Wildcats have 4x100 covered

Wesley Chapel has two outstanding relay teams poised to make their marks in the postseason.

By JAMAL THALJI, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published April 18, 2002

WESLEY CHAPEL -- Why are Wesley Chapel's 4x100-meter relay teams so good?

Well, Angela Medvid won the 300-meter intermediate hurdles at the Sunshine Athletic Conference meet, placed second in the 100 high hurdles, and fourth in the long and triple jump.

Autumn Yanchunis won the pole vault, was third in the 300 hurdles, fourth in the 100 hurdles and fifth in the high jump.

Greg Harrison was second in the 100, third in the 200 and fourth in the pole vault.

Aaron Dickler was fifth in the long jump, sixth in the 100 and seventh in the 200.

Get the picture?

In other words, the relay teams are the sum of their parts -- and their parts are quite good indeed.

The boys team of Harrison, Dickler, RaShawn Harris and Chuwuka Ayetin won the SAC 4x100 title with a school-record time of 44.12 seconds.

The girls team of Yanchunis, Medvid, Kendall Smith and Jasmine Cabrera had their win streak this season snapped because of a faulty starting block at the SAC meet, and a strong performance from the winning Ridgewood team. Their best time this season is 52.31.

At today's Class 2A, District 9 meet, Wesley Chapel will start its postseason run with hopes high that both teams can make it to the Class 2A state meet.

The boys made it to Coral Springs last year, finishing 15th out of 16 teams with a time of 44.84. That relay squad of B.B. Roberts, Nick Carter, Harrison and Tyrone Tomlin had a season-best time of 44.38.

Only Harrison is back. Tomlin is recovering from knee surgery and Roberts is the SAC 400 champion and a key cog along with Carter on the championship 4x400 team as well.

"After basketball season, I didn't have Greg or Tyrone available," said boys track coach Brian Colding, "so it was easy to look at new kids for the 4x100."

Harrison runs the third leg just like he did last year. Ayetin runs the first leg even though this is the senior's first year in track. Harris, running second, is also inexperienced. And replacing Tomlin at anchor is Dickler -- and he's a freshman.

"The thing about these four guys is, they're all focused when they get out there on the track," Colding said. "They're the first ones to cut up on the bus and all that, but when they warm up, they're all business.

"When it comes time to run, they're just focused."

Colding said a sixth-place finish at the Florida Relays brought the group together.

"It was their first Florida Relays, but I don't think they were intimidated by it at all," Colding said. "But I think they realized, 'This is how you prepare for this level.' "

Girls coach Annie McGhee said her athletes had the talent to run fast but also put in the work to run together as a solid relay unit.

"Autumn just brings a lot of leadership," McGhee said. "She has a lot of knowledge of sports and knows the relay events from her swimming background, so she knows how a team is supposed to work together.

"Angela provides a lot of the motivation. She's very vocal and very good at getting the girls revved up."

Yanchunis runs the second leg and Medvid the third. But starting off in the blocks is freshman Cabrera, also the team's best 100 and 200 sprinter. And freshman Smith runs the anchor leg.

"Jasmine's just a great starter and that's why we put her there," McGhee said. "Kendall's worked really hard this year, and she's probably the best closer we have."

Like the boys team, this isn't the 4x100 team McGhee envisioned at the start of the season.

"They're not the team we started out with," McGhee said, "but they proved themselves by working hard throughout the season."

2A-9 MEET

WHO: Gulf, Hernando, Hudson, Pasco, Wesley Chapel, Zephyrhills.

WHERE: Wildcat Stadium, Wesley Chapel.

SCHEDULE: Field events begin at 1 p.m. today; 4x800-meter relay starts at 1:30 p.m.; 100 and 200 preliminaries start at 4 p.m.; finals should start an hour later.

AT STAKE: Team and runner-up trophies; top four finishers advance to the Class 2A, Region 3 meet at Wesley Chapel on April 25; top six finishers receive ribbons.

ADMISSION: $4; FHSAA passes only.

WHO TO WATCH: Gulf -- Melissa Dattoli (3,200); Michelle Mendonca (pole vault, triple jump); Dawn Selvidge (100 hurdles); Amber Shuhart (1,600). Pasco -- Ben Alford (discus, pole vault); Jack Bailey (800, 1,600, 3,200); Keymo Pearson (high jump, long jump, triple jump, 200); Kirk Moats (discus, shot put); Garion Pope (long jump, triple jump); LaShawn Vaughns (long jump, triple jump, 100, 200, 400). Wesley Chapel -- Kurt Able (1,600, 3,200, 4x800); Chuwuka Ayetin (100, 200, 4x100); Jasmine Cabrera (100, 200, 4x100); Tim Davis (discus, shot put); Greg Harrison (pole vault, 100, 200, 4x100); Ashley Martin, (discus, shot put); Angela Medvid (long jump, 100 hurdles, 300 hurdles, 4x100); Dija Phaire (400); B.B. Roberts (200, 400, 4x400); Kenny "Junior" Roberts (110 hurdles, 300 hurdles); Kendall Smith (100, 200, 4x100); Autumn Yanchunnis (high jump, pole vault, 4x100, 300 hurdles); Travis Ugarte (110 hurdles, 300 hurdles). Zephyrhills -- Drew Barthle (discus, pole vault); Tanya Bruton (discus); Renee Yonkof (400); Robert Yonkof (400).

NEED TO KNOW: It's hard not to picture Wesley Chapel hoisting both boys and girls district title trophies tonight. The boys, who Monday added the Sunshine Athletic Conference trophy to their 2002 hardware collection, are yet again the deepest, most talented team in the field. After finishing runner-up to Ridgewood for most of the season, the Wesley Chapel girls should shine without the Rams getting in the way. The Pasco boys and Zephyrhills girls should battle it out for runner-up honors.

RAM INVITATIONAL

WHO: Central, Land O'Lakes, Mitchell, Springstead, Ridgewood, River Ridge.

WHERE: Ram Booster Stadium, Ridgewood.

SCHEDULE: Field events begin at 3 p.m. Friday; 4x800-meter relay starts at 3:30 p.m.; running events start at 4 p.m.

AT STAKE: Ribbons awarded to top eight place-winners.

ADMISSION: Free.

NEED TO KNOW: Call it a tuneup, a warmup, or whatever, before these teams get back together for the Class 3A, District 9 meet on April 25. And don't be surprised if some of the county's top athletes decide to give it a rest, especially since the postponed Sunshine Athletic Conference meet finished up Monday night.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright