BY CHAD DARE Commercial-News
CHARLESTON — Danville’s Cameron Ford feels at home in the discus ring outside of O’Brien Stadium.
A year ago, the senior took sixth in Class 2A event with a toss of 156 feet, 4 inches. At that time, it was his personal best.
Ford got that familiar feeling back on Friday as his toss of 156 feet, 11 inches in the preliminaries has the Vikings senior in second place.
“This is my best event right here,’’ said Ford, who also just barely qualified for the finals in the shot put. “I know I can take this if I come out here and perform.
“That throw that I had today could have been better, it was a little too high.’’
And Ford has a pretty good idea of what he can do in Charleston. During a practice session on Thursday, Ford’s best toss was more than 170 feet.
“Last year, I got better every time down here,’’ he said. “I have that confidence coming in here. With my practice session yesterday, I think I have it.’’
So, why does Ford do his best in Charleston?
“I like the competition,’’ he said. “And I just feel confident in this ring.’’
Ford acknowledged that his good throw in the discus made up for his disappointing performance in the shot put.
“I’m basically standing here, staring onto the board, hoping there is a ‘Q’ next to my name,’’ he said after managing just 51-3½ in the shot put preliminaries. “It’s frustrating to not do it when it counts.
“Of course, I scratched the good throw that would have gotten me into the finals.’’
Ford’s second of three attempts was easily 53 feet, but his momentum carried him out of the ring. About 20 minutes later, Ford found out that he was the 12th and final qualifier in the shot put finals.
“This means I get a chance to put up points for the team,’’ he said. “I know I can throw 55 and the leader is at 54-10.
“I’m not going to disappoint two days in a row.’’
Joining Ford in the shot put finals is Danville senior Keith Mayfield, who sits in eighth place with a toss of 52-3¾.
“I thought I was going to get more of it,’’ Mayfield said. “I wanted to make finals, and now I want to win state.’’
The Vikings also got a number of impressive performances on the track during Friday’s preliminaries.
Leading the way was senior Anthony Bacoat in the 100-meter dash as his time of 10.83 seconds was second only to Centralia’s DeVantre Whitelow, who set a Class 2A state record with a 10.68 time.
“I had a lot of pressure,’’ Bacoat said. “I wasn’t at state last year and coming as the No. 2 seed is kind of hard.
“I need to improve on my blocks. That is something I can think about tonight.’’
Bacoat and Whitelow were in the same heat on Friday and the Danville sprinter knew he spotted him a lead coming out of the blocks.
“I know as soon as the gun was shot, I saw the red guy (Whitelow),’’ Bacoat said. “I tried to catch him, but it was a little too late.
“I need to loosen up a little bit, I was nervous.’’
Danville coach Steve Luke said that while Bacoat didn’t get his normal start, his finish in the race was a welcomed sight.
“One of the things we have tried to get him to do over the last four years is to finish,’’ Luke said. “He had to make up some room and he did.
“I think if he has that start and finish, I think we will look at a different situation.’’
Bacoat said that not making the state meet a year ago was a driving factor in his off-season workouts.
“(Champaign Central‘s Denzel) Stewart and other people got me last year in sectionals,’’ he said. “I got tired of him beating me last year. I wasn’t going to tolerate it any more.’’
And, he said having Solomon Crenshaw as a teammate has also helped.
“(Crenshaw) is pretty dang good and I love running with him, but if I’m going to beat him, I had to drive harder,’’ Bacoat said. “When I figured I had to drive harder, that’s when I got my personal best.’’
Bacoat is also a part of Danville’s 400 relay team, which has the fifth best time entering today’s finals.
But, the Vikings said they weren’t properly prepared for Friday’s race.
“We warmed up for 20 or 30 minutes, but then we got into the (check-in) tent and sat there for too long,’’ Danville’s MykeTez Forman said. “We need to do a better job of stretching.’’
The Vikings relay team is expected to make a lineup change today.
Crenshaw, who failed to qualify for state at last week sectionals because of a leg injury, ran with the team on Thursday.
“Hopefully, we will have a little surprise in the 4-by-1,’’ Luke said.
Another member of that relay team is senior TeJuan Jackson, who qualified for the finals in the 200 and 400.
“It was a long day, but it’s what I came here to do,’’ said Jackson, who has the fifth best time in the 400 (49.93) and the fifth best in the 200 (22.07).
“TeJuan is sitting a lot better in the 200 than we thought,’’ Luke said.
But both Jackson and Luke pointed out that the 400 race was not as good as either one of them had wanted.
“I don’t think I ran hard enough,’’ said Jackson, who lost his heat race to Champaign Central’s Ian Wells, a guy he had beaten five times this spring. “The best way to beat him is to catch him on the curve. If I can catch him, I know I can beat him.’’
Luke said that Jackson will have Lane No. 3 in today’s finals with the top four runners lined up outside of him.
“He got out hard, but he got soft on the curve,’’ Luke said. “He will have to be sharper today.’’
Jackson missed qualifying for a fourth event as Danville’s 1,600 relay team ran a time of 3 minutes, 27.44 seconds, which was more than a second slower than the final qualifying team.
That 1,600 relay was the final race in the high school career of Danville’s David Groves.
The senior qualified for state in the 110 hurdles, the 300 hurdles and the 1,600 relay.
“In the 110s, I got knocked up with a hurdle from someone else,’’ he said. “In the 300s, I got tight over the curve. And in the 4-by-4, I still think we did a good job, but it wasn’t enough to make the finals.
“The one disappointed me the most was the 110s, because I thought I could make finals and placed high.’’
The time for Groves in the 110s was 15.35 seconds in spite of having a hurdle in the lane next to him tumble over and hit his hand, injuring his thumb.
“David Groves ran two gutty races,’’ Luke said. “He got his thumb banged up pretty bad, and came back to run one of his better times in the 300s.’’
Danville has six individuals and one relay team in today’s finals and the Vikings are still hopeful of getting a team trophy.
“We got everything through that we had a good feeling about getting through,’’ Luke said. “We held our breath on the shot, and I think our kids can throw a lot better.
“There are a lot of things that we can get better at.’’
Today’s finals in all three classes begin at 10 a.m. as the Danville contingent will be joined by Georgetown-Ridge Farm/Chrisman’s Devon Darnell in the 110 hurdles event, Hoopeston Area’s Kraig VanWieringen in the 800 and Schlarman’s Jesse Hahne in the 1,600.
Recent Comments