A- ACS Wins First Ever GHSA Track&Field Team Title
Athens Christian had theirselves in great position to win their first GHSA state title after Destiny Jenkins 1st place effort in the 1600 (5:09) and following that with a season pr of 11:32 in the 3200. Bryanne Acker placed 5th in the 1600 with a pr of her own in 5:24. Although not maximizing on their scoring potential on the field Friday, it was good enough to put the Lady Eagles in a tie at the top with crosstown rival Athens Academy with 30 points apiece. Savannah Spranger placed 3rd in the Discus (118-10) and Emily Haley was 5th in the HJ (8-6). ACS came out of the prelims in good shape easily getting both relay squads in, Mary Echols in the Hurdles, Acker in the 800 and Natasha Braughton in the 400. The Lady Eagles began their Finals by placing 6th in the 400 relay (51.31) and with Braughton taking 6th in the 400 (1:01.9) Mary Echols scored 16 points winning the gold in the 300h (45.05) and placing 3rd in the 100h (15.38). Bryanne Acker gave chase in the 800, but at the finish line took a spill falling back into 3rd (2:22.61) but added 6 points to the winning effort. The 1600 relay was an exciting event as ACS maintained a nice lead, but Malasarte of OLM (6 time state champ in the 400/800) went after Mary Echols full bore and caught her 70 meters away from the finish, but Echols found the resolve to hold her off capping off the title for the Lady Eagles who amassed 68 points and had the meet clinched after Echol's 300h victory.
OLM fought itself valiantly back into the mix after starting the day with zero points. Their 400 relay team placed 2nd (50.38) getting them finally on the board. Megan Malasarte made quick work in leaving the competition to watch her back, cruising around the track in her own world winning her 5th state title in 55.67. Tynese St.Cyr kept the momentum going for the Lady Bobcats placing 4th in the 100m (12.63) and 7th in the 200m (26.51). Malasarte then ran away in the 800m unchallenged from the gun making it 6 titles with a winning time of 2:17.1) OLM moved into 2nd place on the Podium with a great 1600 relay effort (4:03.72) to cap off a nice meet and stellar Track and XC career for Malasarte. Wesleyan and Mt. Zion-Carrollton made the top 4 with 42 and 35 points respectively. Darlington, Landmark Christian, Athens Academy and Social Circle rounded out the top 8.
Having great meets individually (other than mentioned above) were:
Asia Stinson, Social Circle 1st 100m (12.22), 1st LJ (17-1.5), 4th 200m (25.54)
Torrie Owers, Athens Academy: 1st Shot Put (39-4), 2nd Discus (122-1)
Hannah Wood, Mt.Zion-Carrollton: 1st 200m (24.92), 2nd 100m (12.28)
Lakerria Williams, Warren Co.: 2nd LJ (17-1) and TJ (35-8)
Ayana Walker, Jenkins Co: 2nd 200m (25.41), 3rd 100m (12.54)
Taylor Hollingsworth, Brookstone: 2nd 400m (57.04), 3rd 200m (25.46)
Lindsay Sanborn of AIS: 2nd 3200m (11:21.11), 3rd 1600m (5:17.52)
Other Gold Medal Winners:
Lisa Sheppard of Athes Academy in the PV (10-0)
Zandra Lake of Jenkins County in the TJ (36-0)
Brianna Jones of Whitefield Academy in the Discus (122-4)
Lauren Toomer of Landmark Christian in the 100h (14.94)
Lilvia Bradbury of Gordon Lee in the HJ (5-2)
Lindy Long, Landmark: 1st 3200 (11:12.96)
AAAAA- Lassiter Outlasts Collins Hill and Westlake for the Title
Not to be bold, but this meet was as crazy if not more than the AA championship as several high powered programs slugged it out over 3 days of competition with Lassiter being the sole "Survivor" eeking out the title by a deuce over both Westlake and Collins Hill with a assist from upstart Campbell in the 1600 meter relay finals. The pot got stirred early in this meet late Thursday evening in the 1600 Relay. During prelims double DQ's were dished out by GHSA meet officials as MLK- used excessive contact bumping a Westlake athlete, and in a strange twilight zone move, Westlake ran inside the lines (to put it mildly--as called by Officials) in pursuit of MLK. Some chaotic reactions ensued between the 2 schools (athletes not involved) after the calls.
