DIVISION II TRACK Liberty foursome wins 4x100 crown

Last season, the Leopards placed third in the state meet.
By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
DAYTON -- Liberty junior Jasmine Smith was ready to sit down and enjoy the Leopards' victory in the 4x100-meter relay on Saturday when a track official walked up with a clipboard in his hand, asking the Leopards to fill out some information.
The same thing happened after Friday's preliminary race, when the Leopards set a state meet record in the event.
Now he wanted them to fill it out again, and Smith was getting annoyed.
"I filled it out yesterday," she said. "He must have forgot."
He didn't. The Leopards had simply broken the record again, running a time of 48.92 to break Friday's mark of 48.97 and take first at the Division II state track and field meet at Welcome Stadium.
"It feels different," said Smith, who also ran the first leg of Liberty's fourth-place 4x200 relay. "I thought we'd do well in the 4x200. But I knew when I came off the block that we'd win it."
Seeing the signs
Liberty won the 4x200 last year and the school put up a sign commemorating the victory on Belmont Avenue.
"Now we'll get two signs," said senior Brittny Humphrey, who ran the second leg. "Maybe a little bigger this time."
The Leopards returned all four members of last year's 4x100 relay, which placed third at the state meet.
It's obvious they have good chemistry. They don't just finish races together -- they finish sentences together.
"We're stronger than last year," anchor Jessica White said.
"Our handoffs are better," sophomore Ami Markowitz said.
"And we knew what to expect," Humphrey said.
The win was nice, but the Leopards were disappointed in their 4x200 finish. But Liberty ran 1:44.51 -- it ran 1:44.22 last year -- which would have been good enough to win last year's race.
"I don't think we did anything wrong," Smith said. "The time we ran was what we usually run. Some of the teams were just faster."
White also placed second in the 100 on Saturday with a time of 12.22 and fourth in the 200 with a time of 25.45.
scalzo@vindy.com