CHARLOTTE - Sexton's track team has its own track to practice on, and the Big Reds celebrated by running away with the boys class A regional track meet here Friday, May 20.

Coach Dan Boggan's boys placed first in 10 events to tally 142.28 points. East Lansing finished a distant second with 64.28. Waverly scored 49 points to finish fifth.

"We got back on the track this week," Boggan said, "and it was just in the nick of time. It made a tremendous difference - especially in the hurdles and long jump."

Sexton won all but one of the relay events and qualified performers in nine open events. The Big Reds will have entry's in 13 of the 17 events in state meet to be held June 4 at Caledonia High School. Finals begin at 1:30.

The Big Reds should be among the leading contenders. Boles will be seeded first in shot put and Allen and Bunkley will be seeded third and fifth in the long jump.

"We had kids competing in 10 events last year," Boggan said. "Having kids in 13 events should improve our chances."

Sexton finished second in the state meet last year, losing when a relay team missed an exchange and was disqualified. Jon Boles and Tymal Dodd had the top individual performances. Boles won the shot put and discuss, while Dodd captured the high and low hurdles.

Boles won the shot with a toss of 56'-5", and the discus at 149'-3". Dodd, who had seen his times climb during the Reds' "homeless" period, regained some of his early season form, edging East Lansing's Matt Paris in the 110-meter high's clocking 14.1.

It was the closest race of the day, a photo finish. Paris was timed at 14.11. The pair also dueled in the 300 meter low hurdles with Dodd claiming the event with a 38.6 performance. Paris ran 38.7. Jon Allen claimed the long jump, leaping 22'-5" with Tyler Bunckley placing second to qualify for state competition. It was the first time Allen had reached 22 feet since they had been banned from the track. Jacob Wyatt won the 400 meters clocking 48.7, and Kevin Lawson won to 200 in a time of 22.0. Bryan Tucker finished second in the 200 to qualify at 22.5. Lawson also qualified in the 100 meters, finishing second to Waverly's Dante Dunn. Bryan Merrill qualified in the 800 meters placing second with a time of 2:02.0. Merrill joined Dodd, Tucker, and Wyatt to win the 4x400 meter relay in a time of 3:22.6.

Teamed with Wyatt, Terrell Blackwell, and Marcus Cousins to win the 4x800 relay in 8:13.9. Waverly placed second. Lawson, Dodd, Tucker and Wyatt teamed to win the 4x200 relay with a time of 1:28. East Lansing finished second. Sexton's 4x100 relay team of Lawson, Jordon Hinton, Anthony Brandon and Allen qualified with a second place finish behind Waverly.

The Warriors ran 42.7. Sexton was clocked at 43.2.

Sexton wins third straight Capital Area Athletic Conference crown championship.

Sexton High school's boys track team won seven events to earn its third straight Capital Area Athletic Conference championship May 25 at Okemos.

Coach Dan Boggan's Big Reds warmed up for their attempt to win a state championship scoring 157 1/2 points. Grand Ledge finished second with 107, and East Lansing placed third with 106.

Tymal Dodd was the meet's only double winner setting a conference record in the 110 meter high hurdles at :14.14. He ran :38.91 to win the 300 meter lows. It was cold and windy.

Bryan Merrill won the 800 meters dropping his time 4 seconds for a blazing 1:58.7. He joined Dodd, Bryan Tucker and Jacob Wyatt to win the 4x400 meter relay. Dodd, Tucker, Wyatt and Kevin Lawson won the 4x200 relay in a time of 1:28.7. Jon Boles won the shot put, Wyatt won the 400, and Jon Allen won the long jump.