by Stephen M. Lewis
DigitalSports Richmond
slewis@digitalsports.com
The boys track banners at Douglas Freeman hadn’t been touched much, if at all, when it came to region competition.
It’ll have fingerprints all over it soon as the Rebels won the Central Region outdoor track title to couple it with their indoor track title won in February, its first in school history.
Thursday’s championship wasn’t a first, but it was the first since DF did a double in 1997-98.
At the head of the effort were two seniors, Michael Quash and Ulrick Smith (pronounced U-Rick, the l is silent).
They both shared the runner-of-the-year award with blazing performances.
Quash won the 110-meter hurdles and followed with a blistering 37.89 in the 300 hurdles, becoming only the third person to ever go under 38 seconds.
He also finished second to Smith in the 200.
Smith won the 400 easily (48.88) and ran a blistering 48-second split for the winning 1,600 relay squad to put polish on Freeman’s trophy.
Second was Lee-Davis with 60 points, 33 behind Freeman, led by field event performer of the meet Antonio Puller.
Puller, headed to Averett to play basketball, won the triple jump (46-2, tied career best), finished fourth in the high jump and fifth in the long jump a day before his birthday.
Cosby and the terrific Mitchell Shifflett (100 champ, third in 200, anchor of winning 400 relay) finished third with 57 points.
Deep Run was a close fourth with 56 led by Wednesday’s pole vault winner Matthew Armentrout.
Midlothian’s Jason Witt turned in an outstanding performance, setting the 1,600 region record by over three seconds and taking 800 in a tight race with Lee-Davis’ Robert Reynolds.