Streaks sweep hurdles at Erie County Meet

PERKINS TWP. — Put a hurdle in front of the Blue Streaks and they'll clear it — literally. They'll do it quickly, too, and on Monday night at the Erie County Meet, Sandusky's hurdlers did it faster than anyone else. The Blue Streaks went 4-for-4 in the hurdles competitions in near-flawless races. "We push each other each day on the track," junior Dre Campbell said. "It gives us something to hope for, keep pushing forward to have something special for the team." Sophomore Taliyah Farris was the star, winning both the girls 100-meter and 300-meter hurdles. She ran personal best times in both races. "Just trying to push and catch people, that's what I'm good at," Farris said. Farris, who looked like she'd be in a close race on seed times, started her night with a dominant win in the 100 hurdles in 16.04 seconds. "It's just going hard in practices and keep conditioning and pushing," Farris said. Farris had a similarly strong finish in the grueling 300 hurdles, winning in 47.84 seconds. "I felt good about both of them," Farris said. Both times Farris won, another Blue Streak was close behind to win the boys version. In the boys 110-meter hurdles, it was Lavelle Bell picking up a victory. "It's really just putting my mind to it," Bell said. "It's about not really thinking, just putting my foot over that hurdle… That was probably the best race that I've run." Bell was neck-and-neck with Vermilion's Caleb German before a strong finishing surge to win in 15.51 seconds. "I saw him right next to me," Bell said. "That gave me the strength to run faster." Sandusky's Keylan Howell ended up grabbing second place in the 110 hurdles. In the 300 hurdles, Campbell pulled away from the field to win in a personal best 41.27 seconds. "I felt good," Campbell said. "It was good weather out. I felt like this was really a good opportunity to push myself and work on my form and speed throughout the hurdles. I felt like I really got after it today." Campbell — who also reached his personal best with a second-place 21-4 in the long jump — was followed up by second-place Bell in the 300. "The keys to the 300 hurdles, coach always tells me, to get out hard to put yourself in a good position," Campbell said. "And also to accelerate after each hurdle." Those second-place Blue Streaks summed up the hurdling evening for Sandusky almost as much as the wins. It's a lot like the opportunity they have in practice, where they push one another to improve. Hurdles is such a technical event, with even the best hurdlers always looking for slight improvements in making it over the barriers. With a bunch of standouts in the same discipline, the Blue Streaks are bound to keep improving. "We can all help each other," Farris said. "We watch each other and tell each other what to get better on." They'll be around a while, too. Campbell and Bell are juniors, and Farris is a sophomore. Even in the uber-competitive Division I, there's plenty of room for them to make late-season runs in the years to come. "We just boost each other a lot," Bell said. "We watch each others' backs." Rameau surprises in 100 Sandusky junior Mae Rameau wasn't favored in the 100-meter dash by seed time. She was tucked into Lane 2 with a seed of 13.54 seconds. Then she ran a 13 flat to outpace the field and claim the Erie County title in the sprint. Rameau also surpassed 15 feet to place third in the long jump. Richardson, Gant runners-up in throws Sandusky's Dominik Richardson placed second in the shot put, while Donovan Gant was second in the discus. Richardson, a junior, went 46 feet, 2 inches on his first shot. That finished just an inch behind the winner, Perkins' John McGlashan. Gant, a sophomore, was behind McGlashan in the discus.