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[Sonny Dearth]

Bethel relays strong in Peninsula Relays
By Dan Maher | CORRESPONDENT

HAMPTON — Bethel track coach Eddie Williams got his first good look at the potential of his boys and girls outdoor relay teams Saturday at the Peninsula Relays.

He was impressed, and the competition was overwhelmed as the Bruins relays keyed a sweep of the boys and girls Group AAA divisions in the meet.

“With the weather, this was really our first chance to put them together in competition,” Williams said, “but today I thought they did very well considering their lack of work this season. It looks like we’re coming into good shape for the Penn Relays next week.”

The Bethel girls were exceptionally strong in the relays, winning the 3,200-meter event in 10:01.47, and posting second-place finishes in the 400 and 1,600 relays in the Penn Relays Invitational bracket. Those points boosted Bethel to a 118.7 total, distancing it from runner-up Menchville’s 99 points in the Group AAA division.

Norfolk Academy finished third in the overall girls meet with a total of 93.5, good enough to surpass York’s 79 points for first place in the Group AA and A division.

The Bethel boys relays were also consistent point contributors, finishing second in the 3,200, 1,600 and 400 events. Bethel’s 78 total points lifted it past Norcom’s 67 for victory in the boys division. Jamestown placed third overall with 64 points, but edged Caroline for first place among Group AA and A schools.

Bethel’s Crystal Carrington and Jasmin Branch aided the Bruins’ girls victory with individual wins in the 100 and 800 meters, respectively. Carrington recorded a time of 12.53 seconds en route to her win, and Branch nipped runner-up McKenna Ledbetter of
Tallwood by less than a second with a time of 2:28.40.
Menchville’s Kali Watkins was a noteworthy contributor to the Monarchs second-place finish with wins in the 100 hurdles and long jump.

Watkins was not satisfied with her 100 hurdles time of 14.16 seconds, even though it was nearly a second better than the second-place finisher, teammate Nicole Saunders. She was not satisfied with her long jump of 17 feet, 6½ inches, either.

“I’m really getting into the groove of long jump,” Watkins said. “I have a lot of technical things I need to work on because we don’t really practice, but I knew it would be good if I could get to 17-6.”

Bethel’s Sherrard Marrow captured the 300 hurdles in 39.23 seconds, and Daniel Cummings won the 1,600 in 4:34.08 to aid the winning effort.

Jamestown leaned upon its distance strength to amass many of its points. Most notably, the Eagles swept the top three spots in the Group AA and A boys 3,200. Andrew Colley posted the meet’s top time in 9:46.77, followed by John Holt and Colin Mearns.

Eagles coach Howard Townsend was pleased with the solid outing, but he has come to have high expectations of his distance runners.
“I think it was a well executed race,” Townsend said, “but they let the pace slip off a little too long in the middle laps. I think they can do better.”