2023 GHSA 5A Boys and Girls State Track & Field Meet Recap

2023 GHSA State Meet Hub

GHSA 5A State Meet Recap

The state meet is always exciting because it is unpredictable. With as many events as there are to contest, the chances of everything going the way that it appears it will go on paper are very slim. This makes writing the preview a difficult task. If you did not agree with my preview, I hope it gave you the motivation to go out and prove me wrong at the state meet. If I leave you out of the recap and you feel I should mention you, then I apologize. Please know that my mentioning or not mentioning of you is nothing personal and has nothing to do with your individual or team performances and does not define your worth as an athlete and more importantly as a person. I am just one man, and these articles reflect what I see. I am also not perfect, so I am going to miss something. Please do not be tempted to find me on social media and spam my DMs with how wrong I am. I already know I am wrong but I also have a full time job, family and team to tend to which leaves me very little time to explain myself and the hours I put in to researching and writing these articles.

As I dive into the meet recap, I am reminded of a quote by the great Walter Payton: "When you're good at something, you'll tell everyone. When you're great at something, they'll tell you." So, without further ado, let's look at some of the great performances from the GHSA State Meet!

Boys Team Recap

As I mentioned in the preview, it was the Dutchtown boy's race to lose, and lose they did not! The team title race wasn't even close. I thought they could score 80+ points but the 99 that they put up is just insane! I thought Midtown would have the athletes to grab a podium spot along with Decatur but that did not materialize. Tucker and Chapel Hill were able to maximize their point scorers to grab a podium spot as mentioned in the preview but the one that I missed was Chattahoochee! Probably not a surprise to them but shout out to the Cougars for proving me wrong!

Dutchtown brought home the state title utilizing all event areas except for the distance events. Mekhi Oliver and Christian Dixon each contributed 10 points on the first day of competition with Mekhi winning the high jump with a jump of 6-6 and Christian winning the discus with a mark of 173-1 which is a new PR and a GA top 10 mark. Christian was also 7th in the shot put with teammate Lamone Hill Jr taking 4th. Davarri Barthell finished 3rd in the long jump to give the Bulldogs 33 points on the first day of competition. Tyler Dixon finished 4th in the 100 and 8th in the 200 while Tyler Burch was 7th in the 200. They had 2 scorers in the 400 with Mekhi Oliver finishing 2nd and Christian Thompson finishing 5th while Nasia Lee held it down in the hurdles winning both the 110 and 300 hurdles. Having that much scoring potential in the individual events usually translates to good relays and that holds true for the Bulldogs as they took 1st in the 4x100 and 4x200 and 3rd in the 4x400. This team is absolutely loaded and they came to race this weekend. I am not sure what the record is for margin of victory or points scored at the state meet, but 99 points scored and a 48 point margin of victory has to be up there.

The Tucker boys got off to a hot start in the field events and were then able to add in enough points in the running events to hold on for 2nd place. Hasaan Sykes led the way winning the long jump with a jump of 22-5.25. Ian Hodge finished 2nd in the high jump while John Pacely and Connor Whatley scored in both the shot put and discus. Christian Whitmore grabbed a 5th place finish in the 200 and Jeremiah Alibey grabbed a 5th place finish in the 800. After running the fastest time in prelims, the 4x100 relay team finished 2nd in the finals and the 4x200 relay team finished 8th.  

Chapel Hill was able to grab a podium spot with a more balanced approach, spreading points around most of the event disciplines. Miles Collier and Kah'mani Zachery led the way in the field events where Miles placed 2nd in the long jump with a jump of 22-2 and Kah'mani placed 3rd in the high jump with a jump of 6-6. Alex Teal chipped in 1 point in the discus where he finished 8th and then the 4x800 relay team added 6 big points with their 3rd place finish. Chapel Hill sat right in the mix after day 1 and they remained there for the rest of the meet. Solomon Johnson and the Herlihy brothers held it down in the distance events. Solomon finished 4th in the 1600 with a time of 4:26.16 while Finn Herlihy and William Herlihy finished 4th and 6th respectively in the 3200 in times of 9:39.36 and 9:44.32. Miles Collier finished 4th in the 110 hurdles with DeVaughn Thorton finishing 5th in the 110 hurdles. The 4x200 relay team chipped in 4 points by finishing 5th which was enough to secure the 3rd place finish.

