Lydia Robinson winning the 400m at the Forsyth County Championshsips
Unsung Heroes Week 4 (March 7-12): Revenge of the Sophomores
It's already mid-March, and believe it or not, we've crossed the halfway mark for the 2022 track and field season. As the weather begins to warm, we are seeing some great marks set by runners and field athletes alike. This week was spring break for a few schools, so there weren't as many meets as usual, but that does not mean there weren't some incredible performances. This week, we finish our tour of the four grades by taking a look at the sophomores, a class which is often overlooked itself. New personal bests and great finishes abound in this week's article, and athletes are stamping themselves as contenders for the state meet in May.
"Unsung Heroes" recognizes some great individual performances from this past week across the state of Georgia that might have flown under the radar or gone underappreciated. One winner is selected from each of three categories (sprints/hurdles, distance, and field events) for both boys and girls. Enjoy!
Girls Winners
Sprints/Hurdles
25.67 in 200m at Forsyth County Track and Field Championships, 1st
58.07 in 400m at Forsyth County Track and Field Championships, 1st
12.77 in 100m at Forsyth County Track and Field Championships, 5th
This weekend, the Forsyth County Track and Field Championships held some of the most competitive races of the year so far. They showed some of the best talent in 7A from West Forsyth, South Forsyth, Lambert, Denmark, and more. The only school there that was not in 7A was East Forsyth, which is in its first year as a new school. Well, it has already put together some great track athletes. Robinson is one of those runners. She made it to 7A sectionals as a freshman in the 100 and 200 last year while running for North Forsyth, and this season she took her talents to new heights, winning the 200 and 400 with new personal bests and finishing in 5th in the 100. She will be tough to beat in 3A this season.
Distance
2:23.20 in 800m at Harrison Home Meet #1, 2nd
Marietta has built an amazing XC program, especially in the last few years. While this has led to some great team success, the unfortunate byproduct of an incredible team is that some very talented athletes get buried on the depth chart. McVicker was an example of this, as she finished in the 8th spot for the Blue Devils in XC in the fall. This spring, however, she has come to run, and she already achieved personal bests of 5:27 in the 1500 and 2:26 in the 800 before this weekend, where she finished second at the Harrison Home Meet in the 800 to fellow sophomore Samantha McGarity. She has been the first Marietta finisher in every 800 so far this season.
Field
36' 5.75" in Triple Jump at Porter Steel Inc. 13th Annual Big Orange Relays, 2nd
16' 3" in Long Jump at Porter Steel Inc. 13th Annual Big Orange Relays, 5th
As a freshman, Tagbo was already doing a little of everything for North Gwinnett, including running all three individual sprint events as well as the long and high jumps. This year, she has added another event to her repertoire with the triple jump, and it might be her best event. In three meets this season, Tagbo won the triple jump in two of them, and she set a personal best by over a foot in the third. Let's not forget that she also owns a season best of over 17.5 feet in the long jump too. She is already leaps and bounds ahead of her sophomore competition this year!
Boys Winners
Sprints/Hurdles
Na'Seir Samuel, Benedictine Military
10.68 in 100m at Savannah Country Day T&F Home Meet #3, 1st
22.50 in 200m at Savannah Country Day T&F Home Meet #3, 1st
Normally, speedy sophomores use strong freshman campaigns as a springboard to leap forward during their second season. However, it does not appear that Samuel ran at all last season. Well, he has still dominated this season. At the Savannah Country Day home meet this past week, Samuel won the 200 by over a second and the 100 by nearly three-tenths of a second. His 100-meter time puts him tied for sixth among all runners in Georgia so far this season! Let's see what he can accomplish throughout the test of the season against even stronger competition.
Distance
4:33.48 in 1600m at Creekview Invitational, 5th
2:06.71 in 800m at Creekview Invitational, 5th
Meredith was one of the fastest freshmen in the distance events last year. This fall, he was the first runner on a third-place North Atlanta squad. He has continued this forward momentum into the spring, where he has run two 1600-meter races and set personal best times in both. His fifth-place finish in the 1600 on Saturday placed him fewer than four seconds away from winning the Creekview Invitational. He was also less than half of a second away from setting a new PR in the 800 in his first race at that distance this season.
Field
42' 1.75" in Triple Jump at Porter Steel Inc. 13th Annual Big Orange Relays, 1st
In his first spring doing track for Chamblee, Jovanovic has excelled in both the hurdles and jumps. His season bests for both the 110-meter hurdles and the 300-meter hurdles rank in the top 12 among all sophomores in Georgia. However, he has shown prowess in the triple jump as well. This weekend at the Porter Steel Big Orange Relays, Jovanovic had the best jump of his life, clearing 42 feet and 1.75 inches for the win against top competition. He should be favored to score in the 5A state meet in May.