Darlington Boys won in the craziest team battle of the entire weekend
GHSA 1A Division 1 State Meet Recap
Girls: Oglethorpe Just too Strong
Yet another one that came down to the 4x4 relay. We knew this was going to be two powerhouses going at it all weekend. They both had serious firepower and there were a few different ways it could go. In the end Oglethorpe County proved to be just a little too much to handle, and won the meet by taking a very narrow victory in the 4x4. They needed to score more than 2 more points than Bleckley County to guarantee the win, so it wasn't over. But they took care of business and got the win. Oglethorpe was led by their field event superstars, especially Denim Goddard who won both the long jump and the triple jump. On top of that Kenzie Henderson won the high jump and placed 4th in the 300 hurdles. Zy'kieria Edwards also won the shot put while Sydnie Henderson was runner up in both the 400 and 800. It's a safe bet that several of these ladies featured on the relays too as Oglethorpe was also 3rd in the 4x2 and 5th in the 4x1. Bleckley only crossed paths with Oglethorpe in a few events as their main points came in the distance events. Ella Gibbs was great as usual winning both the 1600 and 3200 but then appeared a little tired as she was 3rd in the 800, after helping the 4x8 relay team win. Lily Farrell also did the distance triple, and likely quadruple, placing 4th in all 3 while Natalie Kitchens was 5th in the 3200 and Claira Lynch was 5th in the 1600. Jordan Mathis was 5th in the high jump while Makayla Jackson was 5th in the 100 hurdles and their 4x200m relay team was 4th. It just wasn't quite enough to knock off a strong Oglethorpe team.
In 3rd place we saw Athens Christian just barely outlast Mount Pisgah and Whitefield Academy who tied for 4th, only 1.5 points up on Lamar County. Athens was led by Ansley Moore who was 2nd in both the 1600 and 3200 while Kiera Simmons was 5th in the 100 and 200 and Ma'Kaya Ellis was 2nd in the 100 hurdles, 6th in the 300 hurdles, and 7th in the long jump. They also scored in the 4x1 and 4x8. Pisgah also had big field event points as Savannah Simmons did the best for them placing 2nd in the long jump and then following it up with a 3rd and 4th place finish in the 200 and 100. Sophia Nasieku was 2nd in the high jump and then 7th in the 400. Natania Nasieku was 3rd in the triple jump while Kennedy Lane was 6th in the pole vault. Then Tess Robertson got a new PR to place a crucial 8th in the high jump and followed it up with a 4th place finish in the 300 hurdles. They also took home 3rd in the 4x400. Then you had Whitefield who was led by Ruby Gordon as she won the 800 after placing 2nd in the 1600 and 6th in the 3200. Elise Duncanson got 4th in the 200 and Grace Brady was 6th in the high jump while their 4x1 was 3rd and their 4x8 was runner up. Lamar County had one of the other stars of the meet in Makayla Watts who won the 100 and 200 after placing 3rd in the long jump. They also won the 4x1 while Journi Harris was 5th in the shot put. Adair Carlin won the pole vault as expected, Jayda Jordan won the Discus, Jada Hyman won the 400, and Dublin won the 4x2. And last but certainly not least was Kennedy Reynolds who not only won the 300 hurdles, but won the 100 hurdles in a sub 15.
Boys: Nail bitter goes to Darlington
One point. That's it. The closest meet of the weekend came down to one point. And want to know what made it even better? It came down to the 4x4 with both Darlington and Athens Christian entered, separated by just 1 point. If Athens could beat Darlington, they would be the champions. Darlington not only had to beat Athens, but they had to get two or more points than them to win the title outright. What happened? Darlington won the 4x4 by 0.54 seconds over...Athens Christian. Track and Field does not get any better than that folks. What a weekend. There were so many situations all weekend where things could have easily gone the other way. For example, Grant Hutton won the long jump by just an inch and then finished 6th in the high jump. Brock Ferguson was 2nd in the 3200 and Anthony Natarella was 5th in the 800. Joseph Wommack was 7th in the triple jump and then finished 2nd with a new PR in the 4x4. I'm guessing he was the hero on the anchor of the 4x4. Darlington was big in all of the relays though as they Also won the 4x2 while finishing 3rd in the 4x1 and 2nd in the 4x8. Athens had so many guys contribute in so many different areas that it's hard to say any one of them led the team. But Johann Brink did win the 1600 and place 3rd in the 800 and Clarke Byram won the Pole Vault and placed 2nd in the 100 and 6th in the 300 hurdles. Simeon Simmons was 2nd in the 200, Preston Darden was 3rd in the 400, and Cherish Eric was 5th in the triple jump. Christian Hubbard scored in both hurdles and the high jump placing 3rd, 5th, and 7th, while Hampton Ford went 3-4 in the long jump and triple jump. Athens also got 5th in the 4x2 and were an agonizing runner up in the 4x4.
Heard County took home the 3rd place trophy while Mount Vernon was on the final podium spot. Heard's star was LJ Green who won the triple jump and was 2nd in the long jump. Then Rowdie Epps was 8th in the 1600 and 6th in the 800 while Brayden Barlow took 7th in the 300 hurdles and their 4x200 relay team was runner up, their 4x4 team was 6th, and their 4x8 team was 7th. Mount Vernon was led by Haris Flynn who won the 800 after finishing 2nd in the 1600. Meanwhile teammate Curran Jolly was close behind placing 7th in the 1600 and 2nd in the 800. They also won the 4x800 and picked up a few points from Xavier Shegog in the long jump and Ethan Pajot in the 400. The biggest star of this meet was Jacob Carruthers who scored 30 points all by himself by wining the 200, the 400, and the high jump. Manny Watkins won the 100 while Andrew Rothwell won the 3200, Zayden Cook won the 110 hurdles, and Tayshawn Reeves won the 300 hurdles. Caleb Jackson won the shot put while Nasir Johnson won the discus and Temple won the 4x100m relay.
GHSA 1A Division 2 State Meet Recap
Boys: Mitchell County takes home team title
Mitchell County took home the boys tea title thanks in large part to the efforts of Jaquavian Williams who won the triple jump, was runner up in the high jump, and placed 4th in the long jump. Terrell Mathis Jr was runner up in the 800 after placing 5th in the 1600. And they also scored in 3 out of 4 relays, placing 2nd in the 4x8. Warren County was big on team events as they scored in all four relays, winning the 4x8 and 4x1. Cosa Pender scored in two jumps, taking runner up in the triple and Noah Merriweather was 3rd in the 100. Georgia Military took home 3rd place mostly on the back if Julian Council who won all 3 distance events and then helped the 4x800m relay team place 6th overall. Amir Jackson helped Portal get the final trophy by winning the long jump and helping the 4x200 relay team win. Their 4x4 team was 3rd. Antavious Richardson did the sprint triple, winning the 100, 200, and 400.