Salesianum and Saint Mark's win boys track and field titles at star-studded state meet
DOVER – Elijah Williams retraced his steps from the mat to the edge of the track, took a breath and dropped his shoulders.
A moment passed. Then he swung his arms above his head, starting the crowd on a slow clap. His side-winding approach lacked the lift to clear the bar on this final high jump attempt, but Williams stood up with a smile as the crowd exhaled and gave him a hand.
There was plenty to be happy about. The Smyrna senior had already won the competition by clearing 6 feet, 8 inches. In between jumps, he almost replicated his personal-best 110 hurdles time, posting the top performance in prelims. His Hail Mary attempts at the state record of 6-11.25 were close enough to inspire confidence.
"You see all the people watching you, and you want to be able to get that [bar] to see the reaction," Williams said in the aftermath. "When I got 6-8, hearing the reaction was amazing."
The athletes rewarded those who stuck out the early rain with a memorable afternoon of competition as the annual two-day track and field state meet concluded Saturday.
With victories in the three distance races and both throws, Salesianum won its fifth consecutive Division I title. Saint Mark's won only one event, the 4x800, but proved to be one of the state's deepest teams in winning its second-ever Division II championship.
Williams leads a cohort of hurdlers who are among the state's strongest and most versatile athletes. The high jump was just the start of Williams' four-event weekend. He finished tied for third late Friday in the D-I long jump at 21-01. Hurdling on the rain-soaked track Saturday morning, Williams ran 14.23 in the 110 hurdles finals for the win. He placed second in the 300 hurdles in 39.03.
Williams had been trying to return to the marks he set at his season-opening meet in March at A.I. du Pont: 6-9 in the high jump and 14.08 in the 110 hurdles (sixth all-time). An ankle injury that day slowed his training over the next few weeks. He ran 14.09 in Friday's prelims. Williams will have one more chance at the state record of 14.00 set by Middletown's Brahmir Vick in 2019 at Wednesday's Meet of Champions.
Outside of the high school season, Williams trains with Gabe Harris, the Caesar Rodney sophomore who ran a state-best time 38.24 at last week's Henlopen Conference meet. Harris won the event Saturday, placed third in the 110 hurdles and ran on CR's winning D-I 4x400 relay (3:21.74) with Josh Johnson, Aiden Cain and Ian Cain.
Michael Latham and Jordan Hollis ran on Odessa's winning D-I 4x200 relay (1:30.65) and placed second in the 110 hurdles and third in the 300 hurdles, respectively. They were joined by Daniel Kissi and Kasai Truitt.
In Division II, Caravel's Donovan Dixon won the 110 (14.96) and 300 hurdles (38.80).
Dixon spent the first three years of his high school career as a 400 runner. This summer, the longtime track and field coach Art Madric, who has coached many of Delaware's top hurdlers through the years, including Vick, introduced him to the hurdles.
"I'm still working on a lot," said Dixon, who plans to hurdle at Delaware State next year. "I'm still working on my posture between the hurdles, running strong and my trail leg pull."
Dixon, Elias Hackett, Vandrick Hamlin and Craig Miller won the D-II 4x200 in 1:28.96.
Salesianum and Saint Mark's win team titles
With 450 meters to go in the D-I 1,600, James Kennedy took the lead for Salesianum. The senior closed strong, running the final 400 in 61.8 seconds.
Kennedy described it as a rare moment in the spotlight as he shares the track regularly with teammate and 1,600 state record holder Ethan Walther. Walther won Friday's 3,200 in 9:26.42 and the 800 in 1:53.32, leaving Kennedy, Sam Felice (fourth) and James Dempsey (fifth) to face Henlopen Conference champ Ian Cain of CR and Cape Henlopen's Jason Baker and Cardin Benjamin in the 1,600.
The race went out at a slow pace relative to the field's ability.
"I know I've won it after that happens," Kennedy said. "There's a lot of talented guys in that field ... but I like it when it goes out slow because I feel like it leaves my legs a little bit of energy. I know I have a good chance of winning."
There were other clutch performances sprinkled throughout the weekend for the Sals. Vance Barbato passed three teams as the anchor leg of Salesianum's 4x800 to finish second behind the Caesar Rodney team of Josh Johnson, Patrick Craig, Maddox Downs and Ian Cain. Barbato placed second in the open 800 with a personal best of 1:56.97.
Roan Samuels threw a shot put personal best of 45-10.25 to win on Friday and then won the discus Saturday with a throw of 140-07.
