Plant wins the hotly contested Charles Johnson Invitational Thursday and Wesley Chapel settles for fourth.
By ROD GIPSON
Published April 9, 2004
TAMPA - Heading into the final race of the night, three teams had shots at the title in the boys meet at the Charles Johnson Invitational. But a Plant win in the event's 4x400 meter race secured the victory for the Panthers.
Plant (113 points) outscored second place King by 25 points and third-place Blake by 27 points.
Wesley Chapel was fourth with 84 points, followed by Jefferson, Hillsborough, Chamberlain, Robinson and Tampa Bay Tech.
"I'm not surprised by the margin of victory," said Plant coach Shawn Balow. "These guys have been working hard and really have stuck together throughout the season."
Part of those guys was the relay team of Edmond Nelson, Will Flippin, Marquis Davis and Chris Johnson that won the last race and secured the meet.
King was paced by James Tooey, who won the mile run and the 800 meter run.
Chamberlain, despite a sixth-place finish, had two individual winners in Rodney Lee (high jump) and John Valenti (pole vault).
On the girls side, Hillsborough and Tampa Bay Tech battled throughout the meet with the Terriers winning two events while the Titans won four.
However, Hillsborough held an advantage with more second and third place finishes to outpace TBT 99-93. Plant was third with 88 points, followed by Blake, Wesley Chapel, Jefferson, King, Chamberlain and Robinson.
Tech's Racquel Parson won the 100-meter dash with a 12.19 finish while teammate Shenita Howell captured the triple jump and shot put.
Hillsborough countered with freshman Kyera Niles, who won the high jump and Megha Pansara, who won the mile and placed third in the two mile event.
Wesley Chapel, meanwhile, had standout performances from Jerrica Cabrera, who won the 110 hurdles and sister Jasmine Cabrera, who placed second in the 100-meter run.
