Girls track coach of the year

Chris Humphreys
Published: May 3, 2008

It did not take long for Lance Carter to have a big impact on Amherst’s track program after leaving Appomattox. In just his second year with the Lancers, he took the girls track team from a seventh-place finish at the 2007 Seminole District indoor track meet to a fourth-place finish in the Group AA state meet. That is why Carter was selected as The News & Advance’s all-area girls indoor track coach of the year.

“It’s been fantastic,” said Carter. “The kids are unreal and there are a lot of great athletes here. Last year, the kids were getting to know me and I was getting to know them and put them in the right position. This year, we’ve got them in the right spots and the girls have really picked it up from last year to this year. We came from nowhere up to the top.”

What’s scarier than Amherst’s quick ascent is that the Lancers are primarily a sophomore- and junior -driven team.

“McKinsie Harris is our only senior and the rest of the girls will back next year,” Carter said. “We’ve started a little slow, but hopefully are peaking at the end of the year for the district, regional and state (meets).”

Amherst certainly did that. The Lancers finished third at the supremely competitive Seminole District meet this year, but followed that up with a third-place finish at the Region III meet and the fourth-place finish at the state meet.

His jumpers are particularly scary after pulling off something that Carter says he won’t soon forget.

Juniors LaCear Hubbard and Candace Davis claimed Group AA state titles in the long jump (17-4.75) and the triple jump (35-10.25), respectively.

Hubbard also finished 16th in the high jump (4-8) and the triple jump (33-1). Davis also took 12th in the long jump (16).

“You never dream of having the top two jumpers in the state,” Carter said. “Even if it looks like that on paper, you never expect it. I’ll remember that for a long time.”

A pair of sophomores also had some impressive finishes at the state meet. Shawna Kyle was second in the long jump (17-3.5) and Olivia Turner finished 19th in the high jump.

“Our jumpers (had some key performances at the state meet), “said Cater. “That right there was a lot of points and we knew they would have a shot and they did exactly what we expected.”