SNOW HILL — There was cake and ice cream for Ramon “RJ” Peterson when he arrived home Wednesday night, Jan. 29 from the Bayside Conference indoor track and field championships.
It was the Kent County High School junior’s 17th birthday.
Equally worth celebrating was that he had been crowned a conference champion in the 300 meters.
Peterson was the headliner on a small KCHS contingent that made the long trek to the Worcester County Recreation Center. Among the others were junior Ke’yare Hawkins and senior Gavin Larrimore, who placed top five in the shot put; sophomore Amari-Chi Hollins, who had her best time in the 55 meters; and freshman Joey Homyack, who continued to lower his time in the 1600 meters.
Understandably so, Peterson was the center of attention.
He stopped the timer in 37.35 seconds, just a smidge off the school record of 37.15 that he set in December.
Cambridge-South Dorchester senior Antonio Blueford was the runner-up in a personal best of 37.82, followed by Colonel Richardson junior Jackson Jean in a PR of 38.19.
There were 31 entries in the race.
Peterson was not the first out of the blocks, “but coming around the second curve I pushed it up a gear and got what I knew had to be done,” he told The Evening Enterprise in an email.
“I had a little strategy of maintaining my stamina and saving some for the last little push,” he said in the email. “Antonio [Blueford] surprised me a little bit, I did not expect for him to put up a fight like he did, but that was light work for me.”
Peterson said he was “a little worried about the race at first” due to the lack of practices because of weather-related school closings throughout January. Also, two meets were cancelled in January because of the weather.
He did his best to run his own personal workouts “to keep me in the right state to compete,” Peterson told The Evening Enterprise.
After a successful outdoor track season last spring when he was a state qualifier in the 200 meters and as a member of the school’s record-setting 4×100-meter relay, Peterson pivoted from basketball to indoor track this winter. [He also is a receiver on the Trojans’ football team.]
“Last winter I participated in basketball not having an idea that track was one of my hidden talents,” Peterson said in a follow-up email.
“I decided to run track this winter over basketball because I feel like running track in college is my way out of Kent County. Even tho I love basketball, I had to do what I felt was right for me,” he wrote in the email.
As a Bayside Conference champion, on this day Peterson was the best on the Eastern Shore — that means all schools, large and small.
He described being a conference champion as “very soothing,” and said he was confident that was something he could achieve “with all the hard work I put in to complete this business trip.”
“I went up there for one thing and one thing only and that was to be a Bayside champion,” Peterson said in an email to The Evening Enterprise.
“I took this meet very serious, which is why I called it a ‘business trip.'”
And when Peterson returned to his Worton area home following that business trip, there really was cake — with candles.
“I got a vanilla cake and vanilla icing. Kept it basic, ” he said.
Peterson wasn’t the only Trojan to medal at last week’s conference championships.
Hawkins placed third in the shot put with a throw of 30 feet, 11 inches. She holds the school record of 35-3.25.
Parkside senior Alana King, who had been the front-runner throughout the regular season, established a meet record of 37-1.25 to lead the field of 26 competitors.
Washington senior Mikyla Bailey was the runner-up with a personal best of 31-3.25.
On the boys side, Snow Hill junior Myles Martin (44-4.5) edged Kent Island junior Josh Fuller (44-4) for the gold.
The battle for third was hotly contested between Cambridge senior Christen Dockins (39-2), Kent Island junior McGavin Mogel (39-1.5) and Larrimore (38-11.5).
Fuller, Dockins and Mogel all PRd.
Printed here are complete results for Kent County
GIRLS
55 meters: Amara-Chi Hollins, personal best of 9.01 seconds.
Shot put: Ke’yare Hawkins, 30 feet, 11 inches, third; and Laila Johnson, 22-2.
BOYS
55 meters: Bennett Harris, 7.61 seconds.
300 meters: RJ Peterson, 37.35 seconds, first.
500 meters: Trent Johnson, 1 minute, 19.48 seconds.
1600 meters: Joey Homyack, personal best of 5 minutes, 23.41 seconds.
Shot put: Gavin Larrimore, 38 feet, 11.5 inches.
****
Next up for the Trojans is the Class 1A East Region meet Friday, Feb. 7 at the Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex in Landover.
This is the qualifier for the Feb. 18 state championships, also in Landover.
The first-, second- and third-place finishers in each event automatically advance as well as the next top nine times or marks overall from the three regions.
In addition to the automatic qualifiers, individuals and relays who in their region finals meet the qualifying standards also will advance.
Hawkins, the defending region champ, and Larrimore were state qualifiers last year in the shot put.
There are 18 schools in the Class 1A East Region that have indoor track programs; seven of them are from Prince George’s County, another is from Anne Arundel County, two are from Cecil County and the remaining eight are from the Eastern Shore. In addition to KCHS, the Shore schools are Cambridge-South Dorchester, Colonel Richardson, Crisfield, Washington, Mardela, Pocomoke and Snow Hill.