The plan worked.  The young men and women of South View stayed focused on their goals and stuck to the plan all season long with the hope that in the end, they could realize the objective of repeating a sweep of the men's and women's conference titles.

On day one (May 1st) the Tiger men got out in front with outstanding performances in the field and in the 4x800 meters.  Gerald Mc Queen, Derrick Jackson, Gary Tatum, Alex Mc Knight and Alphonso Thomas all scored in the jumps in the face of top notch competition.  "It was a real battle in the jumps."  Coach Lindo commented.  But the South View men stepped up.  Kendraus Guy brought home gold in the discus and silver in the shot put.  Jason Roop also scored in the shot put.

The men's 4x800 ran away with the gold.  Vonnie Thomas, Johnathon Isom, Jesse Ramirez and Brandon Samuel were never really seriously challenged and cruised to all 1st team all conference honors.

The Ladies surprised everyone with a strong showing in the field.  Led by Kandi Adams, the ladies scored three in the long jump.  Then they turned around and scored three in the triple jump.  Kim Stewart took gold in the high jump and Erica Lilly scored.  Bianca Hunt took gold in the discus and bronze in the shot put.  Other Lady jumpers who scored for the women's team included Dewanna Williams, Candis Jordan, Brandi Robinson and Latrice Gregg.

The women's 4x800 took the gold by running a season best of 10:45.  Led by Confernece MVP Whitney Speicher, the distance ladies put on a strong performance and demonstrated they will be a force to deal with at regionals next week.  Made up of three freshmen (Kamill Correa, Heather Ramsey and Glorimar Torre) and one sophomore (Speicher), the women's 4x800 came out better than last season's veteran squad, which ended up with the silver.  Speicher was the only returnee from last year.

Day two (May 2) would prove to be the big challenge, especially for the ladies.  This was where E.E Smith's Ladies were strongest.  All week the Tigers discussed character and desire and in the end, they proved they had it.  Kandis Jordan took the gold in the 100 hurdles and Marissa Marchan took gold in the 300 hurdles.  Kandi Adams scored in both.  Jheri Godfrey stood and delivered with silver and bronze performances in the 100 and 200 meters.  Sierra Brown was a nice bonus as she rose to score in both.  Theresa Thompson was 4th in the 400 meters with her best race of the season. 

But it was in the 1600, 800 and 3200 that Whitney Speicher began to put on a show of what being an MVP is all about.  Speicher's performance was one for books as she took gold in all three events to add to her 4x800 gold.  What was more impressive was how she ended up running a PR in the 1600 and 3200.  "The miles paid off."  Coach Autry said.  E.E. Smith's Denise Lewis ran a gutsy and smart race and took Speicher to the wire in the 3200.  But in the end, "The Rock" emerged with the gold.  Speicher was not alone as she had an outstanding supporting cast in all three events, most notably, Glorimar Torre.  Torre took the silver in the 800, bronze in 1600 and 4th overall in the 3200.  Kamill Correa ran an incredible race challenging for as high as 3rd in the 800 and finishing in a close 6th.  Jennifer Galloway was 7th with a PR and Heather Ramsey turned in a solid performance at 5th.

South View's ladies scored in all four relays and medaled in the 4x200 and 4x800.  In the end, teamwork proved to be the difference, as the ladies encouraged and helped each other.  The Lady Tigers ended up scoring in every event.  "That is really the real indicator of what this team is about." According to Autry.  "Everyone must do their part for us to be successful...  and everyone did."

Day two for the Tiger men was a sight to see.  Damone Fairley was awesome in the hurdle events as he took silver in both.  Kenny Francis scored in the 110s and freshman Dominique Jones demonstrated he was a force of the future. 

Dion Norwood and Brandon Shelton were awesome in the short sprints, as both had advanced to the finals.  But an aggravated groin, kept Norwood out of the finals.  Nonetheless, Shelton was awarded the bronze in the 200, an event the Tiger men have not scored in the last few seasons. 

The 4x200 squad of Norwood, Shelton, Brian Mc Lean and Devonte Guyon took gold.  In the 4x100, Shelton, Norwood, Guyon and Kenny Francis took the silver.  They missed gold by 4/100ths of a second.

The 4x400 was comprised of Brian Mc Lean, Brandon Samuel, eventual 400 meter champion Tyrell Jackson and eventual conference MVP Vonnie Thomas.  The Tigers ran strong to the gold, although Pine Forest's men were an impressive 2nd.

In the 400 meters Tyrell Jackson was "gone in 48 seconds."  He road a 48.94 to victory.  Brian Mc lean was the bronze medalist and Steven Nunns scored at 5th place.

In the 800, 1600 and 3200 the Tigers set the goal of going 1-2-3 in all three events.  But they knew a top competitor like Steven Grey of Terry Sanford would put up a fight.  In the 800 Thomas took gold, Isom took silver and Samuel took the bronze as no one else was in the picture after the first lap.  The 1600 proved exciting as Robert Longoria took out conservative due to his continuing recovery from a heel/achilles injury.  But after feeling o.k the first 2 laps he left the field behind and raced to the gold.  Freshman phenom Alexis Torre was the silver medalist.  But the race was on for the bronze as a patient Josh Wyatt waited until the last 200 meters to move on Terry Sanford's Steven Grey.  It was not until about the 60 meter mark that Wyatt overtook the third spot.  In the 3200, Grey's cross country base came into play as he did manage to break up the Tiger sweep with a third place finish.  Wyatt won the gold in another last moment pass against teammate Paul Longoria, who went on to silver.  Torre ended up 4th.

In the end, the men's team finished with over 200 points, scored in 16 out of 17 events and appear healthy (for the most part) and poised to take on the region.  The Eastern Regional Championship will be held at Reid Ross Middle School on Saturday, May 10th.