Ward, Humphrey set meet records in Mobile

Cahokia IL's Ja'mari Ward gets double win in long jump (24-6) and meet record breaking and nation leading 50-11.50 in triple jump; Hoover AL's Brittley Humphrey takes both hurdle races (13.62 in 100-meter hurdles and record-breaking 41.63 in 300-meter hurdle race as six records fall.

By Arthur L. Mack for DyeStat

Saturday, April 2 — Despite an over-packed day at St. Paul's Episcopal School's E. E. Delaney Stadium, where the Open Division of the Mobile Challenge of Champions meet had to be contested that morning because of severe weather conditions the night before, it did not bother Ja'Mari Ward and Brittley Humphrey one bit.

RESULTS

Both were chosen as the John Dye and Donna Dye Outstanding Meet Performers respectively in the meet's Elite Division, and their performances showed why.

Ward and Humphrey were part of a record-breaking binge that saw six meet records fall on a beautiful, yet windy spring day. Ward opened up the Elite competition with a meet record-breaking and nation leading 50 feet, 11.50 mark in the triple jump, and followed it up with a 24-6 win in the long jump, defeating Huntington (NY) star Infinite Tucker, who had the same identical mark, but a shorter second best jump.

Humphrey, to no one's surprise, dominated both hurdle events, narrowly missing the meet record in the 100-meter hurdles by running a season-best 13.62, and then coming back moments later to shatter the 300-meter hurdle record, running 41.63. She also ran a leg on the second-place 4x100 meter relay team.

Both Ward and Humphrey were pleased with their performances — especially Ward, who was dealing with groin problems and whose team was competing in its first outdoor meet of the season.

“During indoors, we were just running mostly,” he said. “We didn't have much time to do (jumping) work. “I've been struggling, but it feels good that I can come out and do well. Right now, I think that our team can compete with anybody.”

Humphrey said her technique, especially in the 300-meter hurdles, improved despite leading with her non-preferred leg.

“My in-between (the hurdles) was probably a little better, because there was a couple of hurdles I clipped with my trail leg with my non-preferred leg, so I was really practicing with my non-preferred leg and getting just as good with my preferred leg. That was challenging about this race, but I think it's coming along good.”

Decatur, Ga's Southwest DeKalb broke two records in the meet — running 40.96 in the 4x100 and 3:14.24 in the 4x400. Auburn was also under the meet record in the 4 x100, finishing second in 41.13.

The 40.96 in the 4x100 broke the previous meet record of 41.13 set by Edna Karr of New Orleans in 2013. It almost didn't happen, as Southwest DeKalb — consiting of Jaylon Muhammad, Justin Conlin, Terry Conwell and Terryon Conwell had to make up a huge deficit. But a monstrous anchor leg by Terryon Conwell brought Southwest DeKalb from behind and grab a decisive victory.

“I trusted my warmup, stayed moving the whole time, and my legs were fresh and hot and ready to go,” Conwell said. “That's what it was. We've had five or six meets so far, and we were planning on running faster, but things happen for a reason.”

Mountain Brook's boys also got a meet record in the 4x800 meter relay, running an impressive 7:52.57. The Spartans had just come off an impressive indoor season, where they finished second in the New Balance Indoor Nationals.

One of the more remarkable records came in the girls' 2-mile, where Emma Grace Hurley of Roswell GA's Fellowship Christian Academy ran an eye-popping US#1 10:22.58, beating the second place finisher (Sara Platek of Ragsdale, N.C.) by just over 17 seconds. Hurley took command of the race after the second lap and never looked back.

“It was just being confident in my training, and my coach and I laid out a plan with my splits, so I knew what I needed,” said Hurley, who earlier in the season ran a 4:46 mile. “I hadn't run a two-mile race or a 3,200 since the New Balance Nationals last year, and I was anxious to get back into a two-mile and see what I could do. I saw the heat sheets before, and said I'm going to have to work really hard for this.”

There were other strong performances on Saturday as well. One was in the Elite Boys 110-meter high hurdles, where Union Grove GA's Matthew Moore — who came into the meet as the nation's top 110-meter high hurdler — won a hotly contested race against a pair of Alabama state champions — Alabaster-Thompson's Emmanuel Tait and Winfield's Trey Cunningham. All ran impressive times into a headwind — Moore ran 13.85, Tait 13.88 and Cunningham 13.91.

“For me to come and execute here against great competition in a negative headwind, I'm pretty satisfied,” said Moore.

There were other notable performances, including:

- Mobile Baker's Melvin Hill winning the high jump (6-6), defeating Columbia's JuVaughn Blake and Spanish Fort's Trey Berry, who both cleared 6-4.

- Samantha Zeldon of St. Scholastica in Covington, La., the meet record holder in the javelin (147-6) and defending champion in that event, made it two titles in a row as she threw 140-9, holding off a couple of Mobile throwers, Sarah Morris of UMS Wright (135-5) and Cottage Hill Christian Academy's Callie Jones (128-6).

- Birmingham-Woodlawn's Jayla Kirkland winning the Elite Girls' 100-meters in 11.78.

- Ten competitors in the Elite Boys mile run ran under 4:30. The winner, Devyn Keith of John Curtis, ran 4:21.36, narrowly defeating Auburn's Jack Rogers, who was second in 4:21.94 and Drew Williams of Mountain Brook, who was third in 4:21.97.

- Tuscaloosa's American Christian's Noah Karr winning a very competitive (and exciting) boys' 800-meter race, running 1:54.36 to hold off Geoffrey McCullough of Campbell, Ga. (1:54.51) and Paul Barlow of Auburn (1:55.35).

- Elija Godwin of Newton (Ga.) being the recipient of an unfortunate fall by Auburn's Deonte Tolbert in the boys' 400. Godwin won in 46.82, while Tolbert managed to roll across the finish line in second (47.04). Tolbert, though, more than made up for it in the 200, winning in 21.51.