NHS girls struggle, but boys surprise

By Scott Moore
The Norman Transcript

May 11, 2008 02:12 am

— ARDMORE — Sasha King dominated the 300-meter hurdles, winning in a time of 45.32. She crossed the finish line and then went to the ground, staying down until a track official helped her up.
King was partly relieved that it was over and partly just worn out from giving every last little bit of energy.
“I was pushing hard,” she said. “I had to win so I gave it all I had.”
Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to help the Tigers achieve all they had hoped for Saturday afternoon. Not that the Norman High girls performed poorly at the Class 6A state track meet at Noble Stadium, but the end result was not what they were expecting.
The NHS girls were regional track champions and were hoping for a top-5 finish, maybe even a top-3 finish at state. They had the talent, both on the track and in the field. They’d proven it all year.
But things didn’t quite work out Saturday on the final day of the season.
NHS received strong individual showings from several athletes, but the relay teams, typically solid, did not come through as planned and the Tigers finished eighth.
“I think we’re a little disappointed,” NHS coach Rex Cornelsen said. “I think we were expecting a little better than this.”
NHS scored just 23 points, despite taking several individual entries and all four relay teams to the state meet.
But the NHS news wasn’t all disappointing. Not nearly.
The girls didn’t do as well as expected, but the boys performed very well. Only three Tigers scored, but it was enough to vault the team into a fourth-place finish.
“I thought they did a real good job,” Cornelsen said. “We’re a young team and we’ll get those three back next year.”
Midwest City won the girls title, beating runner-up Edmond Santa Fe by 35 points. Union won the boys title with 97 points, edging Midwest City by 17. Jenks was a distant third.
So the Tigers finished as the second-best team in the western half of the state.
Cameron Tabor won his third straight discus title, throwing 186-feet, 7-inches. Teammate Jack Jewell was fourth, with a best throw of 161-03. Parker Bowles finished third in the 1600.
King was the only individual champion for the girls, fulfilling her role as the prerace favorite.
“I told everyone before hand that if I don’t win, don’t tell me, ‘Good job,’” King said. “I would have been pretty mad.”
Lauran Vanderpool finished third in the 100. Nyla James finished sixth in the race King won.
The relay squads tripped up the Tigers. Of the three events that went final Saturday (400, 800 and 1600), the Tigers scored just two points.
“We didn’t do so hot,” King said. “It was really disappointing. Our hand-offs weren’t too good.”
The loss of Gentry McDonald to an abdominal strain didn’t help, leaving the Tigers without their normal lineup in the 400 and 800 races.
“It’s not that we were bad in the relays. Other teams just did really well,” Cornelsen said.
The good news is NHS returns most everyone. Only King and sprinter Arike Okewole are seniors.
“We’re pretty young, so we’re going to have high expectations next year,” Cornelsen said.
Scott Moore
366-3535
sports@normantranscript.com

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