It’s the Infinite Tucker Show at Taco Bell Classic
It was the Infinite Tucker Show last weekend at the Taco Bell Classic at Spring Valley High School’s Harry Parone Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina. The Huntington High School senior walked away with four medals along with some bumps and bruises following a classic finish in the premier relay race.
Tucker won the 400m high hurdles, came in a close second in the 110m high hurdles, anchored the Blue Devils’ winning 4x400m relay and finished fourth in long jump. His performance helped Huntington finish in a tie for second place in the team standings with 41 points. The competition drew more than 2,500 competitors from nearly 300 high schools spread across more than a dozen states.
Perhaps the highlight of the entire two day competition was the 4x400m relay finals that pitted Huntington against longtime nemesis Archbishop Carroll of Washington, DC and Newton, which won the team championship. Kyree Johnson, Lawrence Leake and Shane McGuire aptly handled the first three legs of the Saturday night race before Tucker took over.
“Infinite gave it everything he had,” said Ron Wilson, Huntington’s head coach. The senior went all-out, sprinting the final 400 meters and diving across the finish line while the Blue Devils held their collective breath.
It was a photo finish with Archbishop Carroll and officials took their time trying to determine who won the race. About five minutes passed before it was announced that Huntington had won by 1/100th of a second in a time of 3:22.13. The event drew 59 relay teams. Eventual team champion Newton took third place in the race.
“It was an incredible finish to a weekend filled with great competition,” Wilson said. “We had some nice performances and we also fell short in a few events and have more work to do.”
Huntington’s 4x800m relay shined in a race that drew 52 entries last Friday night. Mitch Rudish, Tom Kopstein, Shane McGuire and Kyle O’Brien finished second in a time of 8:07.81. “They were magnificent,” Wilson said.
Tucker’s winning effort in the 400m high hurdles came in an event that drew 65 competitors. The Blue Devil star finished in a time of 53.72 seconds. He was second in the 110m high hurdles after running 14:56 in the finals, nearly a half second off his qualifying heat time in an event that saw 90 athletes compete. Tucker clipped the last hurdle in the finals, which slowed him down.
Tucker was slightly off his game in long jump. A week earlier he tied a 34 year old Huntington record in the event with a leap of 24’6, but last weekend got stuck at 22’3, which placed him fourth out of 114 competitors.
In other action:
• Lawrence Leake was 13th in a field of 99 in the 400m run in a time of 50.52 seconds.
• Vernon Alexander was 15th in a field of 94 in shot put with a throw of 46’1 feet.
• Kyree Johnson was 18th in a field of 160 in the 200m dash in a time of 22.28 seconds.
• Tom Kopstein was 30th in a field of 175 in the 800m run in a time of 2:03.15.
• Shane McGuire was 54th in a field of 180 in the mile run in a time of 4:43.40.
Newton won the team title with 54 points as Huntington and Marietta finished in a tie for second place with 41 points each. Of the nearly 300 teams competing, 77 scored points by placing an athlete in the top eight of an event.
Huntington’s second place finish is an improvement over last year’s performance when the Blue Devils finished eighth with 18 points.