By Erik Harris
BIRMINGHAM – Behind the nation’s strongest jump of the year, Noah Igbinoghene and Hewitt-Trussville finished No. 14 as a team at Saturday’s Holiday Invitational in Birmingham. The girls came through at No. 26 at the indoor track and field event.
Igbinoghene had little competition on Saturday when he flew 14.94 meters in the triple jump. The closest competitor – Thompson’s Corey Burroughs – went 13.32 meters.
“As of this weekend, he’s No. 1 in the nation,” said Hewitt-Trussville head coach David Dobbs. “Because of the jump he made over the summer, he’s No. 3 in the long jump, so that’s going to go a long way to help his recruiting in football and track. He’s getting a lot of people interested in both.”
Also in boys action, Ben Knox brought a strong performance. The senior finished 4th in the 1,600-meter run and 7th in the 3,200-meter run. His efforts gave the Huskies seven of their 31 overall points.
Hewitt-Trussville got another four points from its 4×800 relay team, who stopped the clock at 8:41.20 to finish No. 6.
John Ngaruiya and Jake Diggs also posted strong performances, finishing 4th and 5th in their respective races.
Wheelchair athlete, Collin LaFon, earned the Huskies another point with a throw of 3.86 meters in the shotput event. That toss mad him the first indoor paralympian in state history.
“It was a real honor to have [LaFon] in there to represent the school and to see what he can do,” said Dobbs. “He’s shoot to try to qualify for the 2020 Paralympics. I feel that if he’ll work like he’s able to, that he’ll be knocking on the door of the national age group record that he’s going for. He’s a good worker.”
On the girls side, the Huskies ran well in two relay races. They finished No. 6 in the 4×800-meter relay and No. 7 in the 4×200-meter relay, collecting seven of their 11 overall points.
The remaining four points came from senior Marlee Mason, who stopped the clock at 5:26.32 in the 1,600-meter run. That outing was good enough for No. 5 out of 69 runners.
Erik Harris is the Sports Editor for the Trussville Tribune. Follow him on Twitter @jeharris2 or email him at jmseharris2@gmail.com.