Track and field | Manatee tinkers with defending-champion relay team ahead of county championship
BRADENTON -- Manatee didn't have many doubts about its 400-meter relay's potential as a repeat state contender as the postseason approaches, but three days and two nights in Gainesville caused anything which lingered to vanish.
Three of the four legs of the Hurricanes' Class 4A championship hopeful have been consistent through this season. The fourth -- and first -- changed about two weeks ago when Sir Williams replaced Keyon Fordham as the opening leg. The simple math suggested a slight downturn for the Canes -- Fordham's 100 dash time is a beat quicker than Williams'. Sometimes a relay can be about more than just straight-line speed, though.
"It's really changed the chemistry of the team," Manatee head coach Mike Smith said. "Sometimes you have to make adjustments. We were able to make the right adjustment by putting the right person in there."
Williams' first meet came March 24 at the Tarpon Invitational in Punta Gorda, and the Hurricanes ran their 400 in 41.98 seconds, besting their time from the previous meet with Fordham by nearly 3/4 of a second. A week later, the Canes ran a 41.57 at the prestigious Florida Relays.
The increase in speed isn't entirely logical. Sometimes, though, chemistry can trump math. A year after winning the 4A state championship the Canes' relay is in position to repeat and put on a show at Tuesday's Manatee County Varsity Championship. Field events begin at 3:30 p.m. at Saint Stephen's Episcopal School's Moore Athletic Complex at Turner Fields, followed by the 3200 relay at 4 p.m. and all others running at 5 p.m. in Bradenton.
"They're going to run well. I'll be shocked if they don't," Smith said. "We look for them to compete."
While Williams is the newest addition to the relay, he's not the only this season. Only senior Kavious Price, the Hurricanes' anchor leg, returns from last year's state championship. Senior Darante Copeland began last season on the relay team before being replaced by Kelvin McKnight and senior Lorenz Allen is in his first year on the relay.
The three seniors are still seasoned veterans, longtime football teammates and relatively established in their performance. Williams, a sophomore, and Fordham before him, is the X-factor for the Hurricanes. His time had steadily increased during the season, eventually leading Smith to consider putting him on the relay team.
When he finally slotted in, some of the other benefits manifested.
"(It's) pretty much the competitiveness," Price said. "When you have that instinct in you, you can't coach that."
The competitive edge he brings has been a boon for the Canes. A hallmark of last year's team -- which included Price, McKnight, Jarquevis Laughlin and Sam Vrinios -- was its competitiveness. Even with a relatively established hierarchy by the end of the season, everyone was trying to run faster than their teammates.
McKnight, who was the late addition, gradually caught up to his teammates even as they all became faster. Williams is mimicking that growth now.
This was what became most evident to Smith in Gainesville. He already had a natural chemistry on the hand-off with Copeland and a 100 speed near 11 seconds. His interactions with the team during the weekend solidified Manatee's confidence and the Hurricanes' third-place finish solidified Williams'.
"It boosted a lot of confidence," Williams said. "You saw a lot of fast guys out there. It was good competition."
The new-look relay's start has been about as smooth as the Canes could imagine. Smith anticipated the new foursome about maintaining the time of the previous one and Price expected maybe a slight jump. Instead, Manatee is even ahead of its state-championship pace from a year ago.
Last year at the Florida Relays, the Hurricanes ran a 41.82.
"Of course I'm surprised by how fast we're jumping our times. I'm not saying anything about where we're going to end at. We don't have a clue," Price said. "This year we dropped it almost 2/10. Yes, I'm surprised, but we've got some competitors on our team and that's pretty much what we expect here at Manatee."
This story was originally published April 5, 2016 at 12:21 AM with the headline "Track and field | Manatee tinkers with defending-champion relay team ahead of county championship ."