KANE - Kalil Slaughter doesn't get beat often, no matter what track & field event he is participating in.
Saturday at the Kane Invitational, he didn't get beat once.
Slaughter finished first in all four events in which he was entered, completing a dominant day and helping the Sheffield boys team to a sixth-place showing in the annual event.
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Times Observer photo by Allen Seybert
Sheffield senior Kalil Slaughter in earlier action
"Kalil sweeping all of his events was tremendous," said Sheffield boys track coach Bryan Gould. "It was especially big for him because we will be seeing a lot of these same kids and same teams at districts come the end of May. I think winning like he did was very big for his confidence.
The other guys that were able to place ran some great times for the conditions. It gave them a nice idea of where they stand and what they need to work on if they want to think about competing near the top at districts."
Slaughter placed first in three individual events, including the 100, 200 and the long jump. In the 100, Slaughter easily placed first in the preliminaries, completing a run of 11.39 seconds. He bettered that by sixth one-hundreths of a second in the finals, winning his first event of the day with a run of 11.33.
Things continued going Slaughter's way in the 200. Nobody came close to topping the senior sprinter in the 200 and Slaughter finished sixth-tenths of a second ahead of his closest competitor - a mile by the 200's standards. Slaughter's winning time was 23.13 seconds.
Showing his dominance could not be confined to the track, Slaughter earned a victory in the long jump, hitting the 20-foot mark right on the nose.
The fourth victory of his impressive day came in the 4X100 relay as Slaughter and teammates Deonte Clay, Kwante Johnson and Dylan Reynolds won the event in 44.79 seconds. According to Gould, the time was the best posted by the 4X100 relay team all season.
While Slaughter was the standout, Sheffield's success came in other areas as well. Keon VonHendricks continued to show improvement in the 400, finishing in fourth spot with a run of 54.82 seconds. Teammate Johnson gave Sheffield two placewinners in the 200 by finishing fifth with a run of 24.87 seconds.
The Wolverines also boasted a second place-winning relay team as the 4X400 squad of Johnson, Marc Nadal, VonHendricks and Reynolds was sixth with a time of 3:47.07.
Sheffield's boys team finished sixth with 47 team points. Only champion Bradford, Saint Mary's, Port Allegany, host Kane and Brookville finished with higher totals among the 14 teams that scored points.
In girls competition, Sheffield and Eisenhower both sent athletes to the event. Sheffield had a tough day with its small team and failed to return home with any placewinning finishes.
The Lady Knights finished the afternoon with three placewinning individuals and relay teams. The highest finish of the day was recorded by the 4X400 relay team of Taylor Talasky, Lacey Stanko, Julia Bauer and Bizz Baran. That group of runners finished fifth in a time of 4:43.32.
Individually, Baran added a sixth-place showing in the 800, finishing in 2:40.06. Baran also teamed with Bauer, Mollie Marsh and Stanko to place sixth in the 4X800 relay.
"Bizz kind of got boxed in during her 800 run and she probably would've placed higher without that," said Ike girls coach Mike Logue. "Our 3200 relay team also competed together for the first time and I was very pleased with their time."
Logue also praised throwers Jessica Haskins and Ashley Enos for their contibutions in the throwing events at Kane.
Weather permitting, Eisenhower returns to action Tuesday hosting Titusville. Sheffield travels to Port Allegany to compete with the host Gators, Cameron County and Northern Potter that same afternoon.
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Warren boys at Herimitage Invitational
HERMITAGE - Warren didn't take a full squad Saturday, but those that did compete at the Hermitage Invitational were certainly impressive for the Dragons.
Despite what Warren assistant coach Justin Norris called "miserable" weather conditions, the Dragons established several personal bests and one meet record to cap an outstanding day.
The meet record was set by the victorious 4X400 relay team of Luke Wortman, Caleb Hultman, Jordan Willetts and Tanner Rosenberg. The previous meet record was a time of 3:28.91 and the Dragons' foursome clocked in nearly a second and a half faster at 3:27.5.
The Dragons' 3200 relay team was also strong, finishing second and setting a personal best in 8:17. That team included Hultman, Christian Harrington, Brad Simmons and Rosenberg.
Warren had two athletes place in the 300 hurdles events as Wortman and Nathan Zigler both finished among the top eight. Wortman was third with a personal best run of 41.1 seconds while Zigler crossed the line in seventh. Zigler was also eighth in the 110 hurdles.
Despite not placing in the 3200, Harrington set a personal best in the event with a run of 10:20.
The Dragons are tentatively scheduled to host Meadville on Tuesday.