Even though it was a long, long track meet between five schools last Thursday at Thomson High School, the Bulldogs' J.J. Taylor made the best of it.
And it paid dividends at the end.
The senior speedster captured first place in the 100-meter dash with an impressive time of 0:11.12. One of his teammates, Carton Martin finished third with a time of 0:11.39.
In the long jump event, Thomson's Jeremy McGahee finished second with a distance of 20 feet, 3 inches. Teammate James Bonner, meanwhile, placed third in the same event with a distance of 19 feet, 6½ inches.
Will Barmore, another senior on the track team, placed fifth in the shot put event with a throw of 35 feet, 8 inches.
Brian McNair placed third in the 400-meter run, posting a time of 0:53.09.
In the 110 hurdles, Thomson's Justin Samuels finished fifth, posting a time of 0:17.81. The 300 hurdle event saw Justin Samuels capture second place with a time of 0:47.59, while teammate Demarcus Smith finished third by posting a time of 0:51.12.
"It was real good to finally get a meet in, because the kids needed to be in a real competition situation to get a grasp of where they are and what they need to do to get better," remarked first year Thomson Boys' Track Head Coach Mike Costello. "We fared well - finishing third out of five teams, but we have a lot of work to do between now and the region meet. I'm confident that our kids will work hard and I look forward to our next meet."
Coach Costello is assisted in coaching the boys' track team by Coach Willie Williams.
The Bulldogs play host to Warren County Thursday in their second track meet of the season. Starting time is set for 4 p.m.
