Jones, Valdez lead Berwick to 6th-place finish

Berwick High School’s Kenan Jones came into Saturday’s portion of the 2016 Allstate Sugar Bowl/LHSAA Track & Field State Meet as the Panthers headliner.
And at the conclusion of his third and final event Saturday, the Class 3A triple jump, Jones had not disappointed.
The sophomore placed second in the Class 3A triple jump and long jump and fourth in the high jump.
He, along with Class 3A 3,200-meter run runner-up Ian Valdez, teamed to lead Berwick to a sixth-place finish in team scoring with 32 points.
“I was just super pleased,” Berwick High Track and Field Coach Paul Gilder said of his team’s performance. “It’s great to be here and come with seven events. We could’ve had a few more, but it’s a lot of events, and we’ve scored the most points (at state) we’ve ever scored I think in the history of the school.”
On Saturday, Jones shattered personal bests and school records he had set earlier this season in the long jump and triple jump. He finished second in the long jump with a leap of 23 feet, 3.75 inches, besting his previous mark of 22 feet, 6 inches. He leaped 47 feet, 11.5 inches in the triple jump, topping his previous mark of 46 feet, 0.5 inches.
More impressive than the marks is what Jones overcame to get them.
Gilder said Jones had been getting treatment the last two weeks for an injury and wasn’t really able to practice.
“Those are just numbers that I never thought would be, and he’s just a sophomore,” Gilder said of the triple jump and long jump marks Jones achieved Saturday. “He didn’t have as great on the high jump, 6-2 … but it was an awesome day for him.”
Jones said he finished “about what I expected.”
He said he came into state confident he could win the triple jump. While Jones didn’t win it, he still reached the podium with a second-place finish.
“Things didn’t turn out the right way,” Jones said of the triple jump, “but I’m still glad.”
Lutcher’s Jontre Kirklin won the long jump with a leap of 23 feet, 7.25 inches, while Lusher Charter’s Ryan Theyard won the triple jump with a leap of 48 feet, 10.5 inches.
Jones cleared 6 feet, 2 inches in the high jump, and while he passed at 6 feet, 4 inches, he was unable to clear 6 feet, 6 inches.
Kirklin also took first in the high jump with a leap of 6 feet, 8 inches.
Jones bettered his seed in the triple jump entering state, which was fourth. His long jump finish topped his entry seed by two places, while he slipped one spot in the high jump after entering state tied for the third seed.
The school records in the long and triple jump that Jones broke earlier this season both were at least 30 years old. After breaking his triple jump mark earlier this season, Jones broke the mark multiple times since then.
Jones, who qualified for state in the triple jump as a freshman before adding the long jump and high jump this year, said his goal is to win state titles in all three events next year.
On the track, Valdez bettered his seed entering state by one spot after coming in seeded third. He finished Saturday’s meet with a time of 10:17.40.
“I’m proud of Ian Valdez for running 10:17 as state runner-up,” Gilder said.
Jewel Sumner’s Austin Ballow won the event with a time of 10:01.52.
Valdez’s performance was vastly improved from a year ago when he finished seventh at the state meet with a time of 11:01.49.
“From last year to this year, all my training, I’ve improved my miles, running more of them, and my sprint work, I’ve been running faster and just getting better steadily,” Valdez said.
While Valdez’s goal coming into state was to run the two-mile in less than 10 minutes, he was happy with the tradeoff of a second-place finish.
“I would have been disappointed if I didn’t get the medal and ran 10 flat, but I got the medal,” he said. “I can always run a 10 minute (mile) next year, but there’s only so many opportunities to get a medal.”
In other action, Berwick’s Orry Arcemont, who came in tied for the fourth seed in the javelin with a regional mark of 159 feet, 6 inches, equaled his fourth-place seed with a mark of 163 feet, 4 inches.
“Orry came in No. 4, came out No. 4,” Gilder said.
Berwick was scheduled to have an 800-meter competitor, Tyus Jones, but he was unable to participate due to unforeseen circumstances.
Jones, who also was scheduled to run on the Panthers 4x400-meter relay, was replaced by Arcemont. Berwick’s relay of Alvin Jones, Barrett Hover, Larenz Clark and Arcemont finished eighth with a time of 3:38.82.
The relay finished one slot below what it was seeded entering the event.
“The boys 4x4 team, to be able to be there, it’s just special,” Gilder said. “No. 8 in the state, there’s nothing wrong with that when you get to this level.”
Glen Oaks won the event with a time of 3:24.25.
Gilder expects to be back at the state meet next year with more competitors, considering every competitor Saturday was an underclassman.