The Dover High and Lake Forest High boys’ teams are off to a fast start at the Henlopen Conference track and field championships.

Lake Forest won two of the five finals contested on Thursday while Dover won one but the Senators had the most success of any team in the three preliminary events for the finals today. Dover qualified a combined seven runners for the finals of the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash and 110-meter hurdles.

On the girls side, it looks like it will come down to Caesar Rodney and Smyrna for the third year in a row. Smyrna has won the last two titles with CR coming in second both times.

Dover anchor Ronald Jones hits the finish line to win the 4x800 relay in the Henlopen Conference track and field championships Thursday. (Special To The Delaware State News/Gary Emeigh).

The Riders won a pair of events on Thursday and Smyrna took one. The finals begin today at Lake Forest with field events starting at 4:30 p.m. and track events beginning at 5 p.m. The last even is scheduled for 8:20 p.m. with the trophy ceremony following immediately after.

Dover is trying to repeat as conference champions and the Senators won the regular season crown with a 13-0 overall record. Their closest conference dual meet was to Lake Forest, the Senators won that 77-67 on April 30.

John Flamer and Josiah Purnell each won an individual title for Lake on Thursday. Flamer was first in the shot put with a throw of 54-feet-8-inches.

Purnell won the high jump, clearing 6-feet-2-inches. His teammate Henry Miller also jumped 6-2, in more attempts, to come in second and help Lake take 18 points in the event.

Dover’s team of Christian Adkins, Ronald Jones, Kyron Robert and Nyjal Draton opened the day by winning the 4x800-meter relay in a time of 8:17.10. Other individual winners included Sussex Caesar Rodney’s Rasheed Teasley in the high jump and Sussex Tech’s Sam Hete in the 3200-meter run.

Darius Taylor paced a strong field of Dover sprinters by qualifying with the top time in both the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes. Taylor was the only runner under 23 seconds in the 200-meter (22.96) and was tops in the 100 with a time of 11.48.

The Senators also advanced Alshawn Wheeler and John Rodel Castro into both finals. Aaron Johnson qualified for the 110-meter hurdles finals.

Miller led all boys’ hurdlers with a time of 15.29 in the prelims and the Spartans also had Travon Guy (16.03) and Javonte Freeman (16.67) make the finals

The CR girls’ 4x800-meter team of Kristin Grismer, Lauren Grismer, Natahsa Feuerstein and Jeanette Bendolph won with a time of 10:04.80. Ali Dollins took home an individual championship in the triple jump, jumping 16-feet-10.25-inches.

Myrissa McFolling-Young of Smyrna topped the field in the discus (102-feet) and Brittany Oliver of Sussex Tech won the pole vault (10-feet).

Polytech’s Amber Lust had a great day in the preliminaries, with the best time in the 100-meter dash (13.20) and the 110-meter hurdles (15.55). Lust was second in the 200 with a time of 26.23, just behind Sussex Tech’s Lakendra Harpe (26.19).

Smyrna has two sprinters in both the 100 and 200 finals with Nnennaya Okorie and Madison Keister in the 100 while Keister and Jameela Buchanan made it in the 200. Aurora King qualified for both the 100 and 200 finals as the only runner from Caesar Rodney.