Throughout the course of this season the Trenton High School boys track team overwhelmed their opponents with a steady attack. Heading into the last weekend’s MSHSAA State Track & Field Championships, the Bulldogs were unbeaten.
THS leaned heavily on its field events to pull them through the year. However, this weekend it was the Bulldogs’ three relay teams that pulled the load.
THS qualified a pair of distance relay teams. Senior Aaron Shipley-Fair teamed with senior Daniel Stokes and juniors Brett Lawson and Dylan Robinson in both the 4×400-meter and 4×800-meter relays.
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The 4×800-meter relay broke their own school record enroute to a second-place finish. The foursome finished with a time of 4:13.10.
“What can you say? They broke their own school record, ran their best time ever and still got beat by a phenomenal effort by Principia,” Head Coach Wes Croy said. “These guys did not even get out of districts last season, so the improvement they have made from last May to this May is incredible.”
A season ago those same four did not get out of districts, but a season later they are the second best team in Class 2. The four were also given the task of holding off the competition in the final event of the day. The Bulldogs were clinging to second place by a mere half point. While they made a good go of it, the Bulldogs were not able to hold off a hard-charging Crystal City team. THS finished the day in third place overall as a team.
“They gave a great effort,” Croy said. “They ran their best time of the year during qualifying, but I think fatigue hurt them in the finals. Two of the guys had already ran three times on Saturday.”
Trenton’s other relay team, the 4×100-meter relay, also turned in a strong effort. Russell Prescott, Colton McGinness, Logan Epperson and Derek Miller combined for a time of 44.57 and a fourth place finish.
“Three weeks ago this team was dead in the water, ” Croy said. “They are another example of what a little talent and a lot of hard work can accomplish.”
The 4×100 relay team featured the only top five team without a finalist in the 100-meter or 200-meter dashes, which is a tribute to the team’s hard work.