Lassiter made the most of the opportunity as Julienne McKey soared through the humid air Friday capturing 2 golds in the horizontal jumps, including a State record mark in the TJ (41-7.75) and an outstanding leap in the LJ (18-10) Gabrielle Piper was a major factor as she scored 17 points placing 2nd in the 100m (12.16), 3rd in the 100h (14.64) and a 6th place effort in the LJ (17-6.5). Emilie Moore also chipped in 1 point in the PV at 9-0.
Tying for 2nd were Westlake and Collins Hill. Westlake made it a horse race, even after the prelims relay fiasco. Credit has to be given to the Lady Lions as they composed themselves after the incident in pursuit of repeating as team champions although they came up just short. Shani Chandler was the big gun for Westlake as she was runnerup in both hurdles events giving Kell's Kendall Williams all she could handle with times of 41.76 (breaking a State record) and 14.10. Ashley Johnson provided a punch in the Discus placing 3rd in 122-2 along with the 400 relay squad placing 4th (47.90).
Collins Hill was brought back in the mix after the DQ's in prelims and made the most of their opportunities behind the talent of Villanova signee Nicky Akande who was the top performer of the meet in both the 800/1600 races as she took off early on and decimated the competition in times of 2:11.22 / 4:57.04. Sydney Williams contributed 5 points in the 800m (2:16.01). It came down to the 1600 relay and the Lady Eagles had a season best time of 3:52.17 coming up just short of tying Lassiter due to a Campbell squad that had fresh legs at 3:51.2.
Brookwood also took advantage of their events ending up 4th on the Podium with 33 points. Caroline Kissel had the Lady Broncs bucking early on as she scored 16 points with a pair of runnerup finishes in the distance events at (5:04.56/11:21.60) Runningmate, Sarah Perry captured the bronze the 1600m (5:05.15) Emily Brewer won the Discus competition with a toss of 131-4. Rounding out the top 8 teams were Alpharetta, MLK, Grayson and Peachtree Ridge.
Having Great Meets (not mentioned above)
Keira Peak, Lowndes Co.: 2nd HJ, 5th 100h/300h (5-6, 14.68, 45.4)
Quintunya Chapman , Bradwell: 2nd LJ (18-4) 5th 200/400m (25.02,56.35)
Keturah Williams, Alpharetta: 3rd 100/200 (12.17-24.77)
Chandelic Jackson, East Paulding: 2nd 800/ 4th 1600m (2:15.32-5:16.38)
Felecia Brown, MLK: 3rd 400/ 4th 200m (55.06-24.08)
Amber Bryant-Brock, McEachern: 3rd 300h/ 4th 400m (44.17- 55.86)
Gold Medal Winners (not mentioned above)
Kendall Williams, Kell: 100h/300h (13.69-41.30) new state records
Taren White, Grayson: 200/400m (23.70-53.78)
Samantha Becker, Milton: PV 12-0 new state record
Chatil Bradford, Morrow: Shot Put 43-8
Ciara Simms, Luella: 100m 12.13
Stephenson 400 Relay: 47.13
Dylan Hassett, Alpharetta: 3200 11:10.66
Oneisha Smith, Chapel Hill: HJ 5-8
AA- North Oconee Wins 2nd Title in 3 Years on Team Effort
North Oconee qualified more athletes for the State meet than any other school and it took a total team effort to stand atop the podium once they ran out of athletes. This was a meet full of twists, turns and DQ's including a questionable judgement call in the 800 prelims against Shelia Donovan that was protested to no avail. The Greenwall twins did their best in trying to run away from Sahara Fletcher in the 1600/3200 as Rachel G placed 2nd in the 3200/1600 in times of (11:27.25, 5:10.6) while Rebecca took 3rd in the 1600 (5:12.01). However, the 2010 version of the Lady Titans are much stronger as they scored 17 points in the Field Events led by Sydney Rodkey's 3rd place in the Vault (10-0), Autumn Moser's tie for 5th in the HJ (5-0) and 7th in the TJ (35-1 pr), Julie Thornton's 6th in the Discus (99-0) and a surprising 6th by Brooke Satterfield in the Shot (34-7) NOHS had 39 points heading into Saturday and needed some luck or big performances to enhance their chances for a 2nd title. In the 400 relay Janae Johnson ran down Appling County bounding across the finish line for 7th in pr (50.72) and then Chandler Crosby (who benefitted from a DQ in the prelims) placed 7th in the 100 hurdles (16.75). It was then all on the shoulders of Rebecca Greenwall in the 800 meters to clinch the title having only to place 2nd. Instead, she executed her race plan to perfection, starting her drive early forcing defending champ, Queen Alford of Decatur to chase her. Alford pulled even with 100 meters to go, but Greenwall had a reserve tank hitting the afterburners sprinting away for the title in 2:16.01 icing the title for NOHS. It was the final GHSA competition for the Greenwall's, as they will be attending the Baylor School in Chattanooga their senior year...
