2014 JV Championships.
Courtesy http://al.milesplit.com/members/asmith71

There are a lot of way’s to evaluate a Track Season. Things like team finishes and trophies, individual medals and points. Since the ultimate goal of having a JV team though, is to be developing the next generation of Varsity level Track & Field athletes, the best  measure of the season might be things like performance in practices, P.R’s, number of starts out of the blocks, experience with getting cut-off in a distance race or making that clutch throw on a last attempted. All things that help develop you as an athlete.

That being said, the typical way of evaluating Varsity performance is compare the points each athlete has scored for the team. So just for fun, here is the results of a tally of points scored by each athlete. Typically the only JV meet that has “official” results is the Championship. This year we got lucky though and had a “regular” season meet scored.  Points are assigned for each finishing position 1st thru 8th. Points awarded for a Relay are evenly divided between all 4 members of that team. Thus the fractional scores some athletes have. Also, in the case of a positional tie, the points for that postion and the next are added together and divided between the tied athletes. This sometimes leads to fractional points.

Coming in first for the Girls is 9th grader Gabrielle Griner with 20 points! Gabrielle’s points disadvantage comes from only doing one event. Doing it well though, means 10 points for a win … and she had two. Gabrielle is the 3 time JV Champion in the Polevault.

Second place, just 2 points back was 9th grader Aubry Parker. Aubry scored a 2nd, a 4th and was on two points scoring relay teams.

Third was 8th grader Lauryn Hall. Lauryn scored a 2nd at the Championship and was on TWO winning relay teams!

First for the boys, 9th grader Jake Russell  showed his versatility. He had a win, a 2nd, a 3rd and was on a points scoring relay team. Jake is also our top scoring JV Track & Field Athlete! Jake was this years JV Champion in the 1600m.

Coming in second for the boys is 9th grader Darryl Bowden. Darryl also had a win to go with his 3rd, 5th place finishes. He was also on a points scoring relay team. Jake was this year’s JV Champion in the Long Jump.

Third was 9th grader Chase Parker. Chase scored a 2nd in the 100m dash and was on two points scoring Relay Teams.

 (Complete Points Listing)

The “Big Cat” Invitational had some “big results” for our Senators.

Over all, Sparkman had 11 individuals and 2 relay teams finish in the points, 5 individuals and a relay team making it onto the medal podium and 35 NEW PR‘s set!
(Full Results HERE)

At the 2014 Big Cat Invitational

Congratulations To Our 1st Place Winners!

11th grader – Rob Russell Winning the Boys Polevault with a jump of 12′-6″
Rob is currently the TOP ranked, 6A vaulter in our region!

9th grader– Gabrielle Griner Won the Girls Polevault with a Jump of 9′-6″ This marks Gabrielle’s FIRST Varsity Girls win!

8th grader- Lauryn Hall Won her FIRST Varsity race with a spectacular time in the Girls 100m! This was her first varsity competition and she came within .04 seconds of the Sparkman Record!
Her time was the 2nd fastest time IN THE STATE for an 8th grader this year and the 2nd fastest, 6A VARSITY Time from our district! We’re looking forword to seeing her progress over the next four years!

Congratulations to our other medal winners!

• Jr- Kai Perkins – 2nd, Girls Discus
• Sr- Anthony Parameswaran – 2nd, Boys 3200m / 2nd, Boys 1600m
• Girls 4x100m Relay Team – 2nd
The members of that team were-
(8th)Lauryn Hall, (8th)Milan Hunt, (8th)Alessea Rice and (9th)Aubrey Parker

… and to our point scorers!

• Soph- Bailey Herfurth – 4th Boys 1600m(PR)/8th Boys 800m/7th Boys 3200m
• Fresh- Jake Russell – 6th, Boys 1600m/
• Fresh- Aubrey Parker –5th, Girls 100m(PR)
• Fresh- Katelyn Elliff –6th, Girls Javelin(PR)
• Fresh- Glenda Booker –7th, Girls Discus(PR)
• Jr- Rob Russell – 7th, Boys Javelin
• Jr- Riley O’Brien – 8th, Boys Polevault

We also had 14 other Senators score NEW P.R.s in this meet!

