Alonso Track and Field/Cross Country

So outdated was the Ravens first ever track and field record board, that of the 36 marks encompassing both cross country and track and field, 32 of them had been broken.

Well, out with the old and in with the new.

The new Ravens Track and Field record board was unveiled in the gymnasium in early April (2016), finally replacing its sadly outdated predecessor. The new record board, a fluid mixture of Vegas Gold, navy and white set on a metal frame, features replaceable sliders that make posting new marks a lot easier, and less expensive.Good thing.

Within one week of the new board going up, Jawaun Stuckey and Kayla Skelton set new standards in the boys 800M and girls 3200M respectively.“When we put up the original record board it served as a tool of motivation for the athletes,” head coach Roger Mills said. “Suddenly, the athletes had something tangible that expressed how they had performed. Suddenly, everyone wanted to be on that record board, and suddenly records started to fall. It’s the hope of the program that the new record board will inspire a similar reaction.”

It has. At Saturday's Steinbrenner Invitational, Skelton opened the day by setting a new 3200M mark with a time of 12:57.53, taking down the standard set by Rebecca Gardner seven years ago. Stuckey then clipped his own 800M record with a new time of 2:00.20. Both new records were set after the board was already put up in the gym. It will have to be changed at the end of the season.

“That’s the whole idea,” Mills said. “Having to spend money every year to replace marks on the record board means we are performing on the field and improving as a program.”

The new record board does highlight some strong Raven performances over the past nine seasons. Most of them are top flight efforts that reflect state level performances. None more so than Quatasia Fantroy’s stunning triple jump record of 38 ft, 9.75 inches, set in 2013. That jump won Fantroy and Alonso its first and only individual track and field state champion title.

Fantroy leads a crew of impressive Ravens who dominate the board. There are 15 athletes whose names appear on the board more than once. Of those, Stuckey, Connor Halden, Tia Steward and Jasmine Jackson are members of the 2016 team. Fantroy, Megan Wetzel and Brandon Holloway have a stranglehold of four records each, while 2015 graduate Savannah Torres appears on the board three times.

Other multi-named athletes include Makayla Byrd (1600, 4x800), Franklin Mosely (400, 4x400), Demonte McAllister (shot put, discus), Jordan Davis (4x400, triple jump), William Taylor-Haynes (110H, 300H) and Matt Broderick (3200, 5K).

Some of the marks are have been in place for quite some time. Broderick’s records in the 5K and two mile date back to 2003 and 2004 respectively, Wesley Jacob’s pole vault accomplishment was in 2006, and Megan Broderick’s 5K standard was set in 2003.“Those have got to go,” Mills said. “The goal is to do whatever we can to take down records that are 10 years old. That’s simply too long.”