The North Forsyth Vikings Track Team was able to celebrate a
hugely successful trip to The Mighty Vikings Invitational meet in Danbury, NC Saturday, March 23. Never before (since Michael Smith became head Coach) has so many North Forsyth Vikings placed so well in the top 8 at any meet. Perhaps the only negative note was the boys’ team narrowly losing to South Stokes by 6 points
for the team title.
The number of victories was no.1 in the teams short history with Coach Smith. The number of medals No. 1 behind that, but what was also impressive was the depth of the team’s performance.
The hurdle duo, Gevontae hardy and Brandon Gambrell were two of the revelations of the meet. The two hurdlers did nothing but confirm their status as two favorites to take a conference title this year. The pair once again split the wins. Gevontae got
the better of Gambrell in the 110m high hurdles and went sub-16 by almost duplicating his Marvin Ridge effort of 15.8. The pair went at it again in the 300m hurdles. Gambrell taking advantage of a stutter step by Gevontae on the curve edged his team mate for first place and a new meet record of 41.4.
Junior Steve Stowe came out on top of a very entertaining 1600m race, which saw the lead change more than a few times with West Stokes Jason Barber, for another personal best time of 4:36. He also ran the 800m against a game Bryan
Brackney of Watauga High School, and finished second in a season best 2:04.
Individually, the NFHS sprinters had a challenging but overall successful day. Senior Patrick Green made his track debut meaningful. He and teammate Adrion Miller placed 2nd and 3rd in the 100m finals and along with Trenard Alexander and Marvin Fulwood went on to win the boy’s 4x100m relay by almost one second. Tyvone Johnson, a senior, also made his track debut narrowly missing the finals for the 100m; he went on to take third place in the 200m dash. He along with Gambrell, Hardy and Fulwood won the boy’s 4x200m relay in a meet record time of 1:32.5.
The boys’ team came up short in sweeping the relay events, losing the 4x800m relay earlier, but was able to dominate the 4x400m relay winning in a 3a Mid-east regional qualifying time of 3:32.
From a broader perspective, perhaps the star of the boys’ team was the gutsy performance from senior hurdler Marvin Fulwood; who is currently healing from a serious bone bruise on his foot. Fulwood not only helped North win 3 or the
four relays, he also placed fourth in the open 400m dash in a season best time,
followed by 5th place finisher and teammate Gerrick Harmon.
On the girls’ side, junior June Lisa Foster had looked the underdog for the 100m and 200m dash, but proved the contrary. She ran her second fastest time this season in a winning effort for the 100m title. Her time of 12.7 shattered the 3 year old meet record. June went on to take second in the 200m dash behind Shakai Ward, of Elkin HS in another season best time of 26.8.
With the help of teammates Sykonza Evans (5thplace 100m, and 6th place 200m); Tatiyanna Henry (7thplace 200m) and Janneca Williams; the NF girls took a respectable 5th place overall finish. The girls managed to win both the 4x100m and 4x400m (June Lisa Foster, Brandi Gray, Rosa Martinez, and Sykonza Evans) in season best times.
Daishya Duffy placed 4th in the shot put and 6th in the discus adding much needed points to the team total.
The Vikings will be competing at the WSSU High School Invitational in Winston-Salem, April 6, 2013.
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