High-jumper wins it all at first meet

Gary West Side's Brian Burtin takes the lead in a heat race during the 60-yard hurdle during the Bishop Noll Track Relays.
(Scott M. Bort/Post-Tribune)

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HAMMOND -- Damion McGee had never high-jumped in his life before Tuesday and he thought he would give it a try at the Bishop Noll Relays.

"I have a 42-inch vertical and when we got here I looked over there and thought I would give it a try," McGee said. "I know I have to work on my technique but I thought I did OK."

McGee, a senior from Lew Wallace, not only did OK, he took first in the high-jump with a winning leap of 5-10.

"We will work with him on his technique but that was something for his first try," said Wallace coach Chuck Jones. "He's a real good natural athlete and I'm glad he came out this year."

McGee jumped the final three attempts by himself and, with all eyes on him, he barely missed on his first two tries at 6 feet even before knocking the bar down on his third attempt.

"I'm trying to keep in shape for basketball in college and I like to compete," McGee said of his decision to go out for track. "I will definitely get to work on my technique. I am kind of surprised that I won."

McGee's win came in one of the two finals that were run on the first day of the two day event. The host Warriors were impressive in winning the 20-lap relay with an 8:23.06 time, eight seconds better than West Side.

"We were nervous in the locker room because we knew that West Side was here and so were some other good times," said Pat McCarthy, who ran the opening leg of the relay for Bishop Noll. "We came out and ran a good race. We're getting better as a team and winning like this over such good competition should give us a lot of confidence when the outdoor part of the season comes up."

"I am pleased with how we ran," said Noll coach Chris Nicolini. "We're improving but we got to keep working. This is good for the confidence but there is still a lot of work to be done."

One of the most entertaining moments of the night was provided by Wallace's Stephen Rodgers, who tossed the shot-put onto the batting cage that lurked at the edge of the event's area. He ended up topping the qualifiers for today's finals with a toss of 52 feet.

"He was a state-qualifier last year and if he keeps working he could do something special this time around," Jones said.

Alan Hall of Roosevelt led the qualifying in the 60 high hurdles with a 7.89 effort while Jarvis McMillian of Wirt topped the qualifying in the 60 dash with a 6.30 time.

The bulk of the finals in the 13-school field will be held today at the Noll Fieldhouse. Events start at 5:30 p.m. and no team scores are being kept.