Cougars grab meet's first relay title

Updated: March 24, 2011 2:14PM

HAMMOND - The first day of the Bishop Noll Relays concluded Tuesday with a couple of winners being crowned and a number of interesting duels set up for today's finals.

West Side captured the most dramatic victory of the day's two finals, winning the 20-lap relay after leadoff runner, Bryce Anderson, took a spill during his first lap.

The tumble temporarily set the Cougars back to last place, but Anderson and his teammates methodically made up the ground. Anchorman Leonard Jeffries chased down both Gavit and South Bend Washington during his leg to bring home the win in 8:51.

"I told (Anderson) ‘quick, quick, get up!'" West Side assistant coach Ronnie Bond said. "You know if you're really hurt and can't get up. If you can get up, you're not hurt."

Griffith senior Gilbert Eatman grabbed the evening's only other title by winning the high jump with a leap of 5 feet, 10 inches. Eatman's teammate, Paris Davenport, tied for second with a jump of 5-8.

"I wasn't feeling it today," said Gilbert, who fell well short of his personal best of 6-2.

"I was a little tired," Gilbert dais. "But I love the high jump. It's sort of in its own secluded area and you can get a lot of people watching you some time."

Gavit's Christian Ellison led a tightly-packed field into Wednesday's final of the 60-yard dash while Morton senior Karlos Young led the qualifying for the 60-yard high hurdles.

"I'm going to state this year," said Young. "I've just got to drop a second to get there."

One athlete who fell short of the finals, but competed impressively nonetheless, was Bishop Noll senior Ryan Thrasher. Thrasher competes in the sprints despite dealing with one leg that is a bit shorter than the other leg. He uses a special shoe on his left foot to compensate for the difference.

"It slows me down a bit," said Thrasher. "But I wake up with it every day and I don't really notice it."

The meet wraps up today with the finals of the shot put, long jump, 60-yard dash, 60 high hurdles, mile and two mile runs, mile relay, 10-lap medley relay and the meet's signature event: the six-lap relay.

"I think the six-lap relay is the most exciting two and a half minutes in all of Northwest Indiana sports," said Bishop Noll coach Chris Nicolini.

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