Malik Floyd-Stinson Bounds to Top of State Leader List; Panthers Impressive in 2016 Debut

 

Courtesy St. Mary's College High School

February 27^th, 2016
Picking up right where they left off, the Saint Mary’s track & field team opened their 2016 season in impressive fashion at the 12^th annual Skyline Invitational in Oakland. The girls team, the defending TCL league & North Coast Section champions, posted individual wins in the 800 meters and triple jump… along with capturing both relay gold medals.
“The girls have been training very well thus far so their performances are no surprise to us,” said coach Jay Lawson after the meet. “ We sort of expected the season to open with our top people showcasing their talents and I think we saw that today.”
Indeed, the girls 4 x 400 team of Avi Wilson-Perteete, Kenady Jackson, Noelle Shaw and Kali Hatcher posted the state’s 3^rd fastest time on the opening weekend of track & field in the Golden State… while the 4 x 100 team (which inserts De’Jah Robinson for Noelle) ran the 2^nd fastest time in the NCS this season. Avi would come back later to win the 800 meters in 2:18.37, Kali would win the triple jump, Kenady would place 2^nd in the open 400 (59.80) and 3^rd in the 200 (25.77), Noelle would run a PR 62.10 for 3^rd in the 400, Giauna ran 12.93 for 100 meters and 3^rd, and De’Jah opened her 2016 hurdle season with a 16.67/47.64 double in the 100 and 300 hurdles respectively. In the field, sophomores Kobi Thompson’s 4’10 high jump and Janelle Ingram’s 33’7 triple jump placed them 3^rd and 4^th in those events.
 For the boys, success was equally recognizable as senior Malik Floyd Stinson hopped, stepped and jumped his way to the top of the state leader board with a 46’5 wind legal win in the boys triple jump. After finishing 3^rd in the open 100 meter dash, he finished his day by winning the long jump in a PR 20’11”.
“Malik is incredibly talented and has really benefitted from a lot of pre-season running and conditioning,” commented coach Jeff Rogers. “I expect Malik to be one of the elite jumpers in California this year. He’s putting the work in and it’s showing.”
Joining Malik on the victory stand on Saturday was fellow senior Cameron James who won the 200 meters in a PR 22.39. Just behind him was teammate Tamarick Pierce in 22.78. The other boys medalist of the day was Owen Woo in the boys mile. Owen’s 4:39 was a PR and, couple with his 9:59 opening 3200 a week ago, indicates that his junior season could be very successful. Also running well and posting a lifetime best was fellow junior Donye Green, who placed 4^th in the open 800 in 2:05.08.
All in all, Saturday was a great opening weekend. Some 50 athletes competed for the Panthers, many who had never exchanged a baton, risen from a starting block, counted their steps down a runway, or had to stay in their lane. Still, everyone competed and performed very well. The present and future of track & field continues to look promising.