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Stefawn Ross can easily win spot on the VMI track and field roster
The shoe fits.
He just hasn’t worn it very often.
Despite taking up the sport of track and field in March and slipping on track spikes for the first time as a senior, Liberty's Stefawn Ross proved he’s a budding star Friday and Saturday. He competed in three events during the AAA state meet events at Todd Stadium in Newport News.
“Just to get to states in three events when you’ve only been doing track for three months — that’s hard,” Liberty co-coach Dee Thompson said.
Ross didn’t spend much time in his spikes at state, removing them to lounge in ankle-high, black Nike socks whenever possible, but while wearing them he performed well.
Ross finished 14th in the high jump with a leap of 6 feet, 4 inches, he placed 25th in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.28 and he took 30th in the long jump with an attempt of 18-1.25.
“I feel real good, especially being my first year, still not really having good technique, still learning in each and every thing that I’m doing,” Ross said. “Many people train for four years, and they may get to states for one event, or they may not ever get to states. I was blessed to get here.”
Ross' Liberty teammate Bobby Newton also made it to state. He finished 31st in the 100 with a time of 11.34.
Neither Ross nor Newton ran a personal-best 100 time, but both improved upon their pre-race seed positions. They shared a qualifying time of 11.19 and entered as the No. 42 and 43 seeds out of 48 entrants.
“So they did better than most,” Liberty co-coach Dan Thompson said. “Bobby beat 10 kids that came in [seeded] faster than him, and Stefawn beat 16 kids that came in faster.”
Meanwhile, in the state high jump, Ross matched his personal-record of 6-4. Only seven competitors cleared a bar set higher than that, but Ross finished 14th rather than eighth because it took three attempts for him to get over 6-4. Six other competitors edged him by jumping 6-4 in fewer attempts, as Ross failed to clear the next height of 6-6.
“I think I did pretty good,” Ross said. “It was minor things I could have done that didn’t get me over the [6-6] bar, like arching my back more. Just little things that if we had more time I’d get — if I had more seasons.”
Ross had cleared 6-4 only once before this season, during a meet at Virginia Military Institute, so it was no small accomplishment to do so at state...
See the Wednesday print edition of the Fauquier Times-Democrat for the complete story.
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