Girls –
• Jasmin Jones – (14th) 100m dash/(19th) 200m dash
• Alessea Rice – (16th) 100m dash/(34th) 200m dash
• Sinese Cash – (21st) 100m dash/(48th) 200m dash
• Milan Hunt – (33rd) 100m dash/(44th) 200m dash
• Tamera Austin – (49th) 100m dash
• Jada Alexander – (51st) 100m dash/(50th) 200m dash
• Briona Thomas – (61st) 100m dash
• Bobbie Hargis – (32nd) 400m
• Sharnell Walker – (44th) 400m/(59th) 200m dash
• Lauryn Hall – (11th) 200m dash
• Aubry Parker – (31st) 200m dash
• Kai Perkins – (23rd) Shot Put

Boys-
• William Otey – (29th) 100m dash/(42nd) 200m dash
• Joseph Gaines – (30th) 100m dash
• Kez Johnson – (50th) 100m dash
• Xavier Long – (14th) 400m dash
• Javaris Hart – (52nd) 100m dash/(25th) 200m dash
• Alonte Harvey – (32nd) 200m dash
• Milan Wall – (46th) 200m dash
• Aaron Coin – (59th) 200m dash
• Daryl Bowden – (16th) High Jump/(12th) Long Jump
• Jake Russell – (21st) Long Jump
• Elizah Vargas – (20th) 1600m

It’s the day after the 2014 Metro Area Championship and I am STILL trying to get warmed back up! At start time the temperature was 47 degrees and dropping with a NWS “High Wind” advisory in effect! Just before the meet started we had measured wind gusts in the Monrovia area of 22mph!

This didn’t stop our Senators though. Our JV athletes claimed 3 new Individual Champions and a Girls 4x100m crown!
Over all, we finished in the points in 18 events and had athletes take home 5 medals!
 Our Boys team finished 6th and our Girls finished 8th.

This was one of the best seasons our JV Track & Field Teams have had and bodes well for future Varsity squads!
(Full Results HERE)

Here Are Our New Champions!

9th grader – Jake Russell Won the Boys 1600M (last year he placed 2nd) and placed 4th in the High Jump.
Jake is currently the 9th ranked Freshman in the State in the 1600, just 15 seconds behind 1st.

9th Grader – Daryl Bowden Won the Boys Long Jump. Daryl also took 5th in the High Jump (with a NEW PR) and took 5th in the 100m Hurdles. Daryl’s winning jump was more than a foot longer than his mark in last year’s Championship, in which he placed 9th.

9th grader– Gabrielle Griner Won the Girls Polevault. Gabrielle has been vaulting for Sparkman since the 7th grade and her win last night made her a THREE TIME JV CHAMPION in that event!
Even more remarkable is that in 3 years of JV Pole Vault competition, Gabrielle is UNDEFEATED. She finishes her JV career with a record of 15-0-0 !
When you take into consideration factors other than those she can control (weather, injuries, just pure bad luck), this is quite an accomplishment.
Gabrielle is currently the 2nd ranked Freshman in the state. Her record 10′ jump is equal to the girl in first but came later in this season.

And our Champion Girls 4x100m Relay Team has a lot of youth on it but that didn’t seem to be a problem.
The members of that team were-
(8th)Lauryn Hall, (8th)Milan Hunt, (9th)Aubrey Parker and (8th)Alessea Rice

Congratulations to our other medal winners!

Our Boys 4x100m Relay Team that took 2nd Place–
(8th)Amarius Beasley,(8th)Alonte Harvey, (8th)Xavier Long and (9th)Chase Parker.

… and to our point scorers!

