LAURINBURG — Numerous athletes from Scotland High’s fall and winter sports teams will be putting their skills to the test as members of the school’s track and field team this year.
Head coach Thomas Havener said multi-sport athletes are being encouraged to take on more events this season.
“We’re really going to try to push athletes to do four events,” Havener said. “In the past, we’ve only done maybe two or three. I’m going to try to get a full four events from each of them.”
Havener used football player Zymere Reddick as an example. Reddick qualified for regionals in the high jump last year.
“Zymere will be running, he’ll be jumping, he’ll be doing a multitude of things,” said Havener, who is also the head coach of Scotland’s wrestling and jayvee football teams.
Reddick is one of many familiar faces who will be competing for the Fighting Scots this season. Several players from Scotland’s other varsity teams, such as basketball and football, were among the athletes practicing their craft at Pate Stadium this week.
The team opens its season on March 14 at Purnell Swett.
“We’ve good a good group of returners,” Havener said. “We’ve got a good collection of seniors coming back. Usually with track, some people will compete one year, and then they’ll take the next year off. This is actually one of the first years that I’ve seen a lot of my freshmen coming back. We have a good retention rate this year.
“A lot of people, especially my 4×100 (relay) team that made it to state last year, are back,” he added. “That’s always good when you have returning pieces come back.”
The Scots have two athletes back from that relay team, which finished in sixth place out of 15 teams at the state meet. Sophomore J.J. McLean and senior Tyshuon Thomas are back in action after helping the relay team log a final time of 42.43 seconds.
The other two members, Trey Dixon and Laron Quick, were seniors last year.
Scotland’s Sanya Lacue also competed in the state meet as a freshman last season. In the 300-meter hurdles, Lacue finished in 16th place with a time of 49.05 seconds.
The Scots had boys from 11 different events and girls from six events qualify for regionals last season. Many of them have a chance to do it again this year.
On the girls side, Havener said senior Kayla Kirkley is primed to have a successful season. Kirkley qualified for regionals in the long jump last year.
“She’s a utility specialist,” Havener said. “She’s a 100-, 200-meter-type girl.”
Other top returners for the Lady Scots include throwers Sydney Smith and Kendriana Frazier. There is also a group of long-distance runners that includes sophomore Madison Williams, who competed in the state championship meet for Scotland’s cross country team in the fall.
J.J. and Kris McLean are back to bolster Scotland’s group of jumpers on the boys team. Kendrell Sellers, a standout in the shot put who suffered a torn ACL during football season, will be back in action for the Scots.
The boys’ 4×100 lost a couple of pieces, but the Scots have several viable athletes who can fill those roles.
“You have Darrius Dockery, J.J. McLean, Joseph McKoy, Jhamari Smith, and there’s other guys, a couple other pluggers,” Havener said. “Overall, I have a big collection of talent.
“I’m probably missing a couple people, but you’re talking about some good, solid core guys coming back.”
