1,600 relay victory propels Bethel boys to second in region

Bethel girls take third

February 21, 2010|By Brian J. French | Correspondent

HAMPTON — When Eric Thomas took the baton as the anchor leg of the Bethel 1,600-meter (4×400) relay, he knew he had a lot of ground to make up and a really short time in which to do it.

But as long as he was moving, Thomas believed, he still had a chance. And so he did, passing the Booker T. Washington runner midway through the final lap as Bethel captured the final event of the Eastern Region indoor track and field meet Saturday at Boo Williams Sportsplex.

Bethel finished in 3 minutes, 28.67 seconds, while the Bookers took second at 3:29.28.

Everybody’s in range,” Thomas said. “I go until I’m tired; if I’m not tired, I’m running.”

Coming from behind was no big thing for Thomas. It wasn’t even the first time he did it Saturday.

In fact, Thomas wasn’t even in the fast heat at the 500, since his seed time of 1:08.36 was only 10th-best and put him in the middle of the second-fastest heat.

He won his heat with a time of 1:06.67, nipping Warwick’s Javon Walker by 0.26 of a second, then watched the final heat race. The heat winner, Booker T. Washington’s Lamonti Charity, could only muster a 1:06.91, giving Thomas the win. Walker placed third.

“I was really excited to run that,” Thomas said. “Hopefully I can drop that time for next week” when the Group AAA state meet will be held, also at the Boo Williams Sportsplex.

Thomas wasn’t the only regional champion in his family. Twin brother Derrick Thomas won the high jump, clearing the bar at 6 feet, 2 inches.

“I’m saving a little for states,” he said.

The Woodside 800 relay team also picked up a title, finishing in 1:31.80 in an event in which the top two teams (the Wolverines and Western Branch) were in the second heat, while third-place Bethel was in the slowest heat.

On the girls’ side, Phoebus sprinter Christal Peterson spent the day practicing coming out of the starting block. It worked. She captured the 55-meter dash, turning a time of 7.03.

“The start is the crucial thing to my race,” Peterson said. “I just close my eyes, listen for the gun, and when I hear it click, go. If you don’t get out quickly in the 55, your race is done.”

Samantha Scarlett gave Bethel another first-place finish when she took the 55 hurdles in 8.14.

“I’m happy,” Scarlett said. “I was confident I would win.”

Article Link : Dailypress.com

“Its just a district meet”, Those are those words that were continuously uttered to Eric and Derrick after the meet last week. Eric was pleased, but he could not help but think the same thing. None-the-less, Twins Derrick and Eric both won 1st place in their events at the Regional meet as well!  Eric also picked up 3rd place as a member of the 4×800 relay team.

On Friday, the first day of the regional meet, Eric stated he felt good and it was obvious as he made his move during the 4×800 event. According to his coach, his split was 2:02 minutes.

Early the next morning of the regional meet, Derrick claimed 1st place during the high jump event. He made his move and did not scratch until his attempts at 6:4.  According to Derrick, he really needs to give some TLC to his right shin as it caused him a considerable amount of pain and distress.

The very next day, Eric made an early good impression as he took 1st place in the 500 meter dash and as the anchor leg of the Bethel’s 4×400 relay team.  The win of Bethels 4×400 relay gave them the much needed points to win 2nd place at the Eastern regional meet.

Bethel sweeps PD’s indoor track titles

February 10, 2010|By Jack Lambert | Correspondent

HAMPTON — “Come on, son.”

That’s what the handmade sign at the finish line said as Bethel’s Eric Thomas sprinted the last leg of the 1,600-meter relay. Less encouragement than bravado, the sign was Bethel’s answer to the unspoken questions following Thomas down the homestretch. Would Bethel drop the baton again? Would Thomas falter, as he did earlier in the 500?

As the sign said: Come on, son.

“It’s hard to explain,” Thomas said of the sign’s origin. “People earlier in the meet were saying Bethel is in second, they’re going to finish second, and we were like, ‘Come on, son. For real, for real? Come on.’ ”

Thomas and his teammates’ confidence helped bring home Peninsula District boys and girls indoor track and field meet titles Tuesday night at the Boo Williams Sportsplex in Hampton.

“I’m very pleased with the performance,” Bethel coach Eddie Williams said. “Because of the weather, we haven’t practiced in over a month. We have not been able to get the kind of practice we usually get. So I thought the kids did really, really well.”

It was the seventh straight district title for Williams’ girls, a feat unmatched at Bethel during his tenure.

“I told the kids this is going to be close, this is going to be a dogfight and you’re going to have to fight through it,” Williams said. “We’re happy to get over that hump and win seven in a row, and we’re still kind of young, so we can add some more to it.”

While the girls dominated from the outset, racking up 129 points, 45 more than their runner-up Hampton, Bethel’s boys clawed their way back from a disappointing start that saw them disqualified from the 800 relay for a failed exchange and from the 500 dash due to Thomas’ false start.

Heading into the final three events — the 300, 3,200 and 1,600 relay — Bethel trailed Woodside 81-55.

“When you get into championship meets, the day is not going to go perfect,” Williams said. “If you want to win a championship, you have to fight through that stuff.”

