Manning boys 4x1 relay team wins state as Monarchs finish fifth in AA boys track state meet

    Manning – The Manning High School boys track and field team finished fifth in the AA state meet on May 15 at the Richland Northeast track in Columbia. And it was the Monarchs’ speed that had a lot to do with their success.

    Manning finished with 42.5 points and 37 of them came because they had a group of athletes who can run really fast. The other points came because there was someone who could soar through the air with great ease.

    The Monarchs’ 4x100-meter relay team won the state title, while the 4x400 team finished second. Junior CJ Robinson finished third in both the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes and senior Dontavious Canty was third in the 400 dash.

    The jumper in the bunch was junior Jordyn Thompson, who finished third in the high jump.

    The 4x100 team won in a time of 42 seconds flat. Combining to make up that team are sophomore Amajai Dow, twin senior brothers Jontavious Canty and Dontavious Canty and Robinson.

    “I just want to say hats off to these young men,” Manning head coach Dontavis Miller said. “I appreciate the hard work and dedication these young men have put into the program and just trusting the process. It was well deserved.”

    The 4x400 team took second in a time of 3 minutes, 21.21 seconds. Robinson, the Canty brothers and junior Malachi Rankins made up this relay team.

    Robinson won both the 100 and 200 in the lower state meet. However, he finished behind two upper state runners in the 100 while two runners from lower state foe and eventual state champion Philip Simmons bested him I the 200. Robinson ran the 100 in 10.98 and the 200 in 21.92.

    “What makes CJ Robinson so good is his mindset and his will to be never be intimidated by another athlete or program,” said Miller. “What is scary is that he still hasn’t reached his full potential.”

    Robinson accounted for 16.5 of the Monarchs’ points.

    Dontavious Canty finished third in the 400 in a time of 49.81. Brother Jontavious picked up a point with an eighth-place finish in the 200 (22.50) and just missed another point with a ninth-place finish in the 100.

    Thompson finished tied for third in the high jump at a height of 6 feet, 2 inches with Omonte Taylor of Philip Simmons.

 While Philip Simmons won the meet handily with 107.5 points, the next five teams were within 6.5 points of each other. Fairfield Central was second with 48 points followed by Mid-Carolina with 46, Timberland with 45, Manning with 42.5 and Hampton County with 41.5.

    Others who qualified for state by placing in the top eight in the lower state meet were the 4x800 relay team of sophomore Jaden Woods, junior Jacobe Henry, eighth-grader Jayden Footman and junior Jorden Hilton-Kelly (13^th), Rankins in the 110-meter hurdles (10^th), senior Jordan Heyward in the long jump (15^th), senior Demir Blackwell in the triple jump (10^th) and junior Isaiah Hamilton in the discus (11^th).

    Eighth-grader Jordyn Griffin was the lone girl from Manning to compete in the meet. She finished 14^th in the 200.

    In the lower state meet held at Woodland High on May 9, Thompson was the only other Monarch to win an event besides Robinson. The 4x100 team actually finished second.

    Manning had a large contingent of male athletes who qualified based off of their performances in the Region 7 meet. The Monarchs filled 24 slots in the lower state meet.

    Other Manning female athletes who competed in lower state besides Griffin were eighth-grader Patience Bennett in the 100, freshman Sha’nyiah Burgess in the 1,600-meter run, freshman Shamiyah Conyers and junior Ni’lah Brown in both the high jump and the long jump, sophomore Jayanna Henry in the triple jump, and senior Yauvani Epps in both the discus and the shot put.

    The region meet was held on May 1 at Marion High and the Monarch boys dominated, scoring 226 points. Marion finished second with 135.

    Miller said he couldn’t remember the last time the Monarchs had won a region track title. “But I can tell you it has been over a decade,” he said.

    Miller said the success doesn’t come as a surprise to him though.

    “I wasn’t surprised at all,” he said. “These guys are a very talented bunch and they are dedicated to dominating at everything they do. Also, the addition of Coach Kevin Miller to the program was a big win for us. They also train very hard in the weight room under the guidance of Coach Greg King.

    “We as a coaching staff just talked about changing the mindset of these young athletes and just attacking the day and making sure we aren’t making the same mistakes as we did the day before. So I can honestly say it was not a surprise.”

    Robinson, Jontavious Canty and Dow finished 1-2-3 in both the 100 and 200 dashes. Robinson won the events in 11.09 and 22.12, respectively.

    Dontavious Canty won the 400 in 51.86 while Rankins had a seventh-place finish. Hilton-Kelly won the 3,200-meter run in a time of 12:22.59 while finishing second in the 1,600.

    Woods won the high jump at 6-0.75 while Thompson finished third. Heyward won the triple jump at 42-09.25 while Blackwell, freshman Destin Thames and junior Marquarius Santiago finished third, fifth and sixth, respectively, to qualify for lower state.

    The 4x100 team won in 43.30 while the 4x400 team won in 3:35.70.

    Henry and Woods finished third and fourth in both the 800 and the 1,600, while Footman was fifth in the 1,600. Rankins was second in the 110 hurdles, while senior Keinde Woods was fourth in both hurdle events.

    Jontavious Canty, Blackwell and Heyward were second, fourth and fifth in the long jump, and Hamilton was second in both the discus and the shotput. Sophomore Erion Tindal was fifth in the discus and senior Meltwan Smith was seventh in the shot put.

    Conyers was the only Manning girl to win in the region meet. She claimed the long jump at 15-09.37. She finished third in the high jump.