Boys trip on little white line

Four of the top six runners in the 3,200-meter race at the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference meet are disqualified for running inside the line marking the innermost lane.

By GREG AUMAN

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 19, 2000

BROOKSVILLE -- Perhaps the oddest finish in Monday night's Gulf Coast Athletic Conference track meet at Hernando was in the boys 3,200-meter race, which saw four of the top six runners disqualified.

Runners may take no more than two strides inside the white line marking the innermost lane of the track, and that mistake cost four runners a chance to earn all-conference honors.

Central coach Vic Cervizzi and Citrus coach Tom Darby made the disqualifications. Of the first six runners in, only Citrus' Cory Presnick and Tony Lyons had their times count.

"Vic DQ'd one of my runners first," Darby said of Logan Bollenbeck, who had finished second in the mile earlier. "So if you're going to get one of them you've got to do that for everyone. All these rules apply to everybody."

The other three runners disqualified were Lecanto's Brian Holcomb, who would have placed second, Central's Aaron Henley (fourth) and Hernando's Joel Tierson (fifth). Central's Adam Riney (11:03) and Joey Costanzo (11:14) moved up to third and fourth respectively after the disqualifications.

"They should know better," Darby said of the runners who were disqualified.

The changes in scoring did not have any significant impact on the final team rankings.

BERGERON TO VALDOSTA: Central's Theresa Bergeron, who won the conference crown in the 3,200 meters and finished second in the 1,600, said she will continue her running at Valdosta State next year.

Bergeron, one of only three seniors on the Bears roster, said she also considered Florida Southern and Central Florida, where her sister, Desiree, is a freshman on the Golden Knights track team. Valdosta State is waiving all out-of-state fees for Bergeron and will be paying for her textbooks as well.

"I'm excited," Bergeron said. "There was something about it that was just calling my name. It's going to be so great."

Bergeron ran a road race at Walt Disney World over the weekend and said she was still feeling the effects during the 1,600, where she finished 3.5 seconds behind Crystal River's Mandy Smelko.

"My legs were hurting -- everything was hurting very much," Bergeron said. "In the mile, I really didn't do too great, but in the 2-mile, I had to make up for it. I told Coach I had to do well."

JUMPING BEARS: Central's girls team broke three school records on Monday. Freshman Alaya Smiley reset her own school mark in the long jump by 2 1/2 inches with a mark of 16 feet, 11 inches; sophomore Jen Adams set a record in the pole vault by clearing 8 feet, 6 inches, and sophomore Tiffany Mobley moved into first place in the triple jump with a mark of 34 feet.

SUPPORTING EAGLES: Springstead got the points Monday that coach Fred Hudson has come to expect this season from hurdler Leon Hughes and jumpers Steve Ferguson and Jay Trepen, but several other Eagles contributed valuable points toward the team's conference crown.

Junior Ron Paulin, who runs on the 4x100 relay, made solid showings in the 100 and 200 meters, edging teammate Quinton Wallace for third in the 200 at 22.08 seconds. Paulin also finished third (behind Wallace) in the 100 at 11.05 seconds.

The Eagles' 4x100 team took third in a strong field, clocking 43.13 seconds but finishing behind South Sumter (42.83) and Citrus (42.95). Another runner who scored 16 points in two events for the Eagles was senior Jared Knight, who finished second behind Hughes in both hurdles events.

COSTLY CHANGES: By weather standards, it was just a heavy rain for an area in need of showers.

But last Friday's rainout of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference track meet may turn out to have a more far-reaching effect on area track athletes.

The postponement to Monday means athletes from Central, Citrus, Crystal River, Hernando, Lecanto, Springstead and South Sumter will have to compete in two crucial meets within a three-day span. The Class 2A, District 5 track meet will be Thursday at Citrus High.

Area coaches are torn on what the effects of running consecutive meets might be.

"Districts are important and you really don't want to go in with two meets in one week," Crystal River coach Norris Lightsey said. "You'd like to have a nice long week of practice and then compete. But everybody in our district except for Lake Weir and Dunnellon are in the same boat."

Citrus coach Tom Darby said he isn't sure whether his athletes will be negatively affected by competing in the conference meet Monday and the district meet Thursday, but said he believes the Hurricanes suffered some adverse effects on Monday.

"I point our training to certain dates and they were ready to run Friday," Darby said. "Then they had the weekend (off) and then ran Monday essentially without any preparation."

Lecanto coach Freddie Bullock said she was adamantly opposed to running the meet Monday, and her greatest fears were realized Monday when two of her star athletes suffered injuries. Senior all-around athlete Sarah Hernandez injured her ankle and sophomore sprinter and high jumper Kate Wheeler sprained her foot. Both are undergoing treatment from the team trainer in an effort to be ready for Thursday's meet.

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