This past weekend on Saturday, March 24, Jesuit hosted and participated in the famous annual Jesuit-Sheaner Relays. This event, known as one of the top track and field events in the area, celebrated its 48th anniversary this weekend, and it shows no signs of slowing down, just like its namesake, 85-year-old honorary meet director Herb Sheaner, who was the track and field coach for Jesuit for twenty years.
Continually drawing the biggest track powerhouses from all over the area, the Sheaner Relays were loaded with talent once again and saw some of the best runners in the country.
The Jesuit-Sheaner Relays, beginning at 8:00 a.m. with clear skies and warm weather, started with the field events. Although a Jesuit athlete did not win the pole vault event, three Rangers finished in the top six overall.
John Kaplan’12 finished 2nd, clearing fifteen and a half feet, while Brian Buell ’12 finished 4th and Nick Zipko’12 finished 6th. Asked about the trio’s impressive performance, Zipko said, “It was just a great day for all of us. The weather was nice, there was a slight breeze, and we all wanted to perform well, especially because we were hosting the tournament.”
Dillon Lookout, a senior from Jenks, Oklahoma, won the event by clearing an even sixteen feet. A Jesuit student didn’t win the high jump or the triple jump either, but Joseph Udofia’13 finished 5th and Dennis Kamara finished 6th in these respective events.
Meanwhile over on the grass field, Jeff Bartlett’12, standing at 6 foot 7 inches, towered above everyone else, not only with his physical stature, but also with his dominating performance, a man among boys. Starting off with the discus throw, Bartlett threw the silver colored discus an astounding 165 feet, a length that would land him first place.
Then, moving onto the shot put, he threw the twelve pound ball of metal fifty three feet, again winning first place and giving him a clean sweep of the throwing events. Head coach Bob Molyet had this to say about the impressive accomplishment: “Jeff is 6’7″ and he is light and quick on his feet, and he has worked extremely hard over the past two years to get where he is now. Most people do not realize how good throwers have to be on their feet and in control of their bodies while moving at a high rate of speed and still throw the shot or disc.”
Moving on to the running events, the clear skies and 70-degree weather held up late into the afternoon, proving to be perfect weather for breaking records. DeSoto, one of the fastest teams in the country, not only broke the Jesuit Sheaner Relays’ record in the 4×100 relay with a time of 40.59 seconds, but they set the mark for the whole nation for this season as well.
In the individual 800 meter race, DeSoto senior William Stovall earned a Class 5A state record time of 1:512.48 seconds. Talking about the excellence of the DeSoto team, Molyet said, “That is what competition is all about, measuring yourself against the best. I would rather see our guys in a battle – winning some, losing some and then seeing how they respond. The guys I want competing in district/regionals are the guys who aren’t afraid to get out there and work every day to get better. In track and field you find out quickly the guys who are mentally and physically tough.”
Full length video of the Desoto relay team
For Jesuit, the 4×400 meter relay team of Ryan Grant’12, Ben Brownlee’12, Paul Arden’13, and Andrew Potts’14 really stood out, finishing 5thoverall. Ryan Mehl’13 qualified for the finals in the 300 meter hurdles and, although he just missed the cut for the finals, Orion Salters’14 performed very well with personal bests in the 100 and 200 meter races.
Assistant coach Charles Hinton, better known as Squeaky, said, “I am very excited about the future of the Jesuit track program. With rising stars in sophomores like Orion and Andrew Potts, I think we will be one of the top schools in the area once again for the next couple years.”
All in all, the meet was a good one for Jesuit, finishing 5th out of the 26 schools participating, as Southlake Carroll and DeSoto finished 1st and 2nd, respectively.“This was our highest finish since competing with the 5A schools. I am excited to watch our guys compete against the best in the state,” said Coach Molyet. “We showed we are pretty darn good.”
This next week, on March 29th and 30th, Jesuit will go down to Austin for the nationwide 85th annual Texas Relays. Team members who qualified for the Texas Relays were Jeff Bartlett in both discus and shot put, Ryan Mehl in the 110 meter hurdles, and a 4×400 meter relay group that Coach Molyet won’t say the names of because he hasn’t decided who will go yet.
For more details on the Texas Relays, visit: http://www.texassports.com/sports/tex-relays/spec-rel/032712aaa.html