Chattahoochee used the strength of their distance program to snag the 4th and final podium spot. Chris Connolly and Diego Santiago brought home 36 points by sweeping the top 2 spots in both the 1600 and 3200. Chris placed 1st in the 1600 and 2nd in the 3200 while Diego swapped those places and finished 2nd in the 1600 and 1st in the 3200. Add in a 4x800 relay that finished 2nd and you have the 44 team points that was enough to get on the podium.

Boys Individual Events Recap

Pole Vault

Jordan Frank of North Springs was able to outlast the competition to win the state title and be the only competitor to clear 15-0. Teammates Peyton Hanson and Ryan McKinney of Greenbrier both PR'd to finish 2nd and 3rd respectively with vaults of 14-6 and 14-0. Adam Henley of Jefferson HS also vaulted a PR of 13-6 to finish 4th.

Triple Jump

Muhammad Shareef of Statesboro HS brought home top honors with a jump of 45-8.75 with Ricardo Lewis of Midtown only half an inch behind in 2nd with a jump of 45-8.25. Elijah Powell of Chamblee jumped a new PR of 44-10.50 to finish 3rd with Marqavious Saboor of Kell using his last jump of 44-9.25 to propel him in to 4th.

Long Jump

Hasaan Sykes won the long jump in dramatic fashion on his 6th and final jump. He leapt out to a mark of 22-5.25 to take the win over Miles Collier of Chapel Hill who finished 2nd with a jump of 22-2. Davarri Barthell of Dutchtown finished 3rd with a jump of 22-1.75. Sammy Brown of Jefferson HS also jumped 22-1.75 but Davarri's second best jump of 22-0.75 was good enough to keep him in 3rd and push Sammy to 4th.

High Jump

The boys' high jump was a close competition with the top 3 jumpers all clearing 6-6 but none of them were able to clear 6-8. Mekhi Oliver of Dutchtown cleared 6-6 on his first attempt, which proved to be the deciding factor. Ian Hodge of Tucker finished 2nd on misses with Kah;mani Zachery finishing 3rd on misses.

Shot Put

Alex Henry of Lithia Springs won the shot put with a PR put of 55-0 which is a GA top 10 mark this season. Dylan Robbins of Loganville HS edged out Emorrie Foskey of Winder-Barrow HS for second with a put of 53-10.50 compared to Emorrie's PR of 53-7.25

Discus

The discus competition was fierce the whole way through. The top 6 competitors all PR'd in the meet with the top 5 all throwing GA top 50 marks. Christian Dixon of Dutchtown took the top spot with a throw of 173-1. John Pacely of Tucker used his last attempt of 168-10 to jump 2nd after hovering in the 4th-6th position all competition. Kristyane Gregory of Calhoun finished 3rd with a mark of 157-1 and Connor Whaley of Tucker finished 4th with a mark of 156-1.

4x800

The boys from Eagle's Landing were able to bring home the title with a winning time of 7:57.48 to edge out Chattahoochee who finished 2nd with a time of 7:59.00. These 2 teams were the only teams to break the elusive 8:00 barrier. Chapel Hill held on for 3rd in 8:01.39 and MLK held on for 4th in 8:03.80.

3200

Diego Santiago of Chattahoochee led a 1-2 sweep in the 3200 with teammate Chris Connolly right behind him to bring home 18 crucial points that helped their team land on the podium. Jacob Pullen of Maynard Jackson held on for 3rd in 9:37.62 with Finn Herlihy of Chapel Hill kicking it in for 4th in 9:39.36. 

110 hurdles

Nasia Lee of Dutchtown entered the event as the class of the field and he did not disappoint, putting on a show running 13.89 seconds and being the only athlete to break the 14.0 second barrier. Jadon Thomason finished strong in 2nd at 14.18 with Ibrahim Bangura of Cambridge finishing in 3rd in 14.65 to bring home the top 3 places all under 15.0 seconds.

