Wauwatosa West sprinters stand out at Kansas Relays

Wauwatosa West took part in the Kansas Relays last weekend, and coach Jack LoPresti was pleased with his team's performance.

"The Kansas Relays are a great experience for our returning state vets," the veteran coach said. "They also ran great."

The 4x100-meter relay of Azya McLin, Mercy Ndon, Bri Horton and Cheri'A Adams placed sixth overall and ran the fastest time in the state thus far, at 48.85.

"They did an awesome job," LoPresti said. "They won the prelim heat that they faced on Friday and then came back and took sixth overall on Saturday. Some 45 plus teams raced in the 4x100, excellent competition from across the Midwest. It was just a great job.

"I know the girls were disappointed with sixth, as they had a couple of shaky handoffs on Saturday, but part of the reason you go to a meet like the KU Relays is to get that big meet experience and run your best time of the season (so far), and they did that with the 4x100.

With no prelim on Friday for the 4x200 relay, the Trojans went out on Saturday and impressed their coach.

"The girls went out Saturday morning and ran a smoking 1:43.8," LoPresti said. "Mercy Ndon ran a smoking-fast second leg, and the relay grabbed some hardware taking third. It was an awesome job. The time they ran places them second in the state right now."

Kayla Crump had a personal-best in the 300 low hurdles with a 47.41, and Bri Horton wasn't far behind with a 49.85.

"Kayla Crump had a monstrous PR, putting her currently sixth in the state in the 300 low hurdles," LoPresti said. "It was awesome stuff. Bri Horton also did a great job."

LoPresti was also pleased with his athletes' performances in the 100 dash.

"Awesome! Three girls now are listed in the top six in the state, with great races from Cheri'A Adams (finishing seventh overall), Mercy Ndon and Azya McLin," he said.

He was also pleased with his shot put team's performance.

"Jomari Ross, Abbey Kuna and Jessana Mertens earned some good meet experience," he said.

Sun Prairie

The Trojans finished 11th of 12 teams at the Sun Prairie Invitational on April 22.

"Bri Weigman had an awesome meet," LoPresti said. "It was an excellent meet for Bri. She also ran a leg on the 4x100 relay that included Lauren Nemitz, Moira Brown and Brishaun Bailey.

Weigman scored all 16 points for the Trojans, taking second in the 100-meter dash with a personal-best 12.97 and finishing second in the high jump (5 feet, 2 inches).

LoPresti focused on the experience gained by his younger athletes.

"It was an excellent meet experience for our young sprinters," he said. "They raced Wednesday night in a JV meet, then came back on Friday and raced varsity. That's very tough to do, and the whole group deserves credit for some excellent races."

He then talked about some personal performances.

"Moira Brown and Brishaun Bailey are excellent young sprinters that continue to improve," he said. "Lauren Nemitz had a great meet jumping and sprinting. Kim Mai vaulted really well, going 7-6 and running a solid race. Ella Hagopian continues to improve in the vault.

"Julia Larson ran an awesome 400 (1:07.25), an excellent time for a freshman. Ashley Salomone continues to improve with more and more races, and we look forward to her running the 300 lows next week at the Dan Benson."