West Side, EC's Clanton shine at Noll

Updated: March 28, 2011 9:38AM

Hammond - Dozens of trophies gleamed near the indoor track at Bishop Noll as some of the top track and field athletes clashed to see who was going to be taking home the hardware.

This meet belonged to East Chicago's Arion Clanton along with three trophies as he claimed the long jump, 60-yard dash and was part of the Cardinals' six-lap relay.

"I always feel I can do better, but it's good to come out here and win because we have a lot of rivals out here," said Clanton of his night at the Bishop Noll indoor meet. "Like our coach said, we don't get a lot of respect and its feels good to get our school some recognition."

Just a week after claiming the shot put event in the same gymnasium, Griffith's Maciek Szczepkewski continued his early season tear with another first place with a throw of 48.0 feet, besting Lew Wallace's Montell Davis (43.6).

The Panthers also got titles from Gilbert Eatmen, who won the high jump with a height of 5-10 while teammate Paris Davenport finished second with a final jump of 5-8.

West Side got some solid performances from sophomore two-miler John Smith (10:56.83), who blew by the field with Gavit's Ramico Cozceres (11:30.32) taking second. Junior Deante Mohome, in a time of 8.009, slipped past Hammond's Young (8.359) for the 60-yard high hurdles win.

"Didn't feel too comfortable out there today, that's a tough track but I can see where I'm at as far as all the good runners that are here," said Mahome.

Smith also placed second in the mile (5:07.17) behind a TF South runner.

"I like to always put myself in the mind frame that I'm going to win and whether you win or lose you always have room for improvement," Smith said.

The 10-lap relay was snagged by the Cougars in a time of 4:04.33 while the host Warriors finished just behind the leaders (4:05.68).

After the mile relay was stopped well into the race because of a lane violation. After the 10-lap relay, the teams lined to re-run the mile relay with the Cougars fighting off fatigue and the pack for first place (3:54.01).

© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.