Johnson, Harris deliver at relays

Southview sprinter, St. Francis thrower star; Whitmer claims title

Frank Hayes of Southview wins the 800 meter run. He was also part of the winning 1600-meter relay team for the Cougars.

THE BLADE/ JEREMY WADSWORTH
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Austin Hanna of Whitmer clears the bar in the pole vault at St. Francis. He won the event to help lead the Panthers to the title.

Malcolm Johnson could have warranted a ticket for speeding during the 16th annual Knight Relays on Friday evening at St. Francis de Sales.

The Southview senior earned the top individual honors for running events after turning in a meet record time of 21.56 to win the 200, breaking the old mark of 22.20 set in 2012 by St. Francis' Wayne Blanchard. Johnson was also a member of the Cougars’ 1600 relay team (Frank Hayes, Earl Armstrong, Johnson, Nate Hall) that closed out the meet by winning the final race with a time of 3:28.56.

PHOTO GALLERY: Knight Relays

"It felt pretty good," said Johnson of his meet-record run in the 200, which is his second-fastest time ever. "I just tried to come out of my blocks and try to stay in my drive phase and work on the first part of my race and really perfect that.

"I was hoping to get the record. I'm just grateful I was able to run it because the weather wasn't too warm."

St. Francis' Maurice Harris was named the top individual for field events after leading the Knights to a sweep of the team throwing events. He recorded a school-record throw of 184 in the discus to help the Knights win the discus relay. He also led St. Francis to the shot put relay title after recording the top throw of the day, which measured 59-3.50.

"I just feel like I'm getting stronger and faster because throwing takes a lot of technique," Harris said following his strong discus and shot put performances.

Yet, Whitmer collected the team title with 109 points, followed by St. Francis 96.83, St. John's Jesuit 85.50, Southview 77, Central Catholic 74, Findlay 71.33, Bedford 43.33, Tiffin Columbian 42.50, Northview 41.50, Perrysburg 40, Bowsher 24, Toledo Christian 23, and Start 12.

Nick Jarrell, left, of St. John's edges David St. John of St. Francis in the 1600 meter run during the Knight Relays.

"We're a deep team and we're able to score in a lot of events and we've had a lot of success this year because of that," Whitmer coach Jeremy Elliott said. "It's been three years since we've won [the Knight Relays]. We were gunning for tonight and we wanted to make sure we showed up tonight and bring that trophy back home to Whitmer."

With Johnson opting to sit out of the 100, Whitmer's Tylor Miller held off the field to win the event with a time of 11.08. Central Catholic's Tre'Von Wade was second with a time of 11.25, followed closely by Start's Damar Ellis for third (11.26).

Whitmer (Marcus Elliott, Mitch Kubicki, Devan Gardner, Matt Sutter) also came away winners in the 440 shuttle hurdles with a time of 1:03.29. The Panthers (Tylor Miller, Malik Moore, Jamal Bell, Alex Miles) claimed first in the 800 relay with a time of 1:31. Miller, Moore, Bell, and Chris Boykin worked together to win the 400 relay with a time of 43.69.

Whitmer's Austin Hanna and Mitch Kubicki finished 1-2 in the pole vault with marks of 13-9 and 13 feet, respectively.

Frank Hayes of Southview wins the 800 meter run. He was also part of the winning 1600-meter relay team for the Cougars.

Boykin also topped the high jumpers by clearing 6-2.

St. John's Nick Jarrell made a strong push during the final lap of the 1600 to win with a time of 4:28.99, holding off St. Francis' David St. John (4:29.69) down the stretch.

Southview's Earl Armstrong ran one of his best times of the season to win the 400 with a time of 50.5. Cougar teammate Frank Hayes posted one of his top times of the year in the 800, crossing the finish line first in a time of 1:57.57.

St. Francis hurdler Andrew Bonfiglio helped the Knights' cause by winning the 110 hurdles with a time of 14.80. The Knights won the 6400 relay with a time of 19:15.45.

Northview's Adam Downing ran a strong 300 hurdles race and placed first with a time of 40.39, edging Toledo Christian's Mike Norman (40.59) to the finish line.

St. John's Jesuit's Tevin Brown looked good in winning the 3200 with a time of 9:36.35, while teammate Shon Layson posted the best effort in the long jump relay with a jump of 21-11.

Findlay claimed the 3200 relay with a time of 830.98, holding off St. John's Jesuit, which finished second with a time of 8:32.28.

Contact Donald Emmons at: demmons@theblade.com, 419-724-6302 or on Twitter @DemmonsBlade.