GAC had a great meet with 50 points placing 2nd and was in it all the way until they ran out of athletes. Jessica Tuggle (who was plagued by shin splits) displayed tremendous effort and heart as she grimaced her way through Friday, scoring on the field for the Lady Spartans in the TJ placing 3rd (36-10.5) and 5th in the LJ (16-10) Claire Goodson placed 2nd in the PV at 10-6, despite being hobbled by a recent ankle injury. Danielle Moss came up 1" short of a gold medal in the Shot placing 2nd (39-1). Lauren Kester ran a great race in the 3200 sticking with Fletcher/Ra Greenwall nearly the entire race placing 3rd (11:32.93). GAC was in 2nd with 32 points going into Finals Saturday with only 3 events left. In the 400 relay they placed 5th (49.20) and Brittany Arnold leaned hard at the line in the 100m to nab 5th (12.60) The 100 hurdles was a big race as the outcome could affect the fate of GAC, Westminster and NOHS. Jessica Tuggle had commented earlier in the morning at the hotel that she was ready and she rose to the occasion...Having competed against Miray Seward of Westminster many times in the past few years and beaten her, she was confident in her abilities. Seward took the lead at the gun and maintained it until the last hurdle where Tuggle drew even and outleaned her at the line. Jessica was caught up in emotion when she realized she had won.
Westminster 3rd overall paced by the fluid running of freshman Sahara Fletcher. She laid back playing possum in the 1600/3200 races only to hit the jets with 200 meters left and pull away for wins in both at (5:09.11, 11:21.39) putting 20 points on the board for the Lady Cats. Miray Seward won the HJ at 5-4, and Olivia Hewitt chipped in a point also at 5-0. Going into Saturday they had 2 events left with Seward in the hurdles and she added to the effort with 2nd in the 100h (14.92), 4th in the 300h (46.65)
Avondale capitalized on their strengths to get the last team Podium spot behind the speed of Shunika Jarrells who helped lead their squad to golds in both relays (48.69, 3:57.91) and individually placed 2nd and 3rd in the 200/100m (24.85, 12.23) Bridgette Brown ran to a bronze in the 400m (58.41). Rounding out the top 8 teams were Early County, Crawford County, Adairsville and Swainsboro.
Other Athletes having an Outstanding meet:
Antqunita Reed, Early County: 1sts in the TJ (40-1), LJ (18-3), 400m (55.57)
Shamira Barrett, Adairsville: 1st 200m (24.76), 2nd 400m (56.33), 2nd LJ (17-10.5)
Anasterasia Terrell, Howard: 2nd TJ (37-10), 3rd 100h (15.03)
Maya Dillard, Buford: 3rd 800 (2:22.28), 4th 1600 (5:19.40)
Other Gold Medalists (not mentioned above)
Keyandra Bell, Macon County: Shot (39-2)
Tiona Burley, Mitchell County: Discus (115-11)
Jasmine Grovenor, McIntosh County: 100m (11.95)
Jalisha Knight, Toomb County: 300h (45.48)
Samantha Sanchez, Blessed Trinity: PV (11-0)
AAAA- Tucker Tames the Competition
The Lady Tigers came out of 6-AAAA region meet with the the best opportunity to win a championship and performed to their potential capturing their first State championship. Tucker got on the board during the Field Events competition as Kim Miller as she hit the board in the LJ capturing 2nd (18-3.5) followed by a 7th in the TJ (35-9). Serena Clark cleared 5-4 to place 2nd giving them 18 points heading into the final day of the meet. Lakeside-Evans was leading the meet with 33 points, but track fans were well aware that Tucker would be ready to roar starting by winning the gold in the 400 relay in 47.34 holding off a fast closing SW DeKