Conchs Romp in Final Home Meet

             Poppy Marius, Zack Black, Lauren Arias, Caitlin Holubar, and Philip Neumann made the biggest waves, and the Key West Conchs steamrolled undermanned Doral Academy at the Backyard on this sun-drenched Saturday afternoon.  Tanktop tans were the order of the day, as the boys team piled up a 128-10 win, and the girls romped 111-19.

             Marius had three quality wins, spanning 21’6.5” to win the Long Jump by more than three feet, then zooming the 400 meters in :49.45 seconds – making him the second-fastest KWHS runner ever at that distance – and dominating the 200 Meter field with his :22.64 clocking.  “I worked the turn, hugging the line tight, and just focused on staying relaxed,” said the Georgia Tech bound senior.

            Blazing times followed in Poppy’s wake, as Jon Daza (:52.68), Mason Marshall (:53.05), and Alex Morris (:53.52) all ran season or lifetime bests in completing the 1-2-3-4 sweep  

             Black made the final home meet of his distinguished four-year a memorable one, taking runaway wins in both the 1600 and 800.  His 4:49.9 winning time in the 1600 was the second-fastest mark in school history, trailing only his own school record (4:46.0, set last year).   Zack followed that up with a strong win in the 800, in 2:07.8.  “I felt pretty strong,” he commented.

Junior Mike Eder chased Zack throughout the race and became the 6th KW runner to break the 5:00 barrier with his 4:56.7 effort.

             Lauren Arias, a junior, took third in the Shot Put and second in the Discus Throw, but her big event was the High Jump.  Entering the day with a personal record (PR) on 4’8”, she sailed over 4’10” on her third attempt, and then laid sole claim to the #2 spot all-time for KWHS when she cleared 5’0”, also on her third jump.

             Junior Caitlin Holubar had a breakthrough day as well.  Her double win in the Shot Put and Discus Throw was expected, but her winning toss in the latter was what had the area buzzing.  Already the #2 thrower in school annals, Holubar added nearly ten FEET to her PR when she spun the plate 103’7” on her final throw.  “She’s been throwing great in practice,” said her coach Rick Ridenour, “I figured she’d get a big one today.”

             For Phil Neumann, it was a day when his steps fell into place.  Plagued by missteps and lost rhythms in his previous hurdles races, the junior from Sugarloaf scored two solid PR’s in winning his two races here.  He showed keen focus the 110 Meter High Hurdles as the opponent in an adjacent lane was chopping wood like a lumberjack, banging hurdles in every direction.  Phil focused on his lane and got to the line first in :17.10, making him the #3 performer all-time for KW in this event.  In the 300 Meter Intermediate Hurdles, he caught all eight hurdles in stride en route to a PR :42.68, also the #3 KW time ever.

             Chelsea Pearl also posted a double-hurdles-win, zipping a tidy :18.65 to win the 100’s, and striding the 300’s in a season-best :55.91.

             In the boys’ Pole Vault, senior Mike Fain had an easy time in winning with a  12’6” clearance, but his underclassman teammates were posting good numbers behind him.  Junior Mike Labrada broke through his barrier with a big clearance over his nemesis height of 11’0”, then soared over 11’6” for good measure.  Freshman Travis Stokes PR’ed for the third straight meet with his 9’6” clearance.

             The Conchs will travel to Miami for a meet with Belen Jesuit, Columbus, and Calvary Christian on Tuesday. 

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