Youthful Lady Panthers place second in season opening track meet

By Robb Johnson | March 15, 2024 10:00 pm

Charles City’s Jaida Braxton (right) runs away from King William’s Brianna Medlin on her way to winning her heat of the girls’ 100-meter dash. Braxton finished third overall in the event.

Robb Johnson photo

Charles City’s Derequa Johnson won two events and anchored the girls’ 4×100 meter relay team to win a third event as the Lady Panthers placed second in their Mar. 14 season home opening track meet.

Johnson captured the girls’ 100-meter dash in a time of 13.16, while also winning the 100-meter hurdles by clocking a time of 18.27. Johnson joined teammates Jaida Braxton, Kaylee Stewart, and Jaela Smith to accumulate a time of 54.14 to win the 4×100 relay. All three times mentioned above are state qualifying times.

The Lady Panthers scored 121.5 points, good enough to win silver at the meet. King William won the meet with 146.5 points. Mathews placed third with 67, followed by Grove Christian (36.5), Carver Academy (24.5), and Richmond Christian (16).

On the boys’ side, Taylor Bey finished as runner-up in two events to lead the Panthers to a fifth-place finish.

Bey ran a time of 24.37 in the boys’ 200-meter dash and leaped a distance of 19’10½” in the boys’ long jump, finishing in second in those events.

Charles City’s boys scored 27.5 points to earn their finish. King William scored 189 points to win the competition, with Mathews (135.5) and Brunswick Academy (55) rounding out the top three. Grove Christian scored 34 to finish ahead of the Panthers, while Richmond Christian (22) and Carver Academy (4) rounded out the scoring.

Other results (CC only):

Girls: 100 Dash- 3. Braxton 13.64. 200 Dash- 2. Braxton 29.11, 6. Bradby 30.77. 400 Dash- 4. Bradby 1:25.38. 100 Hurdles- 4. Bradby 23.71. 300 Hurdles- 3. Smith 1:02.48. High Jump- 2. Johnson 4’4”, 3. Bradby 4’0”. Long Jump- 2. Johnson 14’8½”, 4. Bradby 12’11¾”. Triple Jump- 2. Smith 28’3”, 5. Meekins 25’8”. Shot- 3. Chavis 25’5”, 6. Christian 21’7”. Discus- 2. Chavis 64’7”, 3. Smith 58’11”, 5. Christian 52’0”.

Boys: 100 Dash- 4. Bey 11.89, 7. Jones 12.01. 200 Dash- 5. Jones 25.05. Triple Jump- 4. Jones 27’7”.