Lindley, Jackson Shine at Mobile Challenge of Champions

By Arthur L. Mack for DyeStat

MOBILE, Ala. —There’s something to be said about an athlete who makes it a habit to run in four events and does well in all four.

Ashton Lindley of Campbell GA stepped on the all-weather surface at St. Paul’s Episcopal School’s E. E. Delaney Stadium, the site of the Invitational Division of the Mobile Challenge of Champions, and delivered four superb performances.

RESULTS

Lindley won the 400 meters in 55.17 seconds to hold off a strong charge by Spanish Fort’s Kaitlyn Cole (55.56) after anchoring the second-place 4x100 relay team, which ran 47.17 behind Pine Forest FL’s 47.04. A while later, she won the 300-meter hurdles in 43.34 seconds. Then, she anchored the winning 4x400 relay team, which ran 3:50.76.

Lindley was recognized for her efforts and earned the DyeStat Outstanding Female Performer of the Meet Award.

“It’s normal for me (running four events), and I trained for it, so I was prepared today,” she said.

Lindley did admit to having some nervousness before the 300-meter hurdles.

“I knew I had to tune in with my training,” she said. “I knew I was prepared, so I just had to trust my training. I’ve been doing this since I was seven (years old) and I ran in a lot of races, so I think that I enjoy just doing a lot of races.”

Kam Jackson of West Feliciana High (St. Francisville, La.) was the Male Outstanding Meet Performer. He won the 100-and 200-meter dashes. He defeated Jekovan Rhetta of Birmingham Parker AL in the 100, 10.62 to 10.79, as well as a couple of Louisiana sprinters, Lance Williams and Corey Wren of John Curtis, both of whom ran 10.83.

In the 200, Jackson beat out Caleb Jackson (no relation) of Pleasant Grove AL, 21.37 to 21.76.

This year’s meet did not see a record broken. However, there were still some strong performances.

One came in the boys pole vault, where senior David Dolan of McGill-Toolen AL cleared a personal best of 16-3.25 to break into the top 10 nationally. He said that clearing 16 feet had been on his mind since his junior year.

“Clearing that was a high accomplishment for me,” he said. “When I was trying to clear 15, I hit the bar and it hit my head. It put a knot on my head, and I then had to remember why I was here at the meet: Clearing 16. That’s been (a goal)  ever since my junior year.”

Another strong performance came in the girls mile, where freshman Brooklyn Biancamano of Long Beach MS won in 4:57.34, nearly four seconds ahead of second-place finisher McKenzie Houge of Thompson AL (5:01.00).

In the boys mile, Houge’s teammate, Jace Jones, was boxed in during the early stages of the race but came on strong in the final 200 meters to win in 4:20.64, beating St. Xavier KY’s Grady Shilflet (4:21.51) and Zack Truitt of Landmark Christian GA, who ran 4:21:74.

Ariane Linton of Dutchtown LA and McKenzie Kelley of Campbell GA dueled in an exciting girls 200. Both ran 24.42, but it came down to the electronic timing, where Linton was declared the winner by five thousandths of a second. Kennedi Sanders of Madison Central MS was third (24.45). 

Another exciting race came in the girls 800, where Pelham AL’s Katie Strozier overcame a surge by McGill-Toolen Catholic’s Claire Frazier Bolton. Strozier won in 2:12.61, while Bolton ran 2:14.19.

Other performances of note came in the girls long jump, where Aslee Osaji of James Clemens AL won with a mark of 19 feet; Williams, who finished third in the boys 100, won the long jump (23-2.50); and Olivia Beard of  St. Paul’s Episcopal AL won the girls high jump (5-6).

In addition, McGill-Toolen Catholic’s Hannah Daffin won the girls shot (38-10.50) and the discus (120-0); Fairhope AL’s Savannah Morgan and Annie Lineberger finished 1-2 in the girls’ pole vault with personal bests of 12-6 and 12-3, respectively. Karmen Williams of Blount AL threw 133-8 to win the javelin. Carver-Montgomery’s DeAnthony Coleman won the boys 110-meter high hurdles in 14.08.

Action on the track notwithstanding, there were two legends at Saturday’s meet.

Pete Boudreaux, the long-time track coach at Baton Rouge Catholic LA, at the age of 77, stepped down from the head track and field coaching duties, but still coaches the cross country team. He reflected upon 51 years coaching in the sport.

“I’ve seen a lot of everything — the highs and the lows,” he said. “But it’s been an awesome ride. I’m still in good health, and I’ve got a good wife. It’s still about young people.”

Another noted figure, Dr. Eric T. Merriweather, a veteran masters runner who has run on numerous medal-winning relay teams, coaches sprinters for the Sport Athletics Track Club in Atlanta. 

“A meet like this allows you to compete with other athletes throughout the country,” Merriweather said. “They get exposed to other athletes. I’ve been coming to this meet the last 9-10 years, and it’s a great avenue for kids to get more experience.”