Decatur T&F athletes ready for Bayside meet

By Lisa Capitelli Managing Editor

(May 12, 2023) The Stephen Decatur boys’ outdoor track team came in fourth place and the girls’ squad took sixth during the Bayside South Conference championship meet last Tuesday in Salisbury.

“Overall, our athletes worked hard at this meet and did well, but unfortunately we were missing eight athletes due to AP testing and other family commitments,” said Decatur Coach Brenda Hommel. “If all athletes had been present, both teams would have likely placed one rank higher in the team scores and our girls’ 4x800 team would likely have broken the Bayside South record time of 11:09.

“I know the athletes were frustrated with not being able to compete, but hopefully they will rise to the level of competition needed at the Bayside Conference meet this week,” she added.

Nine Bayside South schools participated.

“We saw less PRs in this meet than in previous meets, which may have had to do with the weather or possibly fatigue,” Hommel said. “At this point in the season we are now using our most competitive athletes in our meets, which means most of them are having to compete in three or four events often times leading to a drop in performance particularly in later events in the meet.”

Parkside won the boys’ competition, scoring 143.5 points.

Washington finished in second, with 116.5 points, followed by Wicomico (94) and Decatur (90).

Decatur athletes who placed eighth or better and scored points for the team were: seniors Logan Bradshaw (200-meter dash, fifth, 24.05 second), Nick Moreno (800meter run, fourth, 2:16.90) and Nick Purnell (shot put, eighth, 35 feet 10 inches), juniors Patrick Haines (110meter hurdles, sixth, 19.81 seconds; 300-meter hurdles, sixth, 47.90 seconds), Ethan Justice (3,200-meter run, first, 10:37.40; 1,600-meter run, second, 4:45.10) and Floyd Ke’nai (long jump, seventh, 17 feet 8 inches), sophomores Ed Quick III (300-meter run, seventh, 48.25 seconds; 110meter hurdles, eighth, 20.13 seconds) and Amarian Manuel (long jump, fourth, 18 feet 3 inches; triple jump, fourth, 38 feet 10 inches), and freshmen Collin Pennington (3,200-meter run, second, 11:08.30; 1,600-meter run, third, 5:02.10; 800-meter run, sixth, 2:22.90) and Braydon Bell (800-meter run, fifth, 2:19.50).

Justice, Bell, Pennington and