:20.6 and helped the Eagles capture the 3,200 relay in 10:14.1.

Smith (1,600), Hayden Maldonado (3,200), Devonte Phillips (55-meter dash), Seth Wiggins (triple jump), Kris Wright (high jump) and Amrei Atwell (55 hurdles) each recorded a second-place performance. The Eagles grabbed second in the 1,600 relay.

Spring Creek's 800 relay squad took third in 1:40.8. Sophomore Toni Ramirez was fifth overall in the 500 dash. Brandon Wood-Potter and Spencer Jameson ended up fourth and fifth, respectively, in the shot put. Jameson was also fifth in the long jump.

Princeton's Keanan Larson and Hunter Ezell seized second and third, respectively, in the pole vault. Each cleared eight feet.

"I take a different approach to indoor track," PHS head coach Mark McLamb said. "It isn't about winning track meets for us. It's about progression and looking forward to the outdoor season. That has been my approach for 15 years and it seems to work for my teams.

"We had a lot of personal bests today, especially with our young runners (and) field event athletes. I enjoy watching the young athletes reach new goals as much as I do seeing the older runners win and advance to states."

On the girls' side, Spring Creek teammates Daeja Hutcherson and Emily Dupuy shared third in the 55 dash with a time of 8.2 seconds. Dupuy grabbed second in the high jump.

Jasmine Green and Mirna Santiago took fourth in the 500 and 1,600 runs, respectively.

The Gators were third in the 1,600 relay and fourth in the 800 relay.

Rosewood got second-place performances from Sydney Reiss (300), Demetria Percival (shot put) and Angela Puzzo (3,200). Puzzo finished third in the 1,600.