Davie seniors Boyce Seals and Elaina Passero and sophomore Hannah Dove finished in the top four in the regional to earn berths to the state track & field meet.
The Midwest 4-A Regional was held at Dudley on May 9.
Passero of the Davie girls team was the top performer for the War Eagles. After taking runner-up in the Central Piedmont Conference in the pole vault with a jump of 9-6, she claimed second in the regional with a 9-0. She was third in the 2013 regional, so this was her second state berth.
“The region and the CPC are pretty much the same top people in the pole vault,” coach Becky Miller said. “She didn’t even have her best jump to get second. She worked so hard for that, and we’re thrilled that she’s done so well.
“She’s definitely got a 10-foot jump in her; she’s done it in practice.”
Dove flourished as an underdog in the discus, taking fourth with a personal-best 107-0.
“That was so exciting,” Miller said. “Hannah was ranked eighth or ninth going in, and she probably didn’t expect (to crack the top four). She was a big underdog.
“After the first three rounds, she was sitting in third overall. Before Hannah’s last throw, there was one girl who could have pushed her out. On her final throw she scratched, so we knew before Hannah’s last throw that she was going to states.”
Dove was only a foot and a half off Falon Hooper’s school record (108-6). “So Hannah’s looking for that,” Miller said. “She’d like to get that record.”
Seals of the Davie boys qualified for the state with a fourth-place performance in the triple jump. He went 43-1.25. He captured the CPC title at 44.
“We were pretty sure he was going to make it,” Miller said. “The top four were pretty much ahead of everybody else.”
Two from the Davie boys just missed state berths as senior Reid Hecht and junior George Mitchell both finished fifth.
Hecht was fifth in the 800 meters. He did everything in his power to reach the top four, running a school-record 2:00.14 to break his own record of 2:04.
“He was so close to states,” Miller said. “It was not even a step; it was like a chest. It was heartbreaking, but yet he shattered his old record again. Yeah, we would have loved to have seen him go to states because he’s worked incredibly hard to get his 800 time down, but we have to be proud of him because of the time he ran.”
Mitchell was fifth in the triple jump. Although he was one spot from reaching the state, he had nothing to hang his head about – he jumped a personal-best 42-10.5.
“He was sitting in fourth going into the finals,” Miller said. “But I really liked what Boyce said to George when they got done. Boyce could see how disappointed George was and Boyce said: ‘I was sitting right where you are last year. I finished fifth. All it did was light a fire and that’s why I worked so hard this year and look where I’m going. That’s going to be you next year.’”
The top eight scored points, and the Davie boys’ 800 relay was seventh with a season-best 3:33.39. The relay team consisted of Seals, Luis Hernandez, Eduardo Hernandez and Colin Joldersma. On the girls’ side, Savannah Everett placed eighth in the high jump at 4-10.
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In the state meet at North Carolina A&T on May 17, Passero turned in Davie’s top performance with a seventh-place finish in the pole vault. Better yet, she jumped a school-record 10-0. She was 10th in the 2013 state meet.
Dove was 12th in the discus at 88-2. And Seals was 13th in the triple jump at 42-10.
“We have a tough region, so making it (to the state) is a huge accomplishment,” Miller said.