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© St. Petersburg Times, published April 2, 2002
Traffic jam
Seminole's Devon Rich, who finished seventh in the 100 meters at state last year, had a good chance to improve on that showing at the Florida Relays, a meet that serves as a state preview.
Five competitors who finished ahead of her at state were not there, including Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas' Sanya Richards, the defending state champion who stayed home so she could rest an ankle injury. That left Richards' teammate, Talonda Ingram, the defending state runner-up, as Rich's main competition.
Rich finished third in 12.33 seconds, her season-best and second-best in the county.
But the competition was nothing compared to another obstacle she had to beat: traffic.
Rich's trip to the University of Florida's Percy Beard Stadium was delayed due to an accident on Interstate 75. She arrived 10 minutes before the start of the race.
"They weren't even going to let me run," Rich said. "I was like, "What?' I was very determined to run that race."
Rich wasn't able to warm up and her situation was reminiscent of former Keswick Christian runner Christa Benton's during the 1999 state tournament at UF.
Benton was delayed by an accident that tied up traffic on I-75 and sprinted out of the darkness minutes before the 3,200 began, unable to warm up. She finished eighth.
Unlike Benton, Rich finished better. She was ahead early in the race, but was caught by Ingram and Centennial's Lawona Davis.
"I think I did well," Rich said.
Rich, who had competed at the Disney Relays in previous years, decided to zero in on the Flroida Relays for her senior season.
"This was something I wanted to run," Rich said. "I knew there were going to be some schools that wanted to see me run, so I wanted to make sure I did the best that I could."
Rich ended up being the only girl from the county at the meet. Because she was the only one competing last week, the Times will run the Five to Watch on April 9.
On Friday, the 73rd edition of the West Coast Invitational will be held at Lakewood. The meet includes mostly public schools from St. Petersburg. Expect the host Spartans and Largo to battle for the team title.
Another weekend meet, the Northside Christian Invitational, will be held Saturday. The host Mustangs and Shorecrest are favorites for the girls team title.
Triple jump -- Moukawsher (EL) 35-10 1/2, Covington (Lw) 35-8, Adams (Lar) 35-7 1/2; Long jump -- Covington (Lw) 18-6, Moukawsher (EL) 18-4 1/2, Adams (Lar) 17-7; Pole vault -- Newcomb (Ns) 10-0, Hardy (PHU) 9-6, Mathews (Lar) 8-0, Carr (SP) 8-0; Shot put -- Warren (PP) 39-5 1/2, Tate (Osc) 34-0, Bariteau (Ns) 32-11; Discus -- Akins (Sem) 101-10, Tate (Osc) 101-2, Chapman (TS) 99-1; High jump -- Lecroix (PHU) 5-2, Tagaropvlos (TS) 5-2, Rivers (PP) 5-0, Savino (Sem) 5-0, Parhalo (Sem) 4-10; 100 hurdles -- Adams (Lar) 15.46, Hatfield (Sem) 16.45, Moukawsher (EL) 16.5; 100 -- Hunter (TS) 12.08, Rich (Sem) 12.33, Jackson (Gi) 12.38; 1600 -- Drugash (Lar) 5:25, Kotchman (IRC) 5:31, Savery (PHU) 5:45; 4x100 -- Boca Ciega 51.08, Lakewood 51.17, Seminole 52.25; 400 -- Kidd (SP) 58.63, Covington (Lw) 1:00, Fraser (Sc) 1:00.63; 300 hurdles -- Moukawsher (EL) 47.7, Adams (Lar) 48.39, Mathews (Lar) 50.39; 800 -- Savery (PHU) 2:26, Fraser (Sc) 2:27.41, Kotchman (IRC) 2:31.47; 200 -- Kidd (SP) 25.92, Jackson (Gi) 26.04, Rich (Sem) 26.25; 3200 -- Drugash (Lar) 12:05, Hall (Lar) 12:23, Ferraro (Sem) 12:26; 4x400 -- Shorecrest 4:19.54, Lakewood 4:24.39, Largo 4:27; 4x800 -- Seminole 10:17, Shorecrest 10:18.9. Largo 10:26.