(by Coach Gary Jones)
This Saturday, will mark the third year of the newly revived Westminster Relays. Back in the 1950's, legendary Coach Paul Koshewa started the Westminster Relays with the hopes of bringing together the best talent from around the metro Atlanta area and beyond. Under Coach Koshewa's leadership, the meet quickly grew to become one of the biggest and most competitive high school meets in the south. This year, over 20 teams from various parts of the state will make their way to West Paces Ferry Road, to partake in a plethora of unique relay races from the 800 Sprint Medley all the way up to the 4x1600m relay.
On the girls side, Dutchtown appears to have the strongest sprint squad going in, as they boast the fastest seed times in the showcase 100m dash (Chelsea Tate), the 4x100, and the 4x200. Walton should be able to give Dutchtown "a run for their money" with hurdler Elasia Campbell favored to win both the 100m hurdles and 300m hurdles. The distance battle will feature perennial power Marist, Hillgrove, and the host school Westminster. Westminster's distance girls are anchored by junior Naima Turbes, who is coming off of a first place finish at the Pepsi Florida Relays and currently has the fastest 1600m time in the state of Georgia out of all classifications.
Not only will this meet bring you some of the very best that Georgia has to offer in the girls track events, it will also feature some outstanding young ladies in the field. Kyarra Newton from Greenbrier hopes to improve her 5'-7" mark in the High Jump and 18'-10.5" in the Long Jump. Walker's MacKenzie Gignilliat and The Weber School's Ariel Arbiv plan to soar above 12' in the Pole Vault. Camryn Johnson from Atlanta Girls School, is seeded first in the Shot put while Alyssa Bennett from Bremen looks to win the girls Discus event.
For the boys sprints, it appears to be a 3 school race between Archer, Dutchtown, and South Gwinnett. Terell Smith of South Gwinnett, comes in with the fastest seed time in the showcase 100 (10.32). Kameron Jones of Dutchtown looks to win both the 100m hurdles and the 300m hurdles. His greatest competition will most likely come from Chidi Okebalama from Archer.
If you have a taste for an old fashioned distance duels, then look no further than the Westminster Relays. Archer, Brookwood, Hillgrove, Lakeside DeKalb, Walton, and Westminster are all bringing in stacked distance squads to this meet. Your guess is as good as mine as to who will emerge on top in the boys 4x1600, 4x800, or Distance Medley relays.
Last, but certainly not least, the boys Field events should be very competitive as well. Westminster's Paris Howland is favored to win both the High Jump and Long Jump. West Forsyth is bringing Georgia's all classification leading pole vaulter, Jack Haller to the big dance. Archer's Walter Klima and Curtis Hill have made plans to go 1 - 2 in the Shot.
All in all, the Westminster Relays will certainly have something to offer for all Track & Field spectators. Race fans will enjoy instant results on Westminster's brand new digital scoreboard. The meet offers FREE admission, as well as FREE parking for all spectators. We hope to see you this Saturday at the Westminster Relays!