PROCTORVILLE – First meet, huh?<!—->.

Sunday, March 26, 2000

PROCTORVILLE – First meet, huh?

Showing flashes of midseason form, Chesapeake breezed to a win in the Fairland Early Bird Relays Saturdays, the first time the Panthers have won the event.

Chesapeake won the meet with 114 points followed by Portsmouth at 98, Ironton 56, Fairland 48, South Point 46, and Rock Hill 32.

"We were sharper than I expected, and the kids competed well," Panthers coach Phil Davis said.

Chesapeake broke the sprint medley record with a 1:37.5 time, breaking the old mark of 1:38.2. Luke Beach, Josh Waugh, Danny Wassell, and Robby Isaacs combined for the winning time.

Chesapeake won the long jump led by Isaacs with a 21-11 leap. Michael Hunt and Waugh joined Isaacs for a total distance of 60-5.

The Panthers also won the high jump behind Wassell, Beach, and David Webb with a 17-2 total height. Wassell leaped 6-4 and just missed 6-6.

"Danny just kicked at the wrong time," said Davis. "Waugh went 20-5 in the long jump and he’s inexperienced. And I was happy with the way Robby performed."

The shot put also brought the Panthers a first place finish at 118-1 3/4 as Doug Wiley, Eric Myers, and James McQuaid combined efforts.

In the discus, Chesapeake threw 355-8 to win the event behind Myers, Travis Jones, and Zach Waugh.

The 4×1600 relay team of Ryan Slone, Brad Fulton, Ed Neel, and Jayson Holland won with a 21:06 clocking.

Fulton, Scott Perry, Josh Dillon, and Slone ran a 9:04.7 to capture first it the 4×800 relay. The 4×400 relay team also took first as Slone, Perry, Wassell, and Isaacs raced to a 3:38.4 time.

‘I was real happy with that time," said Davis.

Chesapeake placed second in the pole vault as Josh Cooney, Adam Roush, and Jesse Ansell had a combined height of 26-feet.

The 4×200 relay team of Hunt, Waugh, Wassell, and Isaacs were runners-up with a 1:34.7 time.

Third place went to the shuttle hurdle team of Jason Adkins, Jason Brammer, Ansell, and Hunt with a 1:05.9 clocking.

Another third place finish was the 4×100 relay team of Adkins, Brammer, Erick Christian, and Hunt at 47.8 seconds.

The distance medley team placed third as Webb, Josh Dillon, Holland, and Neel ran 12:49.4.

Ironton coach Greg Cronacher was pleased with his team’s performance in the season’s first meet.

"We only had one first place finish, but we got a gamer effort from everybody which is what pleased me the most," said Cronacher. "A meet like this is a chance to see where you need work and it gives you some experience.

"Our younger guys showed a lot of heart and gave all they had. Their time is coming, they just have to wait their turn."

In the distance medley, Ironton’s team of Aaron Morrison, Seth Lewis, Ryan McClellan, and Brad Washburn took first place at 12:01.1

The distance medley is comprised of a 400, 800, 1200, and 1600.

In the field events, Ironton was third in the long jump. Jason Harmon went 21-1 1/4 for his best jump ever. Also jumping were freshmen Jeff "Scooter" Pleasant and Morrison.

Ironton was second in the discus by eight inches. Mark Gleichauf threw 129-11, Redgie Arden 122-6, and Brandon Brown 108.

In the shot put, the Fighting Tigers were third. Erique Bacon threw 46-9 3/4 to lead. Andre Murphy and Eli Dalton also threw to complete the Ironton total.

Harmon, Mike Henry, Hugh Scott, and Bacon had a fourth place finish in the 4×400 relay at 3:52.2.

"We had a bad start, and once we got behind we couldn’t get back in it," said Cronacher.

Ironton hosts its invitational meet next Saturday. Field events and preliminaries begin at 11 a.m. and finals at noon.

Chesapeake runs in the Russell Invitational Thursday and then the Ironton meet on Saturday.