100

Shavique Bascus of Clarke Central was the favorite coming in to the 100 and he did not disappoint, winning the event with a time of 10.56 over Zion Ragins of Jones County in 10.63. Kendrick Price of Cartersville and Tyler Dixon of Dutchtown finished 3rd and 4th respectively and were also under the 10.70 mark.

4x200

Dutchtown used its sprint strength to grab the victory at the line in 1:26.31 over a charging Greater Atlanta Christian team who finished in 1:26.76. Heritage HS hung on for 3rd place, also breaking 1:27.00 with a time of 1:26.92.

1600

The Chattahoochee boys used their momentum from their 1-2 sweep in the 3200 Friday night to sweep the top 2 spots in the 1600, just in a different order. Chris Connolly grabbed the win over teammate Diego Santiago with a winning time of 4:20.18. William Carlton of Decatur finished 3rd in 4:24.46. 

4x100

After winning the 4x200, the boys from Dutchtown turned around and 2 events later claimed victory in the 4x100 with a winning time of 41.44. It was not without a fight as the Tucker boys took them to the line in a photo finish, finishing only .02 seconds back in 41.46. Clarke Central was able to hold on for 3rd place in 42.14.

400

Jaylen Marsh of Creekside came in and dominated the 400 finals winning by nearly 1 second over Mekhi Oliver of Dutchtown. Jaylen won in a time of 47.80 compared to Mekhi's 48.79. Ryan Gruss of Flowery Branch and Jordan Edwards of Eastside both finished under 49.0 seconds to make it a close race for the top 4 spots with 5th place being over a second back.

300 hurdles

Nasia Lee of Dutchtown added another state title to his resume in the 300 hurdles to go with his state title in the 110 hurdles from earlier in the day. His winning time of 37.77 was over a second ahead of the rest of the field. Jadon Thomason of Calhoun, who was the runner up in the 110 hurdles, was also the runner up in the 300 hurdles in a time of 37.89. Cambridge was able to grab big team points in this race with Dominick Lawshea finishing in 3rd at 38.57 and Ibrahim Bangura finishing in 4th with a time of 38.91.

800

The boys 800 was a race to watch and was the definition of a photo finish with the top 4 athletes all finishing within less than a second of each other! Elias Harrison of Banneker was able to break the tape first in a winning time of 1:56.04. Behind him was Omari Sawyer of MLK in 1:56.64 and William Elder of Chamblee in 1:56.70. Rounding out the 4th spot was Josiah Asfaw of Greater Atlanta Christian in 1:56.93.

200

Shavique Bascus of Clarke Central followed up his win in the 100 with another win in the 200 running 21.21. Zion Ragins of Jones County duplicated his performance in the 100 with another runner up finish in the 200. Sneaking up into the 3rd spot was Christian Whitmore of Tucker, garnering 6 important points for the team title race.

4x400

The team title did not come down to the 4x400 as Dutchtown had wrapped that up much earlier in the meet so this race was just for bragging rights. Creekside brought home the title in a blazing 3:17.15 with Eastside in 2nd at 3:19.24. Dutchtown finished 3rd in 3:20.15, barely missing the elusive sub 3:20 mark.

Girls Team Recap

In my preview, I thought Lithia Springs had a slight edge as they had the potential to score 70 points. And 70 points would've been enough to win the title but it did not shake out that way. I thought Greater Atlanta Christian and Cambridge had the athletes necessary to push Lithia Springs for the top spot and that is exactly what happened with Greater Atlanta Christian bringing home the team title with 61 points and Cambridge finishing in 2nd with 54.50 points. Heritage hung on to the 3rd spot with 45 points and then there was a two way tie for 4th with Banneker and North Springs both scoring 42 points. 

Greater Atlanta Christian had a team that was well balanced across the event disciplines gathering 18 points in the sprints, 15 from distance, 10 from jumps and 18 from the relays. Ava Kitchings led the way in the field events, winning the long jump with a mark of 19-7.75. Nia Wilson won the 100 and was 2nd in the 200 to bring home 18 crucial points. Morgan Collins held it down in the 800 and 1600 finishing 1st in the 800 with a winning time of 2:11.87 and finishing 4th in the 1600 with a time of 5:14.10. their 4x100 relay finished 1st and their 4x400 finished 2nd to seal the team victory.