Bethel took home first, second and fourth place in the 300 in what Williams called the turning point of the meet, with Thomas winning in 36.15 seconds.

Will Brown then lapped the competition in the 3,200, winning in 10:11.06.

“I knew my PR (personal record) was 9:40 and I knew if I ran around 10 minutes, somewhere around there, it would work,” Brown said. “That probably boosted our chances up even more so that once the (1,600 relay) came up, we should win it.”

Bethel jumped to an early lead in the relay, thanks to a strong start from Isaiah Gibson, but quickly was caught by Warwick. Dakari Cooke reclaimed the lead on the third leg, leaving Bethel only a clean exchange and Thomas’ leg away from a district title.

Was Thomas nervous? Come on, son.

“I felt like once I got the baton, I would be OK because cross country helped me a lot,” Thomas said.

The Eastern Region meet is Feb. 19-20, and the state Group AAA meet is Feb. 26-27. Both of those meets also are at the Boo Williams Sportsplex.

article link: Dailypress.com

Derrick and Eric both bring home the gold at the Pennisula District Championship meet that was held at Boo Williams Sportplex in Hampton, VA.  Check out the summary on Milestat.  Click here for the complete article.

Derrick and Eric were both looking forward to participating in the Virginia Tech meet, but Mother Nature had something else in store! Lots and lots of snow!

Twin brothers Derrick and Eric normally do very well but on January 9, 2010, both brothers used their wild card and laid low in their events.  Derrick placed 5th in the high jump clearing only 6 feet.

On January 9, 2010 at the CNU Showcase, Eric ran the last leg of the 4×400 Relay. This is one of his best events, but today was on of his rainy days. That’s quiet alright because the rain has a way of making you appreciate and embrace the days when the sun shines ever so brightly!

Bethel’s team, which was in first place, did well until Eric ran the last leg. Two things happend, the other teams were very well prepared, and Eric was not. When asked about the event, he stated that he felt his legs tighten up and decided he would just make it through to the end and give it a better shot on another day. The team’s time was 3:29.94.

On January 9, 2010, although not at his best, Eric ran 1:08:36 in the 500 meter dash. He held first place until the last 55 meters, and he was not able to retrieve any more gas to hold that position. He ran in the last heat, so if you view the video, you will have to push the video bar near the end to see Eric run.

On December 28, Boo Williams Sportplex hosted a High School Winter Break Invitational meet. There were about 52 teams in attendance to include a couple of outstanding competing teams form North Carolina. Unfortunately, Derrick did not compete as he has already qualified for state competitions for the high jump.  The meet was an opportunity for members of the boys and girls team who have yet to qualify for district and/or state competitions to do so.

Eric ran the 300 meter dash and as the first leg of the 4×400 relay team.  First, let me say that the 4×400 relay team has been going through some changes in an effort to find the best team for competition. The team has competed a total of 2 times, not including today.  Eric has run the anchor leg each time, and because the team is usually behind quite a bit, he has to work extra hard to close the gap and to overtake his competitors. All in all, he has risen to the occasion.  However, as the co-caption of the team, he suggested a line-up to the coach and the coach decided to try it. I dont think  Eric wanted to run the first leg of the race, but the coach wanted to try during this competition starting out in the race with Eric leading instead of Eric trying to work extra hard to get back in the race near the end.

The 4×400 team’s best time before today was 3:34., but as of today their best time is 3:29.71 which places them first in the state of Virginia! During the competition, Bethel placed third with two teams from North Carolina placing 1st & 2nd. Check out the video below.

There were two heats in this video, and Bethel ran in the second heat. If you want to see the bethel race, scroll to the 1:20 time mark.

 This was his first time officially competing in the 300 meter dash and he did very well! He came in 2nd in his heat and he placed 7th overall with a time of 36.6. He is currently #13 in the state of Virginia. Check out the video below. He ran in the 7th heat so scroll towards 1:45 time mark of the video.

The videos are from Milestat.com. I am currently subscribed. If you are not, you may want to seriously consider doing so. It’s an excellent source of track and field/Cross country information.

VA High School Indoor Track Team Power Rankings

The Bethel High School boys indoor track team is currently 12th in the state of  Virginia for power rankings according to Milestat.com.  The power rankings favor teams with a few top tier individual stars who can score a bulk of the points.  There are only  6(six) individuals from Bethel HS for the boys in the top tier whose points established the ranking, and Derrick and Eric are two of the six.

• Derrick is included in the top tier for the High Jump
• Eric is included in the top tier for the 500 Meter Dash
• Eric is included in the top tier as a member of the 4×4 relay team.

Click here for the article and the listings on Mile Stat.com (you must have an account to access some of the articles)

Virginia High School Boys Indoor Track Team Depth Rankings

The Bethel HS Boys Indoor Track also placed 9th in Depth Rankings on Milestat.com.  The depth rankings favor teams with more than just a few individual stars gaining a bulk of the points and a well balanced team competitive in multiple events.  Seven(7 ) individuals  established the Bethel Boys Depth rankings, and Derrick & Eric are two of the seven.

• Derrick is included in the top tier for the High Jump
• Eric is included in the top tier for the 500 Meter Dash
• Eric is included in the top tier as a member of the 4×4 relay team.

Click here for the article listed on MileStat.com