Lady Mustang relay quartet readying for Austin

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Lady Mustang relay quartet readying for Austin

Van Wade

The Orange Leader

WEST ORANGE — WEST ORANGE — When the West Orange-Stark Lady Mustangs’ 400 and 800-meter relay teams started the 2009 track campaign, they weren’t even on the map.

Well, now their maps lead to Austin and the Class 3A Track & Field Championships Saturday at the University of Texas.

Not bad.

Not bad at all, if you consider that the quartet consists of all underclassmen in junior Brittany Brantley, sophomore Johnesha Sims, junior Hannah Mobley and sophomore Danyale Thomas.

“It’s been great to watch this young group mature and and succeed the way that they have,†said long-time Lady Mustang coach Patrice Ivory. “They’ve gotten better each and every week. There work ethic is awesome. They have such great chemistry. Each week was fun, watching their confidence grow. They couldn’t see it early on but we kept getting them to visualize it and have they ever.â€

The four turned in a time of 49.19 in the 400-meter relay at the 3A Region III Meet to finish right behind Waco Connally and were also second to Connally in the 800-meter relay, running a 1:43.68. The Lady Mustangs were on Connally’s heels in both races. Connally won the 400-relay in 49.12 and the 800 relay in 1:42.58.

Of course, every relay has its own distinct personalities.

Brantley, moved into the WO-S district this year after coming from Virginia and is the first leg in both relays.

“It’s so much fun here, everyone immediately treated me like I was family,†said Brantley. “They needed one more for the relays this year and I was glad to step in.â€

As for as running that opening leg?

“You want to put your team up front as much as possible so getting out the blocks fast is key,†said Brantley. “Then there is the handoffs. We’ve done really well this season with very few mistakes. We’re going to have to be perfect Saturday.â€

Sims receives the baton from Brantley as the second leg in each event.

Sims is the one when things get too serious, she’ll loosen up her teammates with her sense of humor.

“I love cheering my teammates up and if that means being funny, then that’s the way it’s got to be,†said Sims. “They think I’m the jokester and I can live with that. Coach (Toby) Foreman is always aggravating me and I just aggravate him back and that gets everyone going too. We’ve had a good year, hopefully we can bring home a couple medals.â€

Mobley, the third leg, is the experienced veteran, one that qualified for regionals as a freshman a couple years back. She’s the serious one, all of the time.

“Our hard work, it’s really paid off,†said Mobley. “Once we got to district, we thought we could reach the goal of getting to state. We’ve been so fundamentally strong, we’re all pretty fast and our handoffs have been great.â€

Mobley has seen the Lady Mustang program rise again.

“We’ve went from scoring 20 points at district last year to sending two relays to state this year,†said Mobley. “In the past, I’ve concentrated more in individual events but I really liked what I saw with our relay teams this year. It’s fun doing things as a team, that’s what has really made this year so special.â€

Thomas, the District 21-3A champion in the 100 meters as well, has been thrilled about running the anchor leg.

“We all have our roles and we do them well,†said Thomas. “When you get that baton last, if you’re in front, the goal is to stay in front. When you’re behind, you know you have some catching up to do. Once we won at district, our confidence grew. At regionals, we knew if we could stay close to Waco Connally, we’d be in good shape. Gosh, those girls were good, but we’re right there with them.â€

Thomas has enjoyed the WO-S surge this year.

“This year, we have more girls out,†said Thomas. “Everyone is excited about the track program and hopefully we’ll have even more come out and compete next year.â€

One thing for certain, when the Lady Mustangs run Saturday, it’s probably going to be very warm. They will run the 400-relay at noon and will compete in the 800-meter relay at 1:25 p.m.

“It’s going to be tremendously hot and we’re preparing them for that,†said Ivory, who won the 100 meters at state for Stark High School in 1977 and was second in the 200 meters. “It’s a whole new deal in Austin, with that packed stadium and all of the onlookers. I bet there will be more folks there than ever because of the meet being in June. Everyone is out of school, both high school and college. Plus, there will be a lot of scouts there too.â€

Ivory is thrilled about how far the quartet has gone this season.

“I knew they had it in them,†said Ivory. “Just getting to the State Meet is such a tremendous achievement. It would be awesome if they could bring back some medals. The most beautiful thing about it is that they’re all back next year.â€

The Lady Mustangs will be joined by their stout boys track team, which will compete in five events.

The Mustang 400-relay quartet of Josh Gloston, Phillip Jones, James Haynes and Trey Franks will run at 12:10 p.m. after placing first at regionals (41.78).

The 800-relay unit consisting of Ed Ivory, Gloston, Haynes and Franks will run at 1:35 p.m. after nabbing first at regionals (1:27.08).

Jones, who was second at regionals in the 110-hurdles, will run at 12:55 p.m. and Franks, the Region III 100-meter champion (10.73) will compete at 1:15 p.m.

Haynes, who was second at regionals in the long jump (22-7 3/4) will jump at 1:30 p.m. Friday.

[stang4life]

I really forgot that Mobley was just a junior.  WOW.  Looks like we have at least another year of accolades to come.  8)  GOOD LUCK LADIES!!!

And, kudos to Coach Ivory.  You've done very well!!!

[RETIREDFAN1]

Good luck.....