In the meet preview, I mentioned that Cambridge's jumpers were going to have to produce for the team to be in the mix and produce they did. Lilah Versluis brought home 18 points by winning the triple jump and finishing 2nd in the high jump. Julia Versluis contributed 22 big points by finishing 3rd in the triple jump, 3rd in the high jump and 1st in the pole vault. Coming out of day 1 with 40 points put them in a good spot to challenge for the top spot on the podium. Gabrielle Dandridge added 8 points finishing in 2nd in the 400 with a time of 56.08. The 4x200 relay finished 6th and the 4x400 relay finished 5th to round out the team scoring.

Heritage also had a more balanced approach but was lacking points in the distance events. Taniyah Kelley and Insiya Magee finished 5th and 8th respectively in the triple jump with Rachari Janvier finishing in 7th place in the discus. In the running events, it was the sprint crew holding it down in the sprint events and relays. Jori Savage was 3rd in the 100 with Alyssa Crump finishing 6th in the 100 and 5th in the 200. Jada Buggs represented in the 400 finishing 5th in a time of 56.71 and Celeania Rollerson finished 3rd in the 300 hurdles in a time of 44.91. Their 4x100 and 4x400 relays both finished 5th and their 4x200 relay pulled away to win the event in 1:39.29.

Girls Individual Events Recap

Discus

Where the boys' discus saw the top 6 athletes all PR, the girls discus was even better with the top 9 athletes throwing a PR. This means that all podium spots were earned with a PR throw! Kayley Bednarek of Loganville HS took top honors with a throw of 133-10 which gave her the victory on the 6th and final attempt. Nyla Wilson of Eagle's Landing finished 2nd with a throw of 133-2 while Jakayla Arnold of Maynard Jackson HS was 3rd in 127-8. Eve Knight of Jefferson came in clutch to throw 125-4 on the last attempt in order to move up to 4th place while Katelyn Mendoza of Tucker had a 1st round throw of 124-7 that was good enough to hold on for 5th place.

Pole Vault

The girls pole vault saw 3 girls all clear 11-0 but none were able to clear the next height of 11-6. Julia Versluis of Cambridge took the top honors with Ella Kulniszewski of Jefferson taking 2nd. Layla Keadle of North Springs grabbed 3rd with Emi Sago of Chamblee taking 4th with a clearance of 10-0.

Triple Jump

Cambridge used this event to grab big team points to help propel them to a podium finish. Lilah Versluis of Cambridge won the event with a jump of 38-1.75 with teammate and sister doubling back from her victory in the pole vault to take 3rd with a jump of 37-5.75. Blessed Diogo of H.V. Jenkins was able to break up the sweep by finishing 2nd with a jump of 37-7.50.

Long Jump

Ava Kitchings of Greater Atlanta Christian jumped out to 19-7.75 on her first attempt to put the competition away very early. Naa Adua Annan of Chamblee held on for 2nd with a jump of 17-10.75 and Nijah Lewis of Tucker finished 3rd with a jump of 17-10.

High Jump

The Versluis sisters from Cambridge were at it again in the high jump finishing 2nd and 3rd with Lilah clearing 5-6 and Julia clearing 5-4. But it was Oluchi Ugbajah of McIntosh HS who would reign supreme with a new PR of 5-6 to take the top spot due to coming in a height earlier than Lilah.

Shot Put

Jasmine Baxter of Mays HS took the top spot in the shot put with a put of 39-10.50 which was good enough for a new PR and a GA top 25 mark. Tucker teammates Katelyn Mendoza and Kristan Simmons finished 2nd and 3rd with puts of 37-0.50 and 36-2.50. Nyla Wilson of Eagle's landing doubled back from her runner up finish in the discus to finish 4th with a mark of 35-9.25.

4x800

The Decatur girls took the lead and never looked back winning in a time of 9:47.85. McIntosh ran a gutsy race moving up the whole race to grab the 2nd spot in 9:52.80 with Greenbrier holding on for 3rd in 9:54.29 to secure sub 10:00 finishes for the top 3 teams.

