(photos by Enrique Tomas and Marc Logan)
5A Boys
Anamuel McDowell spearheaded the Bears to their 1st State Track title in 41 years by winning a Gold in the LJ with a mark of 24-3.50 and he also took 3rd in the TJ with bound of 46-9.75
McDowell also took Gold in the HJ with Georgia State meet best bar of 6-10!
Griffin HS boys came through in fine fashion in Carrollton capitalizing on almost all of their scoring opportunities scoring 59 points beating region rival Union Grove by 8 points. Amanuel McDowell rang up 26 points in the Field, with Golds in the HJ, LJ and a Bronze medal in the TJ. Quez Miller added 8 big points in the HJ with a bar of 6-4. Darryl Mathews sped to Gold in the 100m dash going 10.70 in a tight race and later placed 4th in the 200m (21.95) The Bears' began Finals by racing to Silver in the 4x100 relay clocking a 41.36 Union Grove had a great meet taking the 2nd spot on the team Podium followed by 2018 champ Dutchtown and Eagle's Landing HS who shot up to 4th after winning the 4x400 relay.
Dutchtown was on fire in the 4x100 relay burning down a time of 41.09 taking Gold
Ja' Shaun Poke of Dutchtown found another gear in the final 20m of 400m overtaking Chuck Shawn Collins of Miller Grove for the win in a very fast time of 46.99
Darryl Mathews from Griffin had a burst in the final 20m of the 100 race taking the 5A boys crown for the Bears' in 10.70
Carl Stephens from Stockbridge HS won the 110h with perfect form going 14.14
Harrison Fultz of Starrs Mill bested region rival Domonic Macias of Union Grove for Gold in the 800m run clocking a sweet 1:52.96
Jordan Barrow of Arabia Mountain raced to 200m Gold laying down a time of 21.49
Samuel Smith of Union Grove hurdled to 300h Gold with a very swift time of 36.97
Eagle's Landing HS held off a hard charging SW DeKalb squad seizing the day and jetting up to a team Podium spot having a time of 3:14.43
5A Girls
5A Girls Team Champs are Buford
Buford made it 3 straight 5A titles in a row behind all their speed and without the services of top short sprinter Alexa Rossum who was injured before/at region. The Lady Wolves kept pouring it on till the end cashing in for 72 team points for a victory margin of 29 points. Coming into Finals, Buford had only 4 points, but had 'full metal jacket' rounds in the chamber loaded for Saturday. They began by winning the 4x100 in 46.25 with a game Miller Grove squad pushing them hard. They struck for 16 points in the 400m behind nationally ranked Kimberly Harris winning Gold at 53.28 and team mate Trinity Price taking 3rd place in 55.81 Trinity Rossum got into the act scoring Silver in the 100m going 12.00, Debra Ogundimu hurdled to 4th place in the 100h. Harris then added her 3rd Gold medal of the meet smoking the field clocking a 23.63 with Price chipping in 5 points placing 4th and Buford wasn't done competing by a far stretch, as they ripped a 3:44.28 to end their scoring blitz. It was a good battle for the last 3 team Podium spots, with Miller Grove rising to runnerup honors with 43 points, 2 points back was Maynard Jackson with Riverwood International claiming 4th.
(no 4x100 pic)
Kimberly Harris ran away with the 400m title posting a 53.28
Lashanti Williams of Clarke Central peaked at State taking the 100m dash honors going 11.88
Darci Khan of Stockbridge captued the 100h title posting a great time of 13.76
Emoni Coleman of Miller Grove outlasted Kayla Rose of McIntosh claiming 800m Gold with a time of 2:15.86
It was the Kimberly Harris show in the 5A 200m dash as she went full bore laying down a time of 23.63
Niya Benton Andrews of Maynard Jackson flat out tore it up in the 300h, as she had an amazing race clocking a nationally ranked time of 41.38
It was all Buford in the 4x400 as one can see no other team in the background as the Wolves' put the icing on the cake for a 3-peat in 5A with a sizzling time of 3:44.28