Manatee High 400 relay earns state title

BRADENTON -- Kavious Price finally found separation with a couple dozen meters go.

The anchor leg to Manatee's defending Class 4A champion 400-meter-relay team lifted his right arm as he crossed the finish line, pointing a finger to the sky and pounded his chest.

He veered off the track to the infield at IMG Academy Field where his teammates were waiting. Seconds earlier, the Hurricanes needed Price to come from behind during the final leg of their final relay in Bradenton. He took the baton while trailing by a couple of feet and didn't let go of it again until he had to go finish his day with the 200 dash. By then he was a state champion for the second straight year.

"It gets no better than that," Price said. "Going out a champion and leaving a historical mark at Manatee is something that -- it's hard to explain."

Price had practice celebrating a state championship. He's the only returning member from last year's 400 relay team, which won the 4A championship in Jacksonville. The Canes placed extraordinary trust in the Kent State-bound senior as the anchor and leader of a team with real aspirations

for a repeat despite losing three of the four members from a year earlier.

Price finally met his four teammates at midfield Saturday after finishing the 41.70-second run at IMG Academy, where he reminded them and anyone else within earshot about the promise he made leading up to the race: "Just get it to me and I'll win it."

"I told you," he said to fellow seniors Lorenz Allen, Darante Copeland and Reggie Carter.

So Allen had faith that when he handed the baton to Price with 100 meters to go that his classmate, football teammate and close friend would make up the deficit they had against Miramar.

First, Allen needed to make his own move. His handoff with Copeland midway through the race was sloppy enough to give Hurricanes head coach Mike Smith his only moment of worry. Smith knew Allen was capable of covering up the slip-up with his prowess on the turn. He just needed to see it.

Allen darted around the edge and jolted toward the front of the pack. By the time he was handing the baton to Price, the Canes were just feet behind.

"I know P," Allen said. "He's pretty damn fast, and I know he's going to pull it off."

The road to Manatee's repeat has been rockier this season than when they set the standard a year ago.

The Hurricanes began the season with three new members of the relay team and has used six runners on the team this season. The latest ran in a competitive meet for the first time Friday.

Until the week leading up to the state championship, the Canes were preparing for Sir Williams to be their lead leg. He had become a fixture at the start of the race in the month leading up to the postseason and helped Manatee win a Class 4A-Reigon 2 championship April 30.

A back issue limited him during practice, though, and the Hurricanes began training with Carter in case Williams was unable to go.

Williams was a race-time decision on the first day of state and Smith decided to go with Carter at full strength rather than Williams at 75 percent. The Canes still had the second-best preliminary time, and Smith's faith was affirmed.

Carter just needed to keep Manatee close to start the race and when he handed off to Copeland, the Hurricanes were still running with the pack. He trotted toward the finish line, so he could get a better look at the end of the race and Price's final burst to make the Canes state champions.

"Whenever he got the baton I already knew in mind we had it in our hands. We had it in the bag," Carter said. "As soon as I saw him take off out of the that little group it was a wrap from there."

Smith chose a perch for the 400 relay where he would be able to get a good view of the whole race, and particularly the final straightaway. He chose the relative seclusion of a platform jutting off the side of the auxiliary press box, behind the sparsely filled visiting bleachers at IMG Field. From there, he'd always have a feel as to whether the Canes could win the race.

The head coach wasn't worried at all when Price, who also won bronzes in the 100 and 200 dashes, needed to make up a bit of ground.

"We got this," he said to an assistant coach standing next to him. "We got it."

David Wilson, Herald sports writer, can be contacted at 941-745-7057 or on Twitter @DBWilson2.

This story was originally published May 7, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Manatee High 400 relay earns state title ."