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Ninety Six boys take third at state Class A track meet By David Shelton Ninety Six – Ninety Six High School has a rich tradition of success in track and field and the 2010 boy’s and girl’s squads did nothing to tarnish that reputation at the Class A state track and field championships, held on May 15^th in Columbia. Ninety Six qualified for the state finals in 15 events and posted strong finishes. In fact, the boy’s team tallied 58 points at the state meet to finish third in the team standings. Ninety Six’s top performer through the spring and certainly at the state meet was junior distance runner Brandon McKeller. McKeller qualified for the state meet with strong showings at the upper state qualifier in both the 800 and 1600 meter runs. He saved his best races for when they counted most. At the Class A state meet, McKeller posted a pair of gold medal performances, winning the 800 and 1600 meter races to stand alone as the best in class A. Younger brother Robbie McKeller, a freshman, took home a medal as well with his third-place finish in the 3200 meter race. Senior Sammy Butler qualified for the state finals in two events. At the state meet, he finished seventh overall in the triple jump and placed third in the 400 meter hurdles to earn a bronze medal. Senior Darren Lake qualified for the finals in the 110 hurdles and finished fourth. Sophomore Oliver Jones qualified for the upper state meet in the shot put and discus. Senior Shon Lark finished eighth in the long jump finals at state and sophomore Justin Holliday earned a silver medal with his second-place finish in the pole vault. Two relay teams also qualified for the state finals. The 3200 meter relay was third in the state meet and the 1600 meter relay was fifth. Forming the 3200 unit was Robbie McKeller, Xavier Williams, Brandon Cheatham and Jacob Moss. The 1600 relay team consisted of Brandon McKeller, Darren Lake, Sammy Butler and Shon Lark. From the girl’s team, senior Denise Pope qualified in two events. She finished fourth in the finals of the long jump and was sixth in the finals of the high jump. Eighth-grader Kelsey Crawford finished eighth in the pole vault and will surely be a state contender down the road. Freshman Amber Anderson was a fourth-place finisher in the 400 hurdles. The 1600 meter team of Brooke Snelling, Brittany Gilliam, Eric Wiley and Pope finished seventh in the state meet.

The Wildcats (0-1 overall) trailed 33-0 at the half, but Ninety Six was able to keep it close in the second half, albeit against many of Abbeville?s reserves. <o:p></o:p>

?I told our seniors at halftime that the second half could very well dictate the rest of our season,? Ninety Six coach Chris Liner said. ?They could come out and show the kind of character kids we have and play their butts off. It was a 7-7 game in the second half. (It wasn?t) a moral victory, but it was a victory for me because it showed our kids will fight to the end. That?s something we can build off going into next week.? <o:p></o:p>

Offensively, Ninety Six struggled mightily against a program with eight new starters on defense. <o:p></o:p>

Trey Smith, Ninety Six?s first-year starter at quarterback, completed 8-of-23 passes for 93 yards, but the mobile quarterback was picked off three times. Smith also rushed for 27 yards on 15 carries, but seven of his rushing attempts were sacks or tackles for losses. <o:p></o:p>

Alex Goode, who alternated between tailback and fullback, rushed for 28 yards on 13 carries, while Karl Mingo had seven carries on two rushes. Dante Pride, a reserve tailback, had three carries for zero yards. <o:p></o:p>

At wide receiver, Ryne Slack led the way for Ninety Six with 66 yards on five catches. Goode had a 20-yard reception, and 6-foot-8 tight end Nathan Prater had one catch for three yards. <o:p></o:p>

?Abbeville is good,? Liner said. ?Bottom line, they?re a good football team, and they?re always good. We had a couple things happen in the first and second quarter that really kind of demoralized us mentally. We had a huge touchdown that was called back. We?re not mature enough to handle that mentally.? <o:p></o:p>

Ninety Six next plays at Emerald on Friday. Emerald is also coming off a loss, falling to Greenwood in the opener last week. <o:p></o:p>

Ninety Six boys take third at state Class A track meet