Liberty Boys shine at Jerry Crews

Talk about perfect weather. The wind sat nice in the back stretch, the sun was out, and the temperature was near perfect. 8 teams lined up today at the Jerry Crews (Oak Park) Invitational today, and they delivered. Athletes were all over the track and things got interesting. lets start with the action:
 
To keep the suspense roaring, we will start with the hurdles on this report. Mr. Drew Bodicky, went out and showed that his lack of experience was not going to be a factor. The Junior won both the 110 and 300 hurdles with ease and a composed look from start to finish, as he glided over the hurdles you could tell ihis confidence was there. In the 110 hurdles, DeAndre Thomas of Winnetonka gave him a little bit of a shock going 15.74 but Bodicky kept his composure to win in 15.31, follwoing in the 300 hurdles, Bodicky got it done with energy to spare. He soared over the hurdles in such ease winning with a splendid time of 39.97 over close competitor Dondrell Hardiman who ran a 40.18.
 
Liberty's Adorin Dorsey of Liberty and Morgan Steward of Staley left the blocks strong and literally went head to head until the last 5 meters. Liberty's Adorin Dorsey pulled off yet again another sub 11 performance going 10.92, followed by the Staley star Morgan Steward who sped in with a 11.08. 
 
What can we say again, Adorin Dorsey dominated the men's 200 dash also, but this time Dorsey wasn't the only Blue Jay medaling teammate Austin Morales stuck on his heels, until the head bobbing finish. Dorsey escaped with the victory going 22.54 over Morales who was milliseconds behind with a phenomenal 22.97. With these two Liberty teammates having such solid times this early in the season, we can only imagine what they will bring to us later on. Dorsey the state runner up, and Morales the outta no where kid are looking for some hardware. They have become close and with this duo right here, i will be surprised if anyone can split them.
 
It is time to get real... Liberty pulled the Silver and Gold in the 400 dash also, ladies and gentleman if you haven't heard of Liberty's open event sprints, let me take you into a refresher course, like mentioned earlier they dominated in the 100 dash (Adorin Dorsey, Gold, 10.92), they pulled the duo in the 200 dash (Dorsey, Gold, 22.54; Morales, Silver, 22.97) and now here in the 400 dash Austin Morales got it done again, with teammate Tim Hannah on the back end of his spike. Morales goes 50.42 to secure a gold but for the first 300 meters it didn't seem good enough as Tim Hannah went out blazing and maintained his speed to grab 2nd with a 50.67.
 
If you thought that those times and placements were crazy and Liberty owned wait until you see these relay results. Winners of the 4x100, 4x200, 4x400, and 4x800, Liberty had one of the most successful meets in school history and in the state. In the 4x100 relay, they won big with a 43.99, proving they do not only have a star or two but that they have depth and power. In the 4x200, they won big again beating the other teams by almost 2 seconds going 1:31.48. in the middle distance they proved dominate, in the 4x400, noone was able to stick with the Blue Jays as they coasted a 3:30.21 to win with a smile on their face. Something that may have made these victories even greater was the fact they defeated sprinting powerforce Park Hill in each of these relay events. Finally in the 4x800, Liberty pulled out yet again another victory performing a 8:19.15 to have an easy victory over the other competiting teams.
 

Now its time for the crazy runners, the middle distance and distance guys, Rookie, Senior, Joe Walton of Park Hill made his presence known during the Cross-Country season, with a top 10 finish at the state meet, and now he is proving his speed and heart out on the track. Walton grabbed double gold in both the 1600 and the 800 meter runs, in the 1600, Walton provided a cruising time of 4:31.68, running in a pack for the first 3 laps then finally having the strength to pull away in the last 200 meters over Columbia College Commit Michael McCulloch of Staley who still showed up going 4:33.94. But despite all these times and performances by Walton, the bigger headline is his teammate Cain Winebrenner, who had a tragic accident at the very beginning of the season and in result shattered his Clavicle. Wiebrenner laced his spikes up and ran a 4:41.04 to snag a top 5 finish. A true test of strength, heart, and determination was shown by that young man today. Not only going out and running after suffer such a serious accident so recently but being able to compete and have confidence in himself again. I commend that guy, and he seemed to inspire and even motivate throughout the 4 lap race, leading for half and then staying in the main pack until the final 300 meter kicker part of the race. "It was good to get back out there and compete, i mean yeah it was just felt right to get out there and compete with the guys again."
 
In the 800 meter run, as mentioned above, Joe Walton won again with a time of 2:01 and yet again is beginning to make his mark in the state, as stated during the cross-country season, Walton is the "Diamond in the Rough" coming out of absolutely nowhere and now dominating in each race he competes in. But yet again Michael McCulloch of Staley sat on him for the first 700 meters but was just unable to stick with Walton's kick. McCulloch has grown alot as a runner and his times are showing it as he went 2:02.34.
 
The boys 3200 meter run, was one to watch. For over 7 laps the race sat between 3 of the biggest track stars in the Kansas City area, Liban Samatar, Shannon Hall, and Joe Walton. Going into the last few steps, Samatar edged out the victory going 9:48.70, finally breaking that 10 minute barrier and getting the "monkey of his shoulder" Speaking with Samatar prior to the race, his intensity was roaring and he was ready to get the victory and pull out the win, but not only win but also break 10 and get his name back up there after a rough Cross-Country finish. But going step to step with Samatar in this 3200 was Hall and the fatigued Walton, they fought hard but just didnt have it in the end, they finished with still remarkable times of 9:49.40 (Hall) and 9:49.50 (Walton). Walton made his big debut today in the 3200 and ladies and gentleman I would keep my eye on this kid as we continue this already marvelous track season. He has the talent, drive, and potential to take down anyone he races. 
 
In the throwing field, Staley flexed their guns going with David Marchinko and Collin Heller splitting the silver and gold for the Falcons of Staley in the Shot Put Marchinko won with a great throw of 53-05 and with a moderate throw behind him was Heller with a 48-08.00. In this discus 3rd place finisher in the Shot, Brandon Chapman of Liberty dominated with a 160-03 to win easily over every other competitor.

Jared Benson and Roy Clayter went jump for jump in the high jump with dead even performances splitting the gold with a height of 6-02.00. In the Triple Jump DeAndre Thomas just out jumped Staley's Jalun Brown with a jump of 40-10.50 and Brown went 40-08.00 and in the long jump Liberty's Jared Benson won with a 21-10.00 to have a easy and satisfying victory.
 
OVerall the Blue Jays of Liberty proved to me that they are deserving as the team of the meet. Winning multiple events and placing nearly every athlete in scoring position. Congradulations to the Liberty athletes and coaches!

 

Photos by Greg Hall

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