Just hours before competing in the Jack Morse Relays on Monday night at Manley Field House, Trenton Sparks’ thoughts were far from the track.
A day after turning 18, Sparks, a senior at Corcoran High School, was walking to his next class when he saw a fight breaking out in the hallway. When Sparks saw a friend involved, he rushed in to break up the melee.
But in the process of doing so, Sparks was stabbed in his left arm. Only after he had left the scene, gone to his next class and taken off his hooded sweatshirt did Sparks realize he had been injured.
Sparks immediately went to University Hospital, where he was treated with seven stitches and released. On the surface, it seemed like just another violent incident with an unintended victim.
What made this more remarkable, though, was the fact that Sparks went to Manley that very night, ran in the Jack Morse Relays — and helped his Corcoran team finish second in the team standings with 23 points. Only Cicero-North Syracuse (52 points) fared better.
In the 4×200 relay, Sparks ran the anchor leg with Jerry Adams, Quon Green and Rasheid Burns, and the Cougars finished second in a time of 1:39.04, just behind West Genesee (1:38.38) at the wire.
Also, in the 4×400, Sparks helped the Cougars finish fourth, as he combined with Green, Jordan Moore and Chris Graham for a time of 3:49.76. Christian Breland and Antoine Tearney teamed to give the Cougars third place (17.23 seconds) in the 55-meter hurdles.
Corcoran also tied for 10th in the girls part of the Morse Relays. Henninger shared sixth place with 16 points, winning the shot put as Kayla Grant tossed it 34 feet 10 1/2 inches, tops among individuals, and teamed with Nicky Sereluca for a win with 56 feet 9 1/4 inches.
