Ronan responds at track

LAUREL - The Ronan-St. Ignatius track and field team took 14 competitors to the state meet in Laurel last weekend.

"Our student-athletes responded well with performances at their best or better," girls' coach Crystal Pitts said.

Adessa Durglo improved her high jump record when she reached the mark of 5-2. Last year at state, as a sophomore, Durglo placed in the triple jump. This year, she placed in all three jumps, highlighted by third places in the high jump and the long jump (16-3). She took fourth in the triple jump with a jump of 34-6.

Jenny Larrson participated in two individual events in her first trip to state. She cleared 4-8 in the high jump and launched a 93-0 in the javelin.

The members of the 400-meter relay (Mackenzie Trudeau, Christina Williams, Roslyn Hardy and LaGlen Mitchell) ran their best time of the season in 55.4. For all but Mitchell, the state meet was a first-time experience.

The 1,600 relay team (Trudeau, Victoria Crenshaw, Williams and Mitchell) ran a very good race, posting a season best time of 4:32.

"They all competed very well," Pitts said. "What an experience this can be at the state meet. Athlete expectation is high, plus your coach can only be as close as the fence and for some athletes this is an adjustment."

On the boys' side, Jordan Franklin cleared 6-0 to place third in the high jump.

"It wasn't a surprise for me that he did as well as he did," coach Noelle Decker said of Franklin, who also finished fifth in the 300 hurdles, scoring all of his team's eight points in the meet.

According to Decker, Franklin's passion was always the high jump, but he is really coming along in the hurdles too.

"He went to state last year, but it just seems like he was more serious this year and even made the comment after the 300, ‘now I just need to learn how to run the hurdles,'" she said. "He's fast enough that he does well, but this is the first year he's really settled down and worked at the technique in the hurdles. This year, it became more evident to him that, ‘yes I do enjoy the hurdles' and he put more energy into doing those events."

The boys 1,600 relay finished sixth out of 10 in the first heat, but was disqualified for running 10 consecutive strides on the line.

"They just looked good yesterday," Decker said about the event in which three other teams were disqualified as well. "They were very strict and it seemed like there were a lot more disqualifications this year than last year."

Three of the boys in the relay had never been to the state meet before.

"I was very happy with their time and the way they ran. They actually went there and competed and really did well," Decker said.

While they were upset after the disqualification, Decker said she told them to "chalk it up to experience."

"It'd be one thing if we'd have been in contention for a place," she said. "But we're young and it was a good learning experience for them. In the next two years, I expect some big things."