DUBLIN — It was a tough rainy day for the young Mount Vernon Yellow Jackets in the boys field competition at the Division I District Meet, held at Dublin Coffman High School on Tuesday.
For some, it was their very first high school district tournament, like Mark Lawson in the shot put. Lawson finished 15th with a toss of 39 feet, 9 inches.
“I don’t think that I came in fully ready for today,” said Lawson. “I don’t think it was the weather or anything — just me.”
Earlier, he was in the discus and did a little better, finishing 12th overall
“My best is 131 (feet), but I got one 116 (feet),” Lawson said. “I think that was because my shoes were all messed up. Because of how wet it was in the rain and I had nothing to wipe it down with.”
Mount Vernon’s Jordan Crabtree was 13th in the discus, finishing with a toss of 116-feet-9.
It was definitely not a wasted day for Lawson, who learned what he will need to do next year.
“I need to be mentally prepared,” said Lawson. “I got to bring things with me to meets so I can dry the ring and make my throw.”
Fellow thrower Levi Green learned plenty as well. Green threw 36-feet-9 in the shot, good for 20th place overall.
“The last couple of weeks, I’ve been training hard and stuff,” said Green. “Today, just wasn’t one of my days. Yesterday wasn’t a real good practice. I guess, I need to try a little harder. You’ve definitely got to step it up because these guys are throwing 45s and I’m only throwing about a 39 in the shot.”
Jackets’ long jumper Ethan Grant admitted that the rainy day may have been a factor in his troubles. Grant finished 19th overall with a jump of 17-feet-10.
“It was a little disappointing,” said Grant. “It didn’t come out the way I wanted it to. The first jump, I slipped and it kind of threw everything off. Quite a few people have slipped on this (take off) board already. The board is a little wet because it rained earlier today.”
