Sepanski paces Senators to girls team title

CHATHAM — Springfield High School’s Sarah Sepanski and Jacksonville’s Devante Clark each took care of business on Friday, winning three events apiece in the Titan Co-Ed Invitational meet at Chatham Glenwood High School.

Sepanski wasn’t alone as far as impressive performances by Senators, with Aly Goff winning two events and Kierra Weir nearly breaking the school record in the 400-meter dash and being part of two winning relay teams. Springfield High easily won the girls team title.

“We had good performances by a lot of kids,” Senators coach Eric Warren said. “We had some kids that ran real well and we had to make adjustments in relays. It was a good all-around performance by all the kids.”

Solid gold

Sepanski, who was entered in four events, won the shot put, the 100-meter dash and the 200-meter dash. She added a fourth-place finish in the long jump.

Sepanski ran the 100 dash in 12.59 seconds, beating teammate Michaela Pattie by 0.26.

“I need to work on my start more because I’m always behind at the start,” Sepanski said, knowing she still has room for improvement.

“That’s a positive sign because it means I can improve.”

And that was after the long jump and three attempts in the shot, beating the field with a toss of 36 feet 5.

For her third gold medal, Sepanski ran a 25.89 in the 200.

Triple-threat Weir

Weir, who was a member of Springfield’s winning 4x100-meter relay and the anchor of the 4x400 relay, took first in the 400 dash in 58.70, just two-tenths of a second above the school record set by Miriam Agamah last year.

The 400 is tough, Weir said, because a good start is needed, but around the 150-meter mark, runners need to find another gear.

“That’s when some people save their energy and other people are coming up behind you,” Weir said. “You’ve just got to push through it, though.”

In the 4x400 relay, Weir helped expand the narrow lead the team had after three legs to a comfortable margin. SHS won in 4 minutes 10.26 seconds.

Goff won the 800 run in 2:19.40 and the 1,600 in 5:23.94.

“I really like the 800,” Goff said. “It’s my favorite event.

“I don’t enjoy the mile, but I can run it well because of the 800.”

Winning Clark

Before Clark did anything else, he headed to the high jump pit.

While he went 3-for-3 on the day, Clark said the high jump is his love. And he won at 6-6, beating Southeast’s Tra Mond Lewis by two inches.

“High jump’s number one,” Clark said. “My first priority over everything is high jump.”

But that doesn’t mean he’s not good in anything else.

Next he won the 100 dash in 11.12 seconds and later the 200 in 22.28.

Glenwood won the boys’ team title with 153 points, beating second-place Taylorville by 52 ½.

Contact Ryan Mahan: 788-1546, ryan.mahan@sj-r.com, twitter.com/RyanMahanSJR.