• Emelia Poole – (8th) Girls 1600m PR
• Rahdeja DeCastro – (8th) Girls 200m dash PR
• Tiyanna Saunders – (4th) Girls Discus
• Glenda Booker – (7th) Girls Discus
• Reice Vander Schaaf – (7th) Boys Discus PR
• Jake Russell – (4th) Boys High Jump
• Daryl Bowden – (5th) Boys High Jump PR
• Makenzi Coley – (7th) Girls Pole Vault
• Glenda Booker – (4th) Girls Shot Put PR
• Tiyanna Saunders – (8thT) Girls Shot Put PR
• Kayla Swearingen – (8thT) Girls Shot Put PR
• Mens 4x400m Relay Team – (86th)
Daryl Bowden, Wall Milan, Jerry Cooper, Riccardo Haley

We also had 14 other Senators score NEW P.R.s in this meet!

Girls –
• Zariah Trammell – (15th) 100m dash
• Nadasia Wilson-Noble – (18th) 100m dash
• Emelia Poole – (14th) 800m
• Marcha Coney – (10th) 400m dash
• Kaitlyn Gilliam – (12th) 200m dash
• Makayla Tomaino – (24th) 800m

Boys-
• Ronald White – (20th) 100m dash
• Jake Maier – (18th) 1600m
• Raleigh Johnson – (14th) 200m dash
• Caleb Rodriguez – (18th) 400m dash
• Elizah Vargas – (10th) 800m
• Reice Vander Schaaf – (17th) Shot Put
• Mathew Compton – (9th) Boys Pole Vault
• Verell Ellison – (14th) Boys Pole Vault

The 2014 Bob Jones Invitational was the Track Team’s pentultimate regular season meet and for many of our Senators, their season has really come together.

We saw another NEW SPARKMAN RECORDS set and in 7 events our Senators fought their way onto the podium – 2 of those were for Firsts!
(Full Results HERE)

This Meet’s NEW SPARKMAN RECORD came from Jr- William Otey in the Triple Jump. His leap of 38′ 10.25″ beat the old record by 3 inches and was good enough to give William a 6th place, point scoring finish!

Once again, Jr- Kai Perkins show herself to be the class of the field in the Discus. This week she REALLY out did herself, setting a NEW PR by 6 feet. The difference between 2nd and 3rd place in this event was about 3 feet. Kai’s WINNING THROW of 105′ 3″ was more than 16 feet further then the 2nd place throw!

JR- Rob Russell continues to show dominance in the Boys Polevault. He WON the EVENT with a jump of 12′-6″.

Over all, we finished in the points in a Season High, 23 events and had athletes take home 7 medals!
 Our Boys team finished 6th and our Girls finished 7th.

Congratulations to all our medal winners!

• Jr- Kai Perkins – 1st, Girls Discus (PR)
• Jr- Rob Russell – 1st, Boys Polevault
• Fresh- Gabrielle Griner – 2nd-Tie, Girls Polevault
• Sr- Anthony Parameswaran – 3rd, Boys 800m (PR)/ 2nd, Boys 1600m
• Jr- Kelsey Johnson – 2nd Girls 100m Hurdles
• Soph- Bailey Herfurth – 2nd Boys 3200m

… and to our athletes who scored points!

• Soph- Bailey Herfurth – 4th Boys 1600m
• Fresh- Jake Russell – 8th, Boys 1600m/ 5th, Boys 800m(PR)
• Fresh- Makenzi Coley – 6th, Girls Polevault(PR)
• Soph- Kaitlyn Williams – 6th, Girls 400m (PR)
• Jr- Kelsey Johnson – 7th, Girls 300m Hurdles/4th Girls Triple Jump
• Soph- Javaris Hart– 5th, Boys 400m
• 8th- Tiyanna Saunders – 5th, Girls Discus(PR)
• Soph- Will Keiser – 8th, Boys Discus(PR)
• Jr- Rob Russell – 6th, Boys Javelin(PR)
• Jr- Riley O’Brien – 4th, Boys Polevault(PR)

We also had 12 other  Senators score NEW P.R.s in this meet!

