Taft Saves Best for Last and Finishes First in City

Deeneka Torrey of Taft High was walking slowly, limping noticeably and smiling broadly at the end of the City Section track and field championships Thursday at Birmingham High.

And for good reason.

Torrey, a junior, had just run a 57.1-second first leg on Taft’s winning 1,600-meter relay team to give the Toreadors an 82-78 victory over Birmingham and their second consecutive girls’ title.

Birmingham, which defeated Taft, 74-53, in a West Valley League dual meet on April 9, led in points for most of the meet, but Taft tied the Patriots, 72-72, when junior Erin Reed finished third and senior Tiffany Smith placed fourth in the 200 with two events left.

Neither team scored a point in the 3,200, so they entered the 1,600 relay--the final event--tied for first.

Torrey, who was running with a tightly taped right shin, gave Taft a small lead over Birmingham after the first leg, and junior teammate Trisha Bratford and Birmingham junior Shakela Wilson were even after the second.

Smith gave Taft a seven-meter lead after the third leg and Reed completed a 3:48.64 season best that held off a late rush by Westchester sophomore Laloni Anderson. Birmingham finished third in a school-record 3:50.99.

“I’m hurting, but I feel good,” said the soft-spoken Torrey, who scored 30 1/2 of Taft’s points in the meet. The first six finishers in each event scored on a 10-8-6-4-2-1 basis.

Torrey won the 100 high hurdles in 14.82 and the 300 lows in 43.98, despite struggling with her technique in each race. She finished second in the 100 in 12.34 in addition to running in the 1,600 relay.

Smith, who has signed with Nevada Las Vegas, accounted for 22 1/2 points for Taft by running on the 1,600 relay and finishing second in the 400 in 57.51, second in the triple jump in 37-3 and fourth in the 200 in 25.75.

Her 200 time was crucial because it put her .01 seconds ahead of junior Gigi Mendola and senior Keisha Mierez of Birmingham.

Reed scored 14 1/2 points by running on the 1,600 relay and finishing third in the 100 in 12.45 and third in the 200 in 24.89.

Birmingham senior Tiffany Burgess won her second consecutive title in the 800 in 2:18.30, but her hand-timed 5:06.0 clocking in the 1,600 left her second to junior Valerie Flores of San Pedro and prevented her from becoming the first athlete in City history to win four consecutive titles in one event.

Sophomore teammate Melissa Astete won her second consecutive title in the pole vault with a school and meet record of 11-1 that led Birmingham to a 1-2-3 finish.

While Taft and Birmingham waged a battle for the team title, junior Jessica Cosby of Cleveland and sophomore Alexis Weatherspoon of Grant turned in superb individual efforts.

Cosby won her third consecutive title in the girls’ shotput with a school-record 45-6 1/2 that moved her to seventh on the all-time region list and came less than two months after she underwent what was expected to be season-ending arthroscopic knee surgery.

Sophomore teammate Schquay Brignac won her second title in the high jump by clearing 5-4.

Weatherspoon won the 100 in 12.16 and the 200 in a school-record 24.48.

Dorsey defeated Taft, 78-70, for its fourth consecutive boys’ title.

Senior Blaine Bussey of Taft won his second consecutive 400 title in 46.97, finished second in the 200 in 21.60 and ran legs on teams that finished second in the 400 relay in a season-best 41.69 and third in the 1,600 relay in a season-best 3:18.52.