Boys track: Cornelius Strickland running for a ‘teammate’
By Mike Clark Post-Tribune correspondent May 31, 2012 11:04PM
Bowman's Cornelius Strickland, center, takes first place in the 100 meter sprint during the Valparaiso Track and Field regional Thursday May 24, 2012. | Andy Lavalley~Sun-Times Media
State Meet Outlook
When: Saturday. Field events begin at 2 p.m., running events begin at 3:15 p.m.
Where: Robert C. Haugh Track and Field Complex at Indiana University, Bloomington
Admission: $8
Webcast: indianarunner.com (begins at 1:50 p.m.)
Top seeds
and local entries
3,200 relay – 1. Lawrence Central 7:50.64, 6. Crown Point 7:57.01, 7. Andrean 7:57.11, 8. Chesterton 7:57.94.
100 – 1. Cornelius Strickland (Bowman) 10.43, 2. Dylon Collins (Merrillville) 10.62, 3. Jacques Hall (East Chicago Central) 10.63, 4. Jeron Blake (Portage) 10.73, 5. Scott Schreiber (LaPorte) 10.87, 8. Malik Miles (Hammond) 11.03.
110 hurdles – 1. Deante Mahome (West Side) 14.34, 4. Austin Jamerson (Merrillville) 14.49, 8. Marsillis Gibson (Bowman) 14.74, 10. Greg McCloud (Hammond) 14.82, 17. Richie Duff (Chesterton) 14.92.
200 – 1. Strickland 21.27, 2. Hall 21.80, 3. Isiah Duggan (Lake Central) 21.84, 4. Blake 21.87, 5. Payton McCoy (LaPorte) 22.09.
1,600 – 1. Troy Reeder (Hamilton Southeastern) 4:15.43, 20. Mitch Hubner (LaPorte) 4:26.69, 25. Ahmad Aljobeh (Valparaiso) 4:29.14, 26. Tommy Bolanowski (Munster) 4:29.94.
400 relay – 1. Lawrence Central 41.89, 10. Crown Point 42.85, 15. Lake Central 43.10, 18. East Chicago Central 43.23.
400 – 1. Tony Moses (Kokomo) 48.70, 6. Alvin Best (Portage) 49.46, 7. Joe Troop (Chesterton) 49.53, 21. Darius Mahome (Lew Wallace) 50.58.
300 hurdles – 1. Da Quan Brown (Lawrence Central) 38.03, 21. Gibson 39.92, 23. Randy Trembacki (Lake Central) 40.12, 24. Josh Marciniak (Valparaiso) 40.13.
800 – 1. Gary Austin (Pike) 1:53.29, 6. Hubner 1:55.71, 9. Tony Rigoni (Munster) 1:56.18, 14. Kyle Nurse (Wheeler) 1:56.88.
3,200 – 1. Christopher Kelsey (Columbus North) 9:14.14, 24. Alec Kostelnik (Morgan Township) 9:40.42, 26. Tom Cierniak (Crown Point) 9:42.40, 27. Kyle Eller (Lowell) 9:44.05.
1,600 relay – 1. Fort Wayne North Side 3:17.70, 8. Portage 3:22.65, 11. Chesterton 3:23.44, 15. Lake Central 3:24.37, 20. Lowell 3:25.66.
Discus – 1. Onyi Afoaku (Bloomington North) 190-5, 3. Gelen Robinson (Lake Central) 179-7, 22. Dean Kokot (Lake Central) 153-0, 24. Josh Haynes (Merrillville) 150-11.
Shot put – 1. Langston Newton (Carmel) 61-0.5, 4. Joey Little (Portage) 57-5.5, 6. Robinson 56-7.5, 13. Anthony Palm (Merrillville) 54-2.75, 14. Tyler Kral (Crown Point) 54-2.25, 17. Julian Beeks (Andrean) 54-0.
Long jump – 1. Tony Shead (South Bend Clay) 21-1.25, 3. Lonnie Johnson (West Side) 23-0, 6. Nick Jones (Highland) 22-4.5, 7. Schreiber 22-4, 11. Jamerson 22-0.25, 13. (tie) Jaime Cervantes (River Forest) 21-10.75.
High jump – 1. (tie) Mitch Metzger (North Central) and Chrisjaan Smith (Lawrence Central) 6-7.5, 3. (tie) Kenneth Lloyd (East Chicago Central) 6-7, 10. (tie) Stephen Keller (Kouts) 6-5.5, 10. (tie) Jamerson 6-5.5, 10. (tie) Matt Stewart (Hobart) 6-5.5.
Pole vault – 1. Kyle Johnston (Penn) 15-9, 3. (tie) Justin Zosso (Chesterton) 15-0, 19. (tie) Jordan Kelly (Crown Point) 13-9, 19. (tie) Mitch Rodriguez (Portage) 13-9.
Cornelius Strickland already had plenty of incentive for his last season of high school track.
The Bowman senior wanted to keep up the region tradition of star sprinters highlighted by the unprecedented sweep of the 100, 200 and 400 meters two years ago by Hobart’s Jarvis McMillian.
He wanted to get the state titles that eluded him last spring, when he was runner-up in the 100 and third in the 200.
And then in mid-April, Strickland got one more reason to finish strong. It was the kind of motivation no one ever wants.
“I’m doing this for a teammate, Brelen McGee,” Strickland said. “I’m really dedicating this season to him.”
McGee, a star sprinter for Lew Wallace, was shot and killed outside his home on April 14. He was 19.
“It was tough,” Strickland said. “I had talked to him two, three weeks before that. I said, ‘I’ll holler at you, man.’
“(Then) I get a call he’s dead. I was like, no, you can’t be serious.”
Since then, Strickland has been running with a heavy heart and a strong purpose.
“He would tell me, ‘Run this for me,’” Strickland said. “I told his mother at the funeral if I make it to state I’m going to dedicate the whole meet to him.”
Strickland — and several other local sprinters — are primed to make a big splash at Indiana University’s Robert C. Haugh Track and Field Complex in Bloomington on Saturday.
The region has the top five seeds in both the 100 and 200 with Strickland leading the way in both at 10.43 and 21.27 seconds. Next in the 100 are Merrillville’s Dylon Thomas (10.62), East Chicago Central’s Jacques Hall (10.63), Portage’s Jeron Blake (10.73) and LaPorte’s Scott Schreiber (10.87), with Hammond’s Malik Myles eighth (11.03).
In the 200, Hall’s second at 21.80 followed by Lake Central’s Isiah Duggan (21.84), Blake (21.87) and LaPorte’s Payton McCoy (22.09).
Strickland’s goals are big: not just titles, but beating the state records of 10.31 in the 100 set by Jeffersonville’s Jerome Harrison in 1981 and 21.10 in the 200 set by Roosevelt’s Jeffrey Patrick in 1982.
Though he also excelled at the 400 this season, Strickland decided to concentrate on the shorter sprints for state.
“It’s actually perfect for him to only have to worry about two events,” Bowman coach Branden Newby said.
The key for Strickland, like many sprinters, is the start.
“Once he comes up running, it’s pretty much over,” Newby said.
“My coach has said, ‘You get out of your blocks fast, you’re going to have a good race,’” Strickland said.
He’s not the only local athlete who could have reason to celebrate on Saturday. Besides the other sprint candidates, look to stars like West Side’s Deante Mahome, seeded first in the 110 hurdles; Lake Central thrower Gelen Robinson; Portage thrower Joey Little; West Side long jumper Lonnie Johnson; East Chicago high jumper Kenneth Lloyd and Chesterton pole vaulter Justin Zosso.