Girls –
• Sinese Cash – (14th) 200m dash
• Dreon Johnson – (43rd) 100m dash
• Jasmin Jones – (13th) 200m dash
• Sr- Tamera Austin – (24th) 200m dash
• Soph- Bobbie Hargis – (22nd) 400m dash
• Fresh- Glenda Booker – (10th) Discus

Boys-
• Jr- William Otey – (23rd) 100m AND (23th) 200m
• Jr- Kez Johnson – (26th) 100m/(15th)Long Jump
• Soph- Harrison Myers – (37th) 800m
• Jr- Rob Russell – (10th) Discus
• Jr- Riley O’Brien – (22nd) Discus
• Soph- Will Keiser – (11th) Javelin

The 2014 Metro Area Championship was a good one for Sparkman as we saw 4 NEW SPARKMAN RECORDS set and TWO of our Senators were crowned Metro Area CHAMPIONS!
(Full Results HERE)

Once again, JR – Kai Perkins stepped it up in the Discus. Her throw of 93′ 6″ was 4 feet farther than her competitors and led her to be this years CHAMPION in the Girls’ Discus.

JR- Rob Russell showed all that he was back from his injury by WINNING the boys Polevault and setting a NEW SPARKMAN RECORD at 13 feet!

Further proving that SHE was back from last week’s injury, Jr – Kelsey Johnson set a NEW SPARKMAN RECORD in the Triple Jump!
Her record setting jump of 31′ 7″ was a full foot and a half longer than her previous record and was enough to win her the Third Place medal!

Fr- Gabrielle Griner continues to show she can compete with the older girls as she took 3rd Place with a NEW SPARKMAN RECORD jump of 10 Feet in the Girls Polevault!

And our Girls 4x400m Relay Team set a NEW SPARKMAN RECORD of 4:44:84!
The members of that team were-
(Soph)Bobbie Hargis, (Sr)Sharnell Walker – (Soph)Kaitlyn Williams, (Sr)Shylah Hilton

Over all, we finished in the points in 14 events and had athletes take home 6 medals!
 Our Boys team finished 6th and our Girls finished 7th.

Congratulations to our medal winners!

• Jr- Kai Perkins – 1st, Girls Discus
• Jr- Rob Russell – 1st, Boys Polevault
• Fresh- Gabrielle Griner – 3rd, Girls Polevault
• Sr- Anthony Parameswaran – 2nd, Boys 3200m / 2nd, Boys 1600m
• Jr- Kelsey Johnson – 3rd Girls Triple Jump

We also had 5 Senators score NEW P.R.s in this meet!

Girls –
• Sinese Cash – (22ndP) 100m dash
• Dreon Johnson – (25thP) 200m dash
• Kayla Swearingen – (12th) Javelin

Boys-
• Bailey Herfurth – (8th) 800m AND (7th) 3200m
• Riley O’Brien – (9th) Javelin

We are STILL WAITING for published results from the final day of the Metro Area Championship but we can report that

Jr – Kelsey Johnson took third in the Triple Jump

Kelsey Johnson takes 3rd place in the Triple Jump @ 2014 Metro Championships.

and Fresh – Gabrielle Griner took third in the Pole Vault and set a NEW SPARKMAN RECORD at 10 feet!

Gabrielle’s record 10′ Jump.

The first day of the Metro Championship proved to be a bit wet, but this didn’t dampen the performance of our athletes.

Big Winners!

Jr – Kai Perkins stepped up and had a PR throw in the Discus! Her winning throw of 93′ 6″ went nearly 4 feet further than her nearest competitor.

Jr – Rob Russell is back from injury and showed it to his competitors in a BIG way! Rob won the Pole Vault with a jump of 12′ 6″ he then went on to set a NEW SCHOOL RECORD with a jump of 13 feet!

2014 Metro Champion

In other highlites –

Sr – Anthony Parameswaran continues his medal winning ways, taking second place in the 1600m

Soph – Bailey Herfurth is right on Anthony’s heels. Bailey finished 8th in the 1600m.

Fresh – Jake Russell finished closely behind Bailey with a 10th in the 1600m.

