By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — Salisbury indoor track coach Hanson Saryee says everyone who shows up for the first day of track and field practice is convinced that he or she is a sprinter.

“The coach’s job is to observe them and make sure to get them in the right events that are best for them and the team,” Saryee said cheerfully. “They’re not all sprinters.”

But some of them definitely are.

When Saryee was hired as the Hornets’ new indoor track coach last October, he inherited several legit sprinters. He knows a sprinter when he sees one, as he was once an accomplished sprinter for the Hornets himself, as well as a very swift soccer player.

Leading the list of current Salisbury sprinters is sophomore Christyonna Lewis.

She opened eyes as a freshman phenom last winter, a born sprinter, and was honored as the Post’s Indoor Track Female Athlete of the Year.

Now she’s a two-time honoree. She produced an even more phenomenal winter season as a junior. It included a three-ring day in the 1A/2A State Championships in Winston-Salem.

Indoor track features different distances from the outdoor season. Lewis won the 300 meters in 41 flat, edging teammate Tai’lah Ward, who transferred from North Rowan. Lewis was sixth in the 55 meters in 7.39.

Lewis’ other two golds came in the relays. In the 4×400, Lewis ran the anchor leg after Millie Wymbs, Cora Wymbs and Maddie Crabb set the table. The Hornets clocked 4:15.57.

Lewis had a different role in the 4×200 win, taking the second leg between the Wymbs sisters. Ward, a power runner, finished that one for the Hornets in 1:47.62. Ward won by an eyelash over a South Granville sprinter. That was a quick time for the Hornets, about a half-second off the 1A/2A state meet record.

“We work really hard on the relays,” Saryee said. “Always tweaking and trying to find the best possible combination.”

Being able to excel in individual events as different as the 55 meters and the 300 meters makes Lewis an exciting college prospect.

“It’s a challenge to find what she will be best at, but she’s still young, still learning and still growing,” Saryee said. “I don’t think we can say yet that she’s a 300 runner or a 400 runner or a 200 runner. I don’t think it’s possible to say right now what her best event is going to be. Let’s let her keep running and working and we’ll see what her limits are. I do know that with her versatility she’s going to be a four-event person at any level.”

What makes Lewis so special?

“She has an unusual combination of speed and stamina,” Saryee said. “And it’s important that she is open to constructive criticism and will try new things. She’s coachable. Some great athletes don’t want to hear how they can do something better, but she listens and she makes adjustments. Because of her work ethic and because she is coachable, she is going to continue to improve.”

As a freshman, Lewis was seventh in the Indoor Championships in the 55 meters and placed second in the 300 behind Albemarle’s Akala Garrett, a senior who was recruited by Texas. Lewis anchored the 4×400 relay team that won the gold medal in 4:15.59. She also anchored the 4×200 relay unit that finished second.

In her freshman outdoor season, Lewis scored in all four of her events in the 2A State Championships. She was third in the 400, sixth in the 200 and third in the 4×200.

She ran the third leg on a triumphant 4×400 team that provided her second taste of a state championship.

So this winter’s three indoor titles have bumped her career total to five golds, four indoor and one outdoor, at the state level.

There’s a good chance that total will continue to grow. She has a chance to wind up as one of the county’s most decorated female track performers.

Great potential can be either a curse or a blessing.

For Lewis, who is still at an early stage of her high school career, there is no doubt that she’s going to make the most of her considerable gifts.

•••

Salisbury had a stout state meet, keyed by relay success, scoring 47 points for third place behind Swain County and Cummings.

Scorers in the state meets:

Salisbury

Christyonna Lewis –  55 meters, 6th, 7.39 seconds and 300 meters, 1st, 41.00

Tai’lah Ward — 300 meters, 2nd, 41.27

Millie Wymbs — 500 meters, 3rd, 1:22.45

4×200 — Cora Wymbs, Lewis, M. Wymbs, Ward, 1st, 1:47.62

4×400 — M. Wymbs, C.Wymbs, Maddie Crabb, Lewis, 1st, 4:15.57

North Rowan

Brittany Ellis — A basketball player who hadn’t been practicing track, Ellis nonetheless placed third in the shot put, 34-0.25

South Rowan

Macy Miller — 5th in the high jump in the 3A State Championships, 5 feet

Indoor Track Athlete of the Year — Christyonna Lewis, Salisbury

Indoor Track Coach of the Year — Hanson Saryee, Salisbury

 

 

 

 

Lewis placed fourth in the 200 meter race for freshmen (25.71) and was honored as a Freshman All-American.

Corpening produced a PR long jump of 16 feet, 5.75 inches.

After the success of indoor track, Salisbury outdoor track has momentum. Morris reports 55 to 60 boys and girls are participating in the outdoor track season. The Hornet boys won back-to-back 2A state titles during Morris’ time (2009 and 2010), and he wants to see that happen again.

“We’ve got Salisbury alums like Ibn Ali and Nick Summers out here helping coach, and they’re pouring all the knowledge and experience they’ve got into these young athletes,” Morris said. “It’s good to see Salisbury track strong. It’s like a breath of fresh air.”

•••

Girls indoor track

Performer of the Year — Christyonna Lewis, Salisbury

Coach of the Year —  Romar Morris, Salisbury

1A/2A State Championships

Tai’lah Ward, North, 4th, 300 meters

Aniya Brown, North, 4th, 55 hurdles and 5th, triple jump

Brittany Ellis, North, 7th, shot put

3A State Championships

Macy Miller, South, 4th, high jump