he Westwood boys and their coaches celebrate after finishing second overall in Class 4A and behind only Hilton Head. Photo/ Ross Burton.
COLUMBIA – Westwood High School’s girls and boys clocked in at second overall in Class 4A at last weekend’s State Track and Field Meet. Westwood’s Kaden Briggs won state titles in the 110-meter high hurdles, the 400 hurdles and as a part of the Redhawks’ 4×100 relay team. They finished only behind Hilton Head in the overall standings.
“I didn’t go into the season thinking we were going to pull it off, but we did,” Briggs said. “It feels really good. It’s a blessing knowing how far we’ve come.”
Briggs won the 110 hurdles with a time of 14.70 seconds, and the 400 hurdles with a time of 54.03. Briggs’ 4×100 team finished with a time of 41.58, three tenths of a second faster than Lower Richland’s team.
Westwood boys coach Rod Lorick knew his team had it in them to finish strong.
“We had a good chance, it all just came down to the numbers,” he said. “I congratulate Hilton Head. They did a good job. Our boys did a stand-up job, I’m proud of them. We have a young team. We’re losing Kaden, and we’re going to miss him, but we’re young, we’re ready and we’re hungry.”
A fourth-place finish in the 4×400 relay and an eighth-place finish in the 4×800 boosted the Redhawks.
Diamond Rush claimed the gold in the 100 and 200 dashes, while Jasmine Brown took first in the long jump to propel the Westwood girls to a fourthplace finish behind Hilton Head, Daniel and South Pointe.
“In all honesty, you never know. You don’t want to underestimate your competition,” Rush said about projecting how her team would do going into the meet. “It was a blessing to finish this high, but I really didn’t know.”
Rush finished just ahead of Airport Sprinter Jayla Jamison in both the 100 and 200 dashes. Rush finished the 100 in 12.15 seconds and the 200 in 24.40.
In the long jump, Jasmine Brown won the gold with a jump of 18-02.
Blythewood’s Robert Braswell, Kenny Benton and Josh Bowers boosted the boy’s fourth-place finish in the 5A portion of the meet. Braswell took first in the High Jump with a 6-06 effort. Benton won the 100 dash with a time of 11.11 and Bowers took the 800 run with a time of 1:55.38.
Likewise, the Blythewood ladies also took a home a fourth place finish in the 5A portion of the meet. Sharnae Alston finished second in the 100 and followed it up with a third place in the 200.
Blythewood also notched a third place finish in the 4×800 and the 4×400, to go along with a fourth place result in the 4×100. Keionna Ray helped boost Blythewood into the top five overall with her third place performance in the triple jump.
The team of Kimoni Harris, Wesley Benbow, Ahquil Ross and Darian Glenn secured a third-place finish in the 4×100 relay for the Fairfield Central Griffins.