Saturday's Paper.Wish us luck

A-G trio enters regional unbeatenBy Tony Castleberry, The Daily Reflector
Saturday, May 13, 2006
In addition to being a teacher and a coach, Jeff Dufour is also heavily involved in construction.
But Dufour's building doesn't involve cement, bricks, 2-by-4s, hammers or nails. Instead, Dufour is building a successful track and field program at Ayden-Grifton High School.
When the Class 1-A Mideast Regionals begin today at Rosewood High, the Chargers will have 19 boys and six girls competing. Those are remarkable numbers considering only 19 kids made up the A-G squad a year ago.
"We've got 42 athletes this year and we're looking to expand to 60 next year," Dufour said after practice at Ayden-Grifton earlier this week. "We want to make it a viable program."
With the way the Chargers are running, jumping and throwing this season, Dufour and assistant coaches Janarde Cannon and Jermaine Alston are well on their way to doing just that, if they haven't done it already.
A trio of boys' runners have led the way for A-G this season. Perseus Williams (100-meter dash), Courtney Fuller (110 high hurdles, 300 hurdles) and Matt Daugherty (1,600) all carry undefeated records into regionals. Williams posted a blazing 10.71-second time – his fastest this season – at the Carolina Conference championships May 3, an event the Charger boys won, in fact dominated, for the first time in school history.
Fuller has clocked a 15.78 in the 110 hurdles and 41.75 in the 300 hurdles as well as clearing a stellar 6 feet, 4 inches in the high jump – the 10th-best effort in the state this year regardless of Class.
Daugherty broke 5 minutes in the mile, clocking a season-best 4:55 while not losing a 1,600 event all season. Daugherty is seeded second in the mile and two-mile and is the third seed in the 800.
Fuller earned the top seed in the high jump and is seeded second and fourth in the 300 hurdles and 110 hurdles, respectively. Williams is the No. 1 seed in the 100 and second in the 200.
While Dufour and the coaches certainly deserve some credit for A-G's performance, the head coach deflects most of the attention to his student-athletes.
"A lot of it has been their work ethic," Dufour said. "They came in, day in and day out, and they've worked hard. They've mentored each other. They've made sure that nobody's been slacking."
With continued success, Dufour expects even more kids to try out for the A-G track and field program in the future. What happened after the boys took the Carolina Conference crown only made the coach's outlook that much more rosy.
"After the guys won the conference championships, they were wearing their medals around their necks (at school) and I had about 25 kids come up to me and say, 'Hey, I want to be a part of that next year,'" Dufour said. "So we know we're going to have a good program next year. I'm looking forward to it."
Following is a list of athletes from Pitt County schools who have qualified for this Saturday's regional meets. After the athlete's name is the event(s) they'll participate in:
Class 1-A
Mideast Regional
Rosewood High
Goldsboro
Ayden-Grifton qualifiers: Boys – Perseus Williams, 100, 200; Courtney Fuller, 110 and 300 hurdles, high jump; Matt Daugherty, 800, 1,600, 3,200; Jordan Cayton, 400; Josh Crane, high jump, shot put, discus; Jordan Evans, 1,600; Daniel Greene 100, 200, high jump; Jeremy Hardy, 300 hurdles; Joshua Hunter, discus; Marcus Moore, 200; Jarvis Murphy, 400, Ken Spady, triple jump; Steven Vines, 100 hurdles; Relays – 4X100; 4X200; 4X400; 4X800.
Girls – Khadeeja Boss, 100 hurdles; Angelica Curry, 200; Felicia Pope, 800; Shannon Quinerly, 100 hurdles; Relays – 4X100.