High Jump:
The Girls High Jump looks to be Melanie Mainor of Hillgrove to lose; she is the defending champion and if she matches her PR, will tie the meet record of 5’6. On the boy’s side, Braylon Williams of Walton is the top seed and could challenge the meet record of Pat Gallagher from 1986 (6’10.25).
Horizontal Jumps:
In the long jump, Kendall Williams of Kell has already surpassed 19 feet this spring and has to be the favorite, but the talented duo from Lassiter of Julinne McKee and defending champion Gabrille Piper will surely challenge. The boys long jump again is lead by a new comer from Walton, Chris Foster. Foster won the Coaches Invite competition with his 22’5.75” leap. A pair of young jumpers from Wheeler, Paris Carson and Jamal Bryant will be the closest challengers. The triple jump brings back both defending champions who happen to be the County Meet record holders, Julienne McKee of Lassiter and Jamal Tiller of Wheeler.
Pole Vault:
The pole vault should be close battles with defending champion Brooke Colson of Kennesaw Mountain going against Lauren Hutchinson of North Cobb. The boys should pit James Pate of Lassiter and Philip Laskey of Walton.
Throws:
Daina Levy of Kennesaw Mountain is the top seed for both the shot and discus, but should definitely be challenged by Areial Clark of North Cobb. For the boys the throws look wide open with throwers from Marietta, Kell, Pope, Walton and McEachern that can score in the top 3 for both.
Relays:
The Wheeler boys look to be the top team in all the relays, but McEachern should challenge in both the 4 x 100 and 4 x 400. For the girls, Walton hopes to continue their dominance of the distance relays while the 4 x 100m is wide open between Lassiter, McEachern, and Wheeler. The girls 4 x 400 sees McEachern as the favorite, but strong teams from Wheeler and Campbell could challenge.
Sprints:
Gabrielle Piper of Lassiter, Alisha Murray of Pebblebrook, and Amber Brock of McEachern should be the top ladies. For the guys, Jaron Roberson of McEachern is the defending champion in the 400m. The 100m and 200m look wide open with 4 to 6 boys that could win in each.
Hurdles:
Super frosh Kendall Williams has already run faster than the County Meet Record and is the top seed in that event, but the 300m hurdles she will be challenged by the due from McEachern of Darnishia Stevenson and Amber Brock. For the boys Jaron Roberson is again the defending champion the 300m hurdles with the 110m hurdles should be a close race between Cornelius Savage of McEachern and Kasey Rollins of Sprayberry.
Distance:
Kylie Womack of Walton is the top returner in the 1600m and defending champion in the 3200m. However, she may be challenged in the 1600m by her teammate and defending champion in the 800m Mara Canning. Zach Tupper of Pope is the defending champ in the 1600m and top returner in the 3200m, but has not looked in top form. He will be challenged by veterans Alec Clifford of North Cobb and Henry Stevens-Carty of Allatoona.
Team Race:
Girls – Lassiter has field event points, hurdle, & sprint points. They will be tough to stop. Walton will have plenty of points in the distance events but needs to get a great deal out of the field and sprints. Wheeler and McEachern could also score very well as a team.
Boys – Wheeler looks to get big points in all the sprints, relays, and horizontal jumps. Probably the only team that can run with them is McEachern.
Coach Travis Gower