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Casseus, Jones excel to lead Cleveland boys to second-place finish at state track meet
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Benjedi Casseus began wearing neon yellow socks and matching cleats in middle school as a way for his parents - from their seats in the stands - to identify him among other runners at track meets.
The easiest way to locate Cleveland High School's talented senior athlete now is to simply look at the front of the pack of hurdlers.
Casseus ran a personal-best time of 13.99 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles Thursday evening at the TSSAA Division I Large Class track and field meet to win his second straight state championship, then narrowly finished second in the 300 hurdles.
"When I was younger and my parents would come to meets, they always had a hard time figuring out which kid was me," Casseus said with a laugh. "So I figured if I wore some loud, neon-colored socks and shoes, they could see me a lot easier."
Casseus entered the race with the fourth-fastest time, behind junior teammate Eric Parker, who had the state's fastest qualifying time. But Parker clipped the final hurdle and stumbled at the finish. Moments later, Casseus consoled his teammate.
"Me and Eric are good friends, and I just wanted to encourage him that he would come back next year and win it all," Casseus said. "I really didn't look around to see who was near me. I just ran my race. To finish my high school career like this is pretty special."
Cleveland's boys finished second in the team standings, four points behind Brentwood.
Cleveland's Keegan Jones won the 200-meter dash (21.10) and finished third in the long jump and the 100. The Blue Raiders' 4x100 relay team was third.
Red Bank senior Cole Bullock, who had qualified first in the 1600 and 3200, led the 1600 for more than three laps but tired near the end and collapsed before rising and managing to finish fourth.
In the girls' meet, Cleveland's Tiyanna Johnson was second in the 100.
"I was a little disappointed because I don't think I ran as fast as I can," said Johnson, who also ran in the 200 and the 4x200. "I was pretty nervous with the big crowd here."
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or (423) 757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.