Jr – Kelsey Johnson returns from last Saturday’s injury, to capture a qualifying spot for the finals of the 100m Hurdles. Those finals will be Thursday.

The Girls 4x100m relay team also grabbed a qualifying spot for Thursday’s finals. The team consists of Sinese Cash, Kelsey Johnson, Jasmin Jones, and Keri Harris.

At the end of day one, our Girls Team is in 8th and the Boys team is in 4th.

The Scottsboro Invitational was yet another chance for our Senators to shine.
(Full Results HERE)
The headlines for this meet though …

JR – Kai Perkins WINS the Discus !
SR – Anthony Parameswaran sets TWO NEW SPARKMAN RECORDS !
Girls’ star,  Jr – Kelsey Johnson injuring her knee in the Triple Jump.

We are hoping she will be recovered for this week’s Metro Championship but only time will tell.

Over all, we finished in the points in 13 events and had athletes take home 5 medals!
Our Boys team finished 10th and our Girls finished 8th.

Congratulations to our medal winners!

•   Jr- Kai Perkins     – 1st, Girls Discus
•    Fresh- Gabrielle Griner    – 2nd, Girls Polevault
•    Sr- Anthony Parameswaran – 3rd, Boys 3200m / 2nd, Boys 1600m
•    Soph- Bailey Herfurth – 3rd, Boys 800m

We also had 11 Senators score NEW P.R.s in this meet!

Girls –
•    Tamera Austin – (16th) 200m dash
•    Briona Thomas – (23rd) 200m dash
•    Bobbie Hargis – (18th) 400m
•    Tiyanna Saunders – (11th) Discus
•    Glenda Booker – (14th) Discus
•    Katelyn Elliff – (6th) Javelin

Boys-
•    Riley O’Brien – (41st) Long Jump AND (8th) Pole Vault
•    Aaron Coin – (37th) 200m AND (37th) 400m
•    William Otey– (22nd) 200m AND (7th) – Triple Jump
•    Rob Russell – (12th) Javelin AND (25th) Discus
•    Will Keiser – (26th) Javelin

We are at the mid-point of the 2014 Outdoor Track & Field season and here are the current standings for our point scoring Varsity Athletes.

Congratulation to our JV Track Team on their excellent meet Tuesday night!

The girls came within just 2 points of finishing third and the boys needed just 4 more points to clench a 2nd!

We had 21 Senators finishing in point scoring positions, 11 of whom were medal winners!

(Complete Results are here)

Our medal winners!

• Lauryn Hall – 2nd, Girls 100m Dash/ 1st, Girls 4x100m Relay
• Aubrey Parker – 2nd, Girls 200m Dash/ 1st, Girls 4x100m Relay
• Renita Vander Schaaf – 2nd, Girls 1600m
• Kaitlyn Gilliam – 1st, Girls 4x100m Relay
• Zariah Trammell – 1st, Girls 4x100m Relay
• Gabrielle Griner – 1st, Girls Polevault
• Chase Parker – 2nd, Boys 100m Dash/1st, Boys 4x100m Relay
• Amarius Beasley – 1st, Boys 4x100m Relay
• Alonte Harvey – 1st, Boys 4x100m Relay
• Xavier Long – 1st, Boys 4x100m Relay
• Jake Russell – 2nd, Boys High Jump

8 of our JV Medalists from the “JV Meet #4” at James Clemens HS.

We had a total of 10 other Senators score point for us in this meet!
Girls –

• Aubry Parker(4th) – 100m dash
• Alessea Rice(5th) – 100m dash & 200m dash
• Renita Vander Schaaf (7th) – 800m
• Emilia Poole(8th) – 1600m
• Glenda Booker(6th) – Shot Put
• Tiyanna Saunders(8th) – Discus

Boys-

• Milan Wall(5th) – 200m dash
• Michael Fulda(5th) – 400m
• Elijah Vargas(8th) – 800m AND (6th)1600m
• Reice Vander Schaaf(6th) – Discus