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Seniors Christa Benton of Keswick Christian and Sharneka Brown of Lakewood were the dominant forces in county track this season.
By BOB PUTNAM
© St. Petersburg Times, published May 29, 2001
Finding Christa Benton and Sharneka Brown on a track together is unlikely. The two never met in four years of high school, competing in different classifications and entirely different events.
Benton, a senior at Class A Keswick Christian, is a distance runner. Brown, a senior at Class 3A Lakewood, specializes in field events and sprints.
Yet dig a little deeper and it's easy to see that they have a few things in common besides being seniors and having last names that begin with the letter B.
Benton and Brown also share the distinction of being the dominant forces in the county track scene this season and were the backbones of their teams.
Despite taking different paths, they achieved greatness by sharing one trait -- endurance.
Benton runs the same throughout each race -- hard. Competing in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter races, she charges ahead of the competition and maintains her pace. Afterward, she has the remarkable quality of being relaxed and seemingly recovered.
This season, her stamina helped her achieve personal bests in the 1,600 (5:15) and 3,200 (11:11). Both times were recorded at the Class A state meet. But Benton was unable to defend her title in the 3,200, finishing second to Tallahassee Maclay's Kara Newell.
"I wasn't upset or anything," Benton said about losing her title. "I knew she (Newell) had the best time coming in. I was pleased with how I did."
Like Benton, Brown also ran hard. The lone senior on a team that had just 10 participants, six of whom consistently scored points, Brown was asked to do a lot. She complied by competing in five events, the maximum allowed at each meet.
Participating in the preliminaries and finals of the 100, 200, long jump, triple jump and 4x400 meant Brown had to run six races and make six jumps at each meet. "Sure, I was tired," Brown said. "But I was the leader and (coach Eileen Givens) expected me to do more."
Her efforts helped as the Spartans, despite their thin roster, finished as runners-up at the conference and district meet, third at regionals and seventh at the Class 3A meet. At state, Brown, running the second leg of the 4x400, started Lakewood's comeback as it won the event in 3:56.
Brown also finished sixth in the triple jump with a personal-best 37-51/2 and ninth in the 100.
"That was such a great feeling," Brown said. "I felt like I was going to cry."
CO-ATHLETES OF THE YEAR: Christa Benton, Keswick Christian; Sharneka Brown, Lakewood
COACH OF THE YEAR: Eileen Givens, Lakewood
The times for the running events for the all-county teams are from post-season, electronically timed meets unless otherwise noted. The marks for field events are from regular- and post-season meets.
Pole Vault -- Blair Newcomb, Northside Christian, 10-6 (Class A state champion)
Discus -- Nikki Morzenti, Palm Harbor U., 111-2 (set school record)
Shot put -- Dominique Warren, Pinellas Park, 36-1 (school's first regional champion)
High Jump -- Courtney LaCroix, PHU, 5-4 (regional qualifier)
Long jump -- Nadia Covington, Lakewood, 18-4 (sixth at state)
Triple jump -- Sharneka Brown, Lakewood, 37-51/2 (sixth at state)
100 meters -- Sharneka Brown, Lakewood, 12.60
100 hurdles -- Melissa Moukawsher, East Lake 16.37 (state qualifier)
200 -- Devon Rich, Seminole, 25.50 (fifth at state)
300 hurdles -- Latecia Hardy, Clearwater, 46.81 (sixth at state)
400 -- Nadia Covington, Lakewood, 58.24 (fifth at state)
4x100 -- Tarpon Springs 49.91 (sixth at state)
800 -- Jodi Heyens, East Lake, 2:23.33 (eighth at state)
1,600 -- Christa Benton, Keswick Christian, 5:15.37 (third at state)
4x400 -- Lakewood (undefeated state champion)
3,200 -- Christa Benton, Keswick Christian, 11:11.09 (state runner-up)
4x800 -- PHU, 10:12.51 (regional qualifier)
Pole vault -- Latecia Hardy (Clearwater) 10-6; Discus -- Chariga Murphy (Lakewood) 103-8 1/2; Shot put -- Shakeena Tate (Osceola) 32-7 1/2; High jump -- Antoinette Savino (Seminole) 5-2; Long jump -- Melissa Moukawsher (East Lake) 17-6 1/2; Triple jump -- Melissa Moukawsher (East Lake) 35-9 1/2; 100 -- Devon Rich (Seminole) 12.48; 100 hurdles -- Tiffany Brown (Largo) 16.81; 200 -- Sharneka Brown (Lakewood) 25.91; 300 hurdles -- Kim Conaway (Osceola) 48.41; 400 -- Jenny Fraser (Shorecrest) 58.95; 4x100 -- Seminole 49.8; 800 -- Lauren McKinley (Palm Harbor U.) 2:27.99; 1,600 -- Melissa Kotchman (Indian Rocks Christian) 5:17.75; 4x400 -- Clearwater Central Catholic 4:15.23; 3,200 -- Apryl Wall (CCC) 11:43.42. 4x800 -- Indian Rocks Christian 10:04.90.