"Probably getting height on the throw, that was probably the biggest factor," Samuels said.
Felice and Kennedy placed third and fourth, respectively in the 3,200. Julian Cherundolo jumped 45-6 to place third in the triple jump.
Saint Mark’s came from behind to win the boys Division II 4x800 in a state meet record time of 7:51.86 Friday night.
The team of Sean Kemske, Brandon Smith, Connor Gebhardt and Brian Yeager set a school record and moved to sixth on the state all-time performance list. Second-place Sanford ran 7:53.52, 11th all-time.
Gebhardt made the definitive pass on the third leg, finishing hard in the final 150 before handing to Yeager, who sealed the win.
Kemske, an All-State swimmer, sat out the club swim season this year, which typically cost him the first month of track and field training. With a full season of workouts, he dropped his 800 time from 2:08 to below 2:00. Gebhardt and Yeager both ran splits below 1:56. The relay finished about two and a half seconds off the state record of 7:49.25 set by Salesianum in 2005.
Saint Mark's went on to place individual athletes in the top five 14 times: Chad Dohl (second in 100 and 200), Logan Klein (fourth in discus and fifth in shot put), Max Batten (second in high jump), Jordan Jones (fourth in high jump), Alec Jurgaitis (fourth in 3,200 and fifth in 1,600), Gebhardt (fourth in 1,600 and 800), Michael Burgos (third in pole vault), Jeremiah McClain (fifth in 110 hurdles), Jude Rykacwewski (second in 300 hurdles) and Brian Yeager (fourth in 400).
The Spartans also finished second in the 4x200, second in the 4x400 and fourth in the 4x100.
Notes from around the track
Derrick Sirmons of Woodbridge won the D-II shot put (50-1.25) and discus (169-05). After winning the shot put Friday, he said the only thing going through his head was "'finally,' like a thousand times." The junior planned to celebrate with Popeyes; Chick-fil-A; Chinese food; and his favorite show, "Empire."
A.I. du Pont's Camerin Williams became just the second boy to win the 400 and 800 at a state meet. Williams held off Dickinson's Jakai Robinson by a hundredth of a second in the 400 (48.47). He returned to the track about a half hour later and won the 800 (1:54.60) on a strong move in the second lap.
Robinson won the D-II 200 with a personal best of 21.90. The Dickinson team of Na'im Benson, Ben Johnson and Isaiah McKnight and Robinson won the D-II 4x400 in 3:24.09
The Cape Henlopen boys were surprised when they learned they finished second to Salesianum, one point ahead of third-place Caesar Rodney, the Henlopen Conference champions. Said sophomore Jason Baker: "At the end of the day, I've got friends who are like, 'Oh, man, I want to go home and nap.' I'm like, 'Nah, I want to go to practice.' I love it. Being with the guys is great. It's so much fun. We all push each other. We all want it just as bad as one another." Baker finished second in the 3,200 and third in the 1,600. Bailey Fletcher won the D-I pole vault (14-9).
Dover's Jaheim Cole won the D-I 100 (11.01) and long jump (22-4.5). The sophomore has now won state championships in three events after taking last year's triple jump title.
Ben Pizarro of Tatnall won the D-II 1,600 (4:19.90) and 3,200 (9:29.70). He closed both races in sub-60-second 400s.
Hamlin of Caravel won the D-II long jump (23-1.75) and triple jump (45-6). He said he focused on reaching the finals in his first three jumps. Once in the finals, he switched uniforms to Caravel's all-maroon and started the clap on each attempt.
The Seaford team of Alex Jean, Zahir Seymoure, Tre'von-Keith Paulson and Jazonte Levan won the D-II 4x100 in 42.61. Levan also won the 100 (10.86) and Paulson won the high jump (6-2).
Middletown bounced back from a disqualification in the 4x200 to win the D-I 4x100. The team of Messai Maynor, Amir Jones-Branch, Anai Burney-Green and Zamir Miller ran 42.34. Burney-Green also won the D-I 200 (21.71). Teammate Jayden Feaster won the D-I 400 (48.84).
Appoquinimink's Mondeario Pinckney jumped 47-0.25 to win the D-I triple jump. Indian River's Zhen Wu won the D-II pole vault, clearing 12-0.
Brandon Holveck reports on high school sports for The News Journal. Contact him at bholveck@delawareonline.com.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Salesianum and Saint Mark's claim 2024 Delaware track and field state titles
