WHS' Taylor completes sprint sweep at D4 AAA track
By JAKE FELIX, jfelix@sungazette.comSUNBURY – The clean sweep that alluded Williamsport’s Razzaaq Taylor at the 2007 District 4 Class AAA Championships didn’t in 2008.
The Millionaire junior swept the 100 and 200 dashes and helped the 400 relay team reach the top of the podium as Williamsport flexed its sprinting muscle at Shikellamy High School.
Taylor won the 100 and 400 relay last season, but came up short to teammate Josh King in the 200. This year, Taylor beat teammate Davon Seldon to the finish in both races.
He ran an 11.24 in the 100 and 22.64 in the 200.
“I expected everyone to run the same time as me like we have all season, but I came out working out hard today and came away with a win,” said Taylor.
The victories qualify Taylor for next week’s PIAA Championships at Shippensburg University. He will not run the 200, however, allowing Seldon the opportunity to travel to Shippensburg.
Taylor lost one of his main competitors during the 100-meter finals when teammate King false-started. That prevented a possible 1-2-3 Millionaire finish. King was seeded second behind Taylor and ahead of Seldon.
“I felt kind of bad because we usually push each other and when we run together we run better times and that was disappointing, said Taylor.
King didn’t go home empty-handed.
The senior ran a determined anchor leg in the 400 relay and the Millionaires set a new season best (43.38) and won by nearly a second.
“We PRed today mostly because of our handoffs,” said Taylor.
Mid-distance runner Shavonn Caeser will join the Williamsport sprinters in Shippensburg. The top seed in the 800 won the event with a time of 2:00.66.
Jersey Shore swept the throwing events with Tyler Thomas and Eli Skinner. Thomas won the shot put and discus, and Skinner the javelin.
Thomas erased any drama on whether or not he would qualify for states in the discus before his final three throws. The senior topped the state qualifying standard of 153 feet with a throw of 156-5 on his third attempt during his first set of three throws.
It was the first time this season Thomas went beyond the state qualifying mark.
“It was important because I am going to have to be able to step up and compete with the guys at states and keep throwing farther and keep progressing,” said Thomas, who concentrated on his technique instead of just attempting to power the discus. “When I hit it, I was like, wow, even if I lose right now I’m still going to states. It can’t get any worse than this.”
It only became better for Thomas as he added a second gold medal by winning the shot put with a throw of 55-6. He was the lone competitor to reach beyond 50 feet.
No one was near Skinner’s throw of 188-9 in the javelin. Selinsgrove’s Kyle Bennar was the nearest, but over 36 feet behind.
“We take pride in the throws and coach (Wes) Keen does an awesome job coaching the throws,” said Skinner. “That’s pretty much what Jersey Shore is known for.
“Coming in as a freshman, I looked up to Sam Eck and those guys and that’s how I learned.”
Eck was the 2006 javelin champion, but Williamsport’s Zachary Barr took home the title a year ago.
Skinner also lived up to his No. 1 seed in the long jump with a leap of 21-1 3/4, nearly a foot better than second-seeded Chad Drzewiecki.
The Selinsgrove senior didn’t come up short in the day’s final race – the 1,600-meter relay. He charged from behind and caught Williamsport’s Bryant McCorey and preventing the Millionaires from sending a pair of relay teams to the state meet. The Seals finished in 3:27.22 and the Millionaires in 3:27.30.
Selinsgrove won the team race with 200 1/2 points. Jersey Shore was second with 181 and Williamsport third (123).
The Bulldogs’ Ian Eisenhauer won the 3,200 for the third straight year, breaking 10 minutes with a 9:56.81. Senior Nate Jones earned his first trip to the state meet by setting a personal best in the 400, 50.37.
“I guess it was the adrenaline from it being districts,” said Jones.
Sophomore Andrew Bean may have received a lift from that adrenaline as well. He leaped 6-1 in the high jump for the first time this year and was the only jumper to clear six feet or more.