Boca Ciega -- Megan Jones (100); Clearwater Central Catholic -- Holly Lyons (high jump); Jessica Hallgren (200, 400), 4x800 relay; Dunedin -- Erin Heeder (800); East Lake -- Katherine Eidens (pole vault); Gibbs -- Jacquetta Jackson (triple jump); Indian Rocks Christian -- Joanna Zammitto (800), Melissa Kotchman (3,200); Keswick Christian -- Debra Young (high jump, triple jump); Lakewood -- Hope Wells (200), Shaquita Gibbs (400), 4x100 relay; Largo -- Jessie Flowers (discus), Deanna Drugash; Northside Christian -- Katie Aucremann (shot put), 4x400 relay; Palm Harbor U. -- Lauren McKinley (1,600); Pinellas Park -- Lauren Mauger (pole vault); Seminole -- Lauren Hatfield (100 hurdles), Ashley Elliott (100, 200, long jump, triple jump), Jackie Magee (3,200); St. Petersburg -- LaVetta Bynum (long jump), Christine Carr (pole vault, 300 hurdles), Ashlee Kidd (200, 400); St. Petersburg Catholic -- Becky Tapp (300 hurdles); Tarpon Springs -- Marnisha Hardy (100), Autumn Mathews (300 hurdles).
The times and marks for the honor roll are combined from regular- and post-season meets.
Pole vault -- Newcomb (Ns) 10-6, Hardy (Clw) 10-6, Eidens (East Lake) 9-0; Discus -- Morzenti (PHU)111-2, Murphy (Lw) 103-8, Flowers (Lar) 103-7 1/2; Shot put -- Warren (PP) 36-1, Tate (Osc) 32-7 1/2, Aucremann (Ns) 32-6 1/2; High jump -- La Croix 5-4 (PHU), Savino (Sem) 5-2, Lyons (CCC) 5-0, Hardy (TS) 5-0, Brown (Lw) 5-0, Parhalo (Sem) 5-0; Long jump -- Covington (Lw) 18-4, Moukawsher (EL) 17-6 1/2, Bynum (SP) 17-4 1/2. Triple jump -- Brown (Lw) 37-5 1/2, Moukawsher (EL) 35-9 1/2, Jackson (Gi) 34-2 1/2. 100 -- Rich (Sem) 12.29, Brown (Lw) 12.2; Jones (BC) 12.38, Elliott (Sem) 12.3; 100 hurdles -- Moukawsher (EL) 16.37, Hatfield (Sem) 16.5, Brown (Lar) 16.81; 200 -- Wells (Lw) 25.2, Rich (Sem) 25.38, Brown (Lw) 25.3; 300 hurdles -- Hardy (Clw) 46.81, Conaway (Osc) 48.41; 400 -- Covington (Lw) 58.24, Fraser (Sc) 58.95, Gibbs (Lw) 59.8; 4x100 -- Tarpon Springs 49.41, Seminole 49.8, Lakewood 50.1; 800 -- Heyens (EL) 2:23.37, McKinley (PHU) 2:27.13 Zammitto (IRC) 2:27.27, Heeder (Dun) 2:28.02; 1,600 -- Benton (Kes) 5:15.37, Kotchman (IRC) 5:17.75, McKinley (PHU) 5:23.30; 4x400 -- Lakewood 3:56.70, CCC 4:15.23, Northside Christian 4:18.18; 3,200 -- Benton (Kes) 11:11.09; Wall (CCC) 11:43.42, Kotchman (IRC) 11:52; 4x800 -- Palm Harbor U. 9:56.89, Indian Rocks Christian 10:04.90; CCC 10:12.91.