Regional standouts

Published 11:11 pm Saturday, February 20, 2010

HAMPTON – King’s Fork and Lakeland each had outstanding individual finishes Saturday during the final day of the Group AAA Eastern Region Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Boo Williams Sportsplex.

The Bulldogs were led by Hildrew McNair, who placed third in the high jump Saturday morning with a top mark of 6-feet-0. McNair rebounded from a rough start to his meet Friday. McNair was the top seed to win the regional title in the pole vault, but missed on his first three vaults of the competition, all at 11-feet-6.

King’s Fork’s Tyler Holloway finished fifth in the 55-meter dash with a time of 6.65 seconds.

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Lakeland’s Marco Peterson finished fourth in the 55-meter hurdles, clocking in at 8.02 seconds in the finals.

“I did well, but I could’ve done better,” Peterson said.

Peterson, a senior, had already set a state qualifying time, 7.97 seconds, so he’ll be in the VHSL Group AAA State Championships this coming Friday and Saturday at the Boo Williams Sportsplex.

Peterson made states, in West Virginia as a freshman and a sophomore, but next week will be his first time reaching the state championship in Virginia.

Peterson thought his day would be done after the hurdles, but his Cavalier teammate, Jaquan Demiel hit a hurdle and was injured in the finals of the 55-meter hurdles.

Demiel couldn’t run on the Cavalier 4×200 relay team, so Peterson had to fill in. Lakeland struggled with a couple handoffs in the relay and finished well behind the top teams.

What has to be done to be in perfect form for states?

“First of all, I’ve got to replace my shoes. It snapped right here in the 4-by-2 relay,” Peterson said, pointing to the upper lip on the outside of one of his track cleats.

“I’ll hop in the ice bath, get rid of all the cramps and come back here ready next week,” Peterson said.

Other top performances by Cavaliers included Johniqua Porter who took fifth in the 55-meter hurdles (8.66) and Antwan Peterson finishing sixth in the triple jump (44-feet-7.25).