Track and field races to successful opener

The word is officially out.

Douglas High School's new all-weather track at the Big George Sports Complex is fast.

Really fast.

"The kids were saying that the track is runs very smooth and that it's fast," Douglas boys' coach Jim Abbott said. "They really liked running on it and they really liked running in front of a home crowd."

Saturday marked the school's first home meet in 13 years, and Douglas put on a show taking first in the girls' four-way meet against Galena, Wooster and Fallon and second in the boys' meet.

"It's really nice," Douglas senior Sarah Hartley, who won the 100 and 400 and took fifth in the 800 Saturday, said. "There's only one other track I've ever been on that is faster, but once this one gets broken in, it'll be incredible."

The condition of the track aside, though, Saturday marked the end of a long haul for a team that hasn't had an actual track to practice on over the last two years while the new facility was built.

"It was amazing being able to have all this support out here," Hartley said. "You could totally feel it. There was a totally different attitude. All the kids on the team are so excited."

Hartley wasn't Douglas' only standout for the day as the Tigers took first place in 13 events.

"Everyone just did so well," Douglas girls' coach Kim Tretton said. "We were so pleased with them. It was the first meet of the year and they all came out hungry and flat out did their best."

On the girls' side, Hartley was joined as a multiple winner by Jessica Gorton who won the long jump and the 300 hurdles and junior Jessica Waggoner, who won the shot put and the discus in her first high school meet.

The Tigers also got top finishes in the girls' meet from Bridget Maestretti (high jump), Taylor Biaggi (1,600) and 4x100 relay team.

Douglas got a 1-2-3 sweep in the 100 as Ne'Jae Jackson and Whitney Bullion were right on Hartley's heels.

Amanda Boyd took third and Amber Emerson took fifth in the 1,600.

Maestretti came in just after Hartley in the 400 for second place and Susie White took fifth.

Nicole Duster came in second behind Gorton in the 300 hurdles and Biaggi and Boyd finished second and third respectively in the 800.

Samantha Cobb took fourth in the 200 and Shannon Sturgess finished fifth.

Douglas took second and third in the 4x200 relay and second in the 4x400.

Boyd finished second in the 3,200 while Emerson finished fifth.

Natasha Brown finished fourth in the long jump, Maestretti took second in the pole vault and Bullion and Shannon Sturgess took second and fifth in the high jump.

On the boys' side, Curtis Hartzell won the 100 and 400, Derrick Jenkins won the 800 and Luke Wartgow took first in discus and third in the shot put.

Jordan Cruz won the 200 to round out Douglas' top finishes.

Sean Derbyshire took second in the 100 and third inthe 400 while Jenkins finished fourth in the 1,600.

Jake O'Farrell finished second in the 400 and Dusty Fisher took fourth and Ryan Ake took second in the 300 hurdles.

Chris Winberg took fourth in the 300 hurdles.

Seth White finished fourth in the 800.

Andrew Dewitt took second in the shot put and third in the discus and Mike Colyer took fifth in the shot put.

Douglas' scoring was rounded out by a fourth in the pole vault from Anton Anger and a fourth and fifth respectively from Johnny Sheerin and Bill Sunderland in the high jump.

Among the highlights of the day was a second-place finish from the boys' 4x800 relay team.

"We were just one second behind Galena, and the kids really ran great," Abbott said. "Jenkins, White, Brad Boyd and James Leonard were all solid for us.

"James is normally a sprinter, but he had a 2:12 split in the relay and that helped us."

On the whole, Abbott was most impressed with the relays.

"That was something that we really didn't have a lot of time to work on in practice," he said. "They all did a great job of exchanging the baton. We only had one drop, and for a first meet, that's great. We only worked on exchanges two or three times, but they looked really good in the meet."

This season is expected to be somewhat of a payoff year for the Tigers after the team drew in a large sophomore class two years ago when construction on the track started.

"Those kids are all seniors now and they are out here to get better every day," Abbott said. "The kids really want to be here and work hard."

Hartley, Gorton and Nicole Mehrer are returning standouts for the girls while Hartzell and Wartgow are among the top returners for the boys.

The boys' middle distance group, which includes Jenkins, White, Boyd, and Eddie Vega, is among the deepest portions of the boys' roster.

One of the biggest surprises to the coaches so far, though, has been the amount of athletes coming out from other sports for the first time.

"Getting athletes like Bridget Maestretti or Jessica Waggoner has been huge for us," Tretton said. "Having a track to practice on will do that I guess."

The team will also be fielding a large group of pole vaulters after O'Farrell carried the load for the past few years.

"Lane Maestretti volunteered to come out and coach and there are a number of kids who have shown a lot of promise early on," Abbott said.

Among those are Kyle Heidt, who made a name for himself as a high jumper the last few years before tearing his ACL during football season.

"He might not be able to high jump anymore," Abbott said. "So we'll be looking at him to do some different stuff for us."

Tretton said something she's noticed in the first few week's is the team's desire to work.

"What we're seeing out of a lot of the kids is they want to be better," she said. "They want to be the best. They're out after their own records and they want to beat everyone else in the north too. It's a hungry group.

"It'll be fun to see what they end up doing."

Douglas will host two more meets this year " another league meet on March 19 and the Big George Invitational on April 26.