Stanton Hosts Ribault And Paxon In Historic Home Track Meet
TY’HANA | MAR. 27, 2021 | SPORTS
The Stanton College Preparatory School track and field team held its first home meet in over a decade Monday, hosting Ribault High School and Paxon School For Advanced Studies.
As the meet began it was revealed that Raines High School, which was scheduled to compete, would not be attending the meet after its participation in the annual Bob Hayes Invitational track meet held Saturday. This gave Stanton an advantage in the field events, as most events only included participants from Stanton with no other competition. Having won the number one spot in more than half the field events, the Blue Devils had a strong start.
The progression of the meet continued to surprise spectators. Since Stanton was the only team to participate in most of the long distance races, the Blue Devils were offered an even greater advantage. The only distance race won by another school was in the boys 1600-meter dash, where Paxon was able hold a three-minute lead.
In terms of short distance running events, Stanton was surpassed mostly by Ribault. Ribault dominated both Stanton and Paxon in sprinting events for both genders including the 100-meter dash, 4x100 relay, 400-meter dash, and 200-meter dash. Stanton was only able to capture a win during the girls 4x400 relay race against Paxon and won by default in the girls 4x100 relay.
“Considering it was our first home meet in more than a decade, it was my obligation as captain to make sure that my team was ready to defend their home, not thinking of who we were running up against,” said the girls team captain sophomore Zahir Miller. “Multiple runners PR’d (broke personal records) and became Stanton champions.”
The first meet on the newly installed track was scheduled to take place in February 2020. Unexpected weather and the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic caused the meet to be pushed back. After schools reopened and sports resumed, the meet was finally rescheduled this year for Mar. 2, but was also pushed back three weeks later due to more inclement weather. Fortunately, no rain ruined Monday’s meet as the weather was sunny and mildly temperate with heavy winds.
Although Stanton enjoyed finally hosting its meet, it is unconfirmed whether more will be expected in the future. The track is smaller compared to other schools, holding only six lanes, which is a problem when attempting to host bigger meets.
“Many of the larger events are held on tracks with eight or nine lanes, but we'll consider hosting a couple from time to time,” said athletic director Chris Crider.
Following the summer of 2019, Stanton announced the installment of a rubberized track. The investment was made possible after receiving constant pleads from employees including Crider concerning the heightened risk of athletic injuries. Before having a rubber track, the cross country and track teams were forced to travel off-campus where they would host safer practices elsewhere. The constant struggle of moving off-campus created issues for Stanton’s runners as well as the disadvantage of being unable to host track meets.
With the rubber track taking the place of the rough asphalt one, runners were finally able to practice on-campus and the many struggles athletes and staff endured decreased. Now able to host track meets, Stanton’s athletic department receives an increase in income while reducing the risk of injuries for athletes.
Fans and athletes at Stanton can only hope more track meets will take place at the home track in order to travel less. The next meet is set for Apr. 9, when the Blue Devils compete in the Gateway Conference Meet at Sandalwood High School.
