Wade winning heat 2 of the 300m hurdles at Forsyth County Championships
Unsung Heroes: Track & Field of Dreams
The end of March is quickly approaching, and as March goes, the season begins to enter the final phase. Coaches are now finally able to put together their best relay teams, athletes have worked themselves in to top shape, and the structure for the rest of the season is put into place. And just as a team starts coming together... spring break splits everyone apart for a week. Most schools were either coming out of spring break or looking ahead to it this past week, though, so some very competitive meets were held, including the championships for Gwinnett County, Fulton County, DeKalb County, Cobb County, Cherokee County, Clayton County, Polk County, Henry County, and Floyd County. (Did I miss any?) These competitions brought out the best in the athletes, and many served as early region previews of sorts. This week, runners from mid-size schools (3A, 4A, and 5A) are honored as they begin to lead their teams into the season's final stretch.
"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
Elizabeth Wade, East Forsyth (3A)
49.75 in 300h at Wolverine Invitational, 6th
18.90 in 100h at Wolverine Invitational, 11th
10' 0" in Pole Vault at Wolverine Invitational, 3rd
In her first season doing track and field at East Forsyth, Wade has already competed in the 100m, 200m, 400m, 110m hurdles, 300m hurdles, and pole vault-and the season still has a month and a half left! This weekend at the highly competitive Wolverine Invitational hosted by West Forsyth, Wade made the most of her opportunity by breaking her previous personal best in the 300-meter hurdles by 2.5 seconds, leapfrogging her into a spot in the top 5 rankings for 3A in that event. If that wasn't enough, she also set personal bests in the 100-meter hurdles and pole vault as well, finally clearing the 9' 6" barrier in the latter event. Wade looks to score points in several events for a new East Forsyth squad at state in May.
Distance
Oluwatosin Awoleye, Creekside (5A)
2:16.89 in 800m at Fulton County Championships, 2nd
59.48 in 400m at Fulton County Championships, 8th
As a freshman, Awoleye entered the season somewhat overlooked despite some dominant performances last year against middle school competition. She didn't run any meets this spring until March, but since then she has made up for lost time. In three meets this season, she has put down three 400-meter times under 1:00 and three 800-meter times under 2:21. Awoleye ranks second all-classifications for freshmen girls in the 800. Her fastest time yet came in the Fulton County Championships, where she was edged out only by the top returner from last year's 6A state final Nina Ouellette. The 5A girls' 800 looks like it will be extremely exciting!
Field
Kaitlyn Robinson, Druid Hills (4A)
16' 10.5" in Long Jump at DeKalb County Championships, 4th
12.81 in 100m at DeKalb County Championships, 11th in prelims
17.93 in 100h at DeKalb County Championships, 7th in finals (18.53 in prelims)
Robinson, a senior at Druid Hills, has been a talented runner in the sprinting events for the past few seasons, but she has never quite qualified for the sectional meet. Maybe she just needed to try a brand-new event. It sure seems like that after her incredible jump at the DeKalb County Championships, where she leapt nearly 17 feet to earn fourth-place honors in a huge field of 24 talented jumpers. This was only her second-ever meet competing in the long jump, and Robinson set a personal best by over 2.5 feet-and that is after winning her first competition! On top of that jump, she also set huge PBs in the 100-meter dash and 100-meter hurdles as well. Hopefully, Robinson can continue to improve from this breakthrough meet for the rest of the season.
Boys Winners
Sprints/Hurdles
Jaden Virgin, MLK (5A)
15.34 in 110h at DeKalb County Championships, 5th in finals (15.30 in prelims)
38.95 in 300h at DeKalb County Championships, 2nd in finals
Last year, Virgin was a strict 100/200 runner, and he actually made the 5A sectional meet in the 200, so he certainly has sprinting talent. This year, however, he seems to have made a concerted focus to mainly run the hurdle events, and that has been where he has excelled the most. This weekend, he ran the #12-ranked time in the 110-meter hurdles in 5a so far this year, and he improved upon that with the #4-ranked 300-meter hurdles time later in the meet. The good news is that region 5-5A is incredibly competitive across most events (especially the hurdles), so Virgin will have no trouble finding good competition to push him even more throughout the season.
Distance
Zachary Benner, Hart County (3A)
10:04.52 in 3200m at Battle of the Blue Ridge, 1st
4:50.12 in 1600m at Battle of the Blue Ridge, 2nd
Benner, a senior at Hart County, has been steadily improving each season that he has run track and cross country. After a 49th-place finish at XC state as a junior, he followed that up with 13th- and 11th-place finishes in the 1600m and 3200m, respectively, in the spring. Then, this past fall, he threw down a 16:36 at RunningLane for a massive XC PR. In his final high-school season, he has continued his positive trajectory by running PRs in the 1600 and 3200. This past weekend in the 3200m, he clocked a 10:04, edging out 4A XC runner-up Garrett Grater by less than a second. Now Benner ranks #7 in the 1600 and #4 in the 3200 and has a real chance to score some major points for Hart County at the state meet.
Field
Cayden Barnes, Cedar Shoals (4A)
43' 11" in Triple Jump at McDonald's Apalachee Invitational, 1st
20' 7" in Long Jump at McDonald's Apalachee Invitational, 3rd
Barnes entered the 2022 track season as a known quality jumper in the high jump, long jump, and triple jump. He had finished 9th in the high jump and 11th in the triple jump at 4A state last year. But somehow, he has found a completely different gear this spring. In his first meet of 2022, Barnes jumped 43' 5" in the triple jump, a new PR. He showed that was no fluke by jumping a 43' 2" and 43' 8.5" in his next two meets, winning them both. He saved his best performance for this weekend, however, winning the triple jump with a new PR of 43' 11" to rank him #3 in 4A. This jump sealed the victory, as second place was close behind at 43' 9". And to top it off, Barnes jumped a new PR in the long jump as well. He's now undefeated in the triple jump across four large meets this season.