Mike Morrison Soars 17 Feet, Wildcats Win Relay
South Hampton Roads pole vaulters are coming off a big weekend. Great Bridge senior Mike Morrison surpassed 17 feet for the fourth time this year when he cleared 17' 1/4" at the Landstown Invitational. Morrison made three attempts at 17-6, just missing on his last attempt.
"I was happy with my attempts at it," said Morrison, whose personal best is 17' 1/2". "It's just a matter of time before I get it."
Bayside senior Amanda Oliveira set a school and meet record when she cleared 10-0 to win the Suffolk Invitational and Kempsville sophomore Kelly Ranz cleared 10-0 to win the Landstown Invitational.
Great Bridge boys coach Gabe Wetmore always believed that the Wildcats could put together a solid 1,600 relay team. He had good 400 runners in Ryan Sykes and Micah Moyer. He also had multi-event specialist Mike Morrison. The problem was finding a competitive fourth leg. W etmore found his man in senior Ben Fox, a first-year track runner. The foursome ran 3:19.97, the third-best time in the state this spring, to win the 1,600 relay at the Landstown Invitational on Saturday. Great Bridge's previous best was 3:26. Only Deep Creek (3:18.41) and Western Branch (3:18.98) have better times .
Great Bridge's Kristy Tobin fended off two challenges at the Landstown Invitational. Tobin, a junior, ran 5:06.94 to hold off Western Branch's Kenya Jones in the 1,600 meters. Jones ran 5:08.97. Tobin later ran 2:17.15 to edge Cox's Jennifer White in the 800. White ran 2:18.11.Tobin just missed two meet records. Kellam's Natalie Sherbak holds both at 5:02.33 and 2:17.0.
