Girls
The 2A girls state meet is shaping up to be a very entertaining one. Many of the events don't have a clear favorite, and we should see some great battles in the relays. That being said, the favorite here is Oglethorpe County as they look to repeat as champions after winning their first-ever state title last year. They have a potential scorer in every single discipline and nearly every event as they just have incredible depth. Oglethorpe will have a chance to score in the top 2 in all four relays-very few schools in the state (Southwest Dekalb boys come to mind) can boast that! However, anything can happen at the state meet, and Oglethorpe will have to perform very well to stay ahead of Towers and Pace, who will likely be battling for second place. Towers is led by the sprinting duo of Serenity Harry and Catherine Forbes, and they will rack up points in the sprints and relays. Pace is the polar opposite of Towers, as nearly all of their projected points are expected to come from distance, led by the incredible trio of Caroline Hood, Laura Arenth, and Kate Jonas. Looking to end the season on the podium are Vidalia and Bremen, who will have some serious competition, as 6 other schools are expected to pick up between 21 and 28 points and will be gunning for that fourth spot.
Predicted Team Results
Oglethorpe County: 99
Pace: 80
Towers: 79
Vidalia: 40
Bremen: 36
Heard County: 28
Washington County: 26
Lovett: 24.5
Individual
Sprints/Hurdles
There will be some very exciting individual races in the 2A girls meet. Forbes has a chance at winning four events: the 100, 200, 400, and triple jump. However, she will have to deal with teammate Harry in the 100 and 200. In the 100m, Harry (11.95), Forbes (12.19), and Kierra Montgomery (12.34) come in as the favorites. In the 200m, it's a similar story with all three of the same athletes projected to score again. The 400 should be especially close, with the top four athletes within half of a second of each other based on season PR. The 100-meter hurdles feature Shakiera Woods (14.58), De'Ana Albert (15.36), and Macada McDonald (15.52) as top contenders. Woods will be contending for a double in the 300-meter hurdles as well.
Distance
In the 1600, Pace runners reign supreme as Hood (4:59.49), Arenth (5:11.52), and Jonas (5:16.56) have the top three times. It's a similar story in the 3200 with Hood (10:37.93), Arenth (11:10.38), and Sophia Cook of Coosa (11:38.79).
Field
Three athletes have hurled the discus farther than 130 feet this season. In the shot put, Sinclaire Fryer is the favorite with a season best of 43' 10". It's Kenzie Henderson (5' 10") and then everyone else in the high jump, with four athletes posting season bests of 5' 2". In the long jump, Niakoe Burkes (18' 0"), Ashley Gray (17' 8"), and Talaiah Hall (17' 6") will battle it out. Catherine Forbes is also the favorite in the triple jump with a mark of 37' 11", followed by Stella Henry (36' 10") and Alyvia Matthews (36' 9.5"). In the pole vault, Noelle Hambrick (10' 11") is the clear favorite.
Relays
The sprint relays also have no clear favorite and should be a barnburner. In the 4x100, Towers, Booker T. Washington, and Heard County have the top times. It's similar in the 4x200: Booker T. Washington (1:44.44), Oglethorpe County (1:44.65), Towers (1:44.71). Oglethorpe is projected to win in the 4x400 and the 4x800, with Pace projected to get second in both events.
Boys
Pace won just their second ever track and field state championship last year, and they are back for more before they jump up to 4A next season. John Catherman will lead the way for the Knights in the sprints, and the Blaha brothers, Grant Thompson, and Robert Mallis should score big in the distance events. They will have to contend with three squads that all have excellent chances to finish in second: Vidalia, Washington County, and Model. Model and Washington County have a balanced squads that could surprise at the state meet. Vidalia might jump out to an early lead with some high scores in the jumps. Oglethorpe County, Lovett and Putnam County will be ready to pounce if the squad above them show any weakness.
Projected Team Results
Pace: 84
Vidalia: 52Washington County: 50
Model: 48
Jeff Davis: 40
Oglethorpe County: 36
Lovett: 32
Putnam County: 30
Individual
Sprints/Hurdles:
Catherman (10.66 in 100m, 21.71 in 200m) is the favorite for the two shortest events. Dontavius Braswell Jr. (10.76 / 22.17) should be gunning for the top spot also. The favorites in the 400m are Davion Benjamin (49.92), Gerald Kilgore (50.55), and Luke Wallace (50.90). In the 300m hurdles, Trevon Waller entered the sectional meet with the best PR, but he finished only third in his region behind Nathan Anderson and Jahlyn Madison. Add in Washington County's Tylik Gilmore, and any of those four athletes could easily win this event.
Distance:
Simon Schabort has a chance to pull off the 800/1600/3200 triple, a sweep that I'm not sure any GA runner was able to do last year. He'll have serious competition, though, with Edward Blaha close behind in the 1600 and 3200 and Grant Thompson knocking on the door in the 800.
Field:
Jake Thompson (156' 5.5") and Seth Reece (50' 8") are favored in the discus and shot put, respectively. In the high jump, there have been eight athletes over the 6' 2" mark, but none have jumped higher than 6' 4". I expect to see tiebreaks come into play prominently in that event. It's a similarly tight-bunched group in the long jump with the top 3 separated by only 1.5 inches. Zion Odoms (45' 8"), Elijah Hobson (45' 5"), and LJ Green (45' 5") will battle in the triple jump. Hunter Manning (13' 0") and Ian Byrd (12' 6") are the favorites in the pole vault.
Relays:
Swainsboro is the favorite in the 4x100 with a time of 42.28 seconds. Vidalia has a very strong 4x200 team that has gone 1:29.82. Pace Academy (3:29.00) and Woodville-Thompkins (3:29.24) are neck-and-neck in the 4x400. Finally, Union County (8:28.70) are the favorites in the 4x800.