3200

Lottie Chappell of North Springs has been dominant all season and capped her senior year off with a state title in the 3200 with a winning time and PR of 11:10.65. Effie Ward of Harris County HS, who is only a freshman, finished 2nd with a PR of 11:13.48 and Francie Butts of Chapel Hill finished 3rd with a new PR of 11:19.85.

100 hurdles

Jakayla Campbell of Banneker came in as the top seed from prelims and backed that up with a new PR in the finals and GA top 10 time of 14.24. Behind her was Danayja Harper of Midtown who PR'd with a time of 14.45 to finish 2nd while Ava Amey of Arabia Mountain finished 3rd in 14.91.

100

The girls 100 lived up to the hype with Nia Wilson of Greater Atlanta Christian and Davenae Fagan of Arabia Mountain battling to the line. Nia grabbed the win in 11.51 for a new PR and US top 50 time. Davenae's time of 11.71 was good enough for 2nd and was also a PR. Rounding out the top 3, who all PR'd, was freshman Jori Savage of Heritage HS at 12.11.

4x200

Heritage HS put on a show in the 4x200 to win in a new state meet record time of 1:39.29, besting the field by over 2 seconds. Bradwell Institute held on for 2nd in 1:41.78 holding off Greenbrier who was 3rd in 1:41.98. After leading the first 2 laps, Bella Brick of Flowery Branch was able to hold on for 3rd in 5:11.93.

1600

Lottie Chappell of North Springs added another state title to her resume after winning the 3200 Friday evening. Closing in a 1:08.27 last lap and a time of 5:02.15, Lottie was able to claim the 1600 win over a charging Sophie D'Elena of Decatur who finished 2nd in a PR time of 5:03.56. Bella Brick of Flowery Branch was 3rd in 5:11.93 and Morgan Collins of Greater Atlanta Christian was 4th in 5:14.10.

4x100

Greater Atlanta Christian sprints were dominant so a 4x100 win was not a surprised. They won in a blazing 46.98 over Lithia Springs who was 2nd in 47.63. Jefferson was a distant 3rd in 48.22 along with Bradwell Institute in 4th at 48.45.

400

Davenae Fagan of Arabia Mountain followed up her 2nd place finish in the 100 with a state title in the 400 running 54.90 which is a GA top 10 time this season. Gabrielle Dandridge of Cambridge was 2nd in 56.08 with Olivia Cosby of Northside Columbus finishing 3rd in 56.21. 3rd thru 6th place all PR'd to bring the top 6 finishers all under 57.0 seconds making this one of the most competitive events of the meet.

300 hurdles

The girls 300 hurdles was a flat out battle. Danayja Harper of Midtown and India Thorpe of MLK pushed each other to PR's and US top 50 times of 42.19 for Danayja and 42.97 for India. Danayja was able to improve upon her 2nd place finish in the 100 hurdles to win the state title. Celeania Rollerson of Heritage was able to hold on for 3rd in 44.91.

800

After finishing 4th in the 1600, Morgan Collins of Greater Atlanta Christian took the win in the 800 with a PR time of 2:11.87. In fact, the top 4 finishers in this race all ran a PR. Kaylin Jackson of Banneker took 2nd in 2:13.62 with Sophie D'Elena close behind in 2:13.73 for 3rd. The North Springs duo of Natalie Tully and Lottie Chappell took 4th and 5th running 2:15.75 and 2:18.04. Important to note, this was Lottie's 3rd individual podium finish after winning the 3200 and 1600 earlier in the meet.

200

Davenae Fagan of Arabia Mountain added another podium finish to her resume and another gold medal to go with her gold in the 400 and silver in the 100, winning the 200 in a PR of 23.73 which is crazy after running the 100 and 400 earlier in the meet and the prelims in all 3 events the day before. Nia Wilson of Greater Atlanta Christian took 2nd breaking the 24.0 second barrier at 23.99 with Destiny Jenkins of Lithia Springs finishing 3rd in 24.69.

4x400