CAMDEN – Carshaila Rozier took first place in two events Thursday to lead El Dorado’s girls to the championship in the 51st Annual Cardinal Relay Invitational, hosted by Camden Fairview.
DeAndra Burns, Jr., led El Dorado’s boys to a second place showing. The Wildcats scored 114 to finish behind Magnolia (217) and ahead of Fairview (110), Crossett (91), Pine Bluff (35), Smackover (35), Parkers Chapel (29), Emerson (24) and Strong (13).
“The varsity girls won their third meet in a row in Camden,” said El Dorado coach John Koonce. “We used this meet to put a few athletes in events for the first time and we were very pleased with the results. As we are looking forward to conference, we understand that we are going to have to be a little better than we are right now if we want to have a chance to win it. So we have to take opportunities in meets like this to see what girls are capable of branching out of their comfort zones.”
Rozier won the 100 and 200 and finished third in both the high jump and long jump.
El Dorado’s Davin James won the high jump, clearing 5-5. Breyonna Steward won the 400 and was second in the triple jump. Charalyn Rester was second in the 100 hurdles. D’Aja Dade was second in the 100. Emma McGee was second in the 1,600 and the 3,200. London Ingram was second in the 400. Adrienna Gray was second in the 300 hurdles. Jordan Smith was third in the 300 hurdles. Justice Larry as third in the shot.
“Carshaila Rozier long jumped for the first time with minimal practice this week and had a monster jump. We hope she can get in the mid 17's by conference. Jordan Smith ran the 300 hurdles for the first time ever and had a great result,” said Koonce.
“We also played around a little bit in the 4x100 and 4x200 to see if we could create some strong prelim teams getting ready for conference and state. Both of those teams won in commanding fashion without dropping off much. This speaks to the depth on the team right now.”
Parkers Chapel’s Ali Looney won the 3,200 in 12:32.10. PC freshman Kallie Martin was second in the long jump and second in the 200. Macie Wood finished third in the 1,600.
In the boys, Burns won the long jump with a leap of 22-03.50 and the 400 in a time of 49.30. Edwin Gonzalez won the 3,200 in 11:53.49.
El Dorado’s Eloy Rodriguez was third in the 1,600. Takoi Steward was fourth in the discus and Jyrin Steward was fourth in the shot. LeMario Island was fourth in the 300 hurdles. Dylan Avant was fourth in the 800.
Smackover’s Braylon Love finished second in the long jump. D’Kylan Hildreth was third in the high jump.
Parkers Chapel’s Lancer Clark finished fourth in the 100.
The Lady Wildcats will look to up the ante as far as competition as they gear up for the postseason meets.
“We are at a point where we have a lot of depth and each girl is contributing to each win.
Next week we will head to Lake Hamilton where we will see four other teams that will contend for state in the 5A division,” said Koonce. “We will use this meet as an opportunity to try and find a few more athletes in new events. We are at the end of the season. We have had a good year at this point, but it is important for the girls to understand that we are going to have to get just a little bit better to hit the major goals that we have for the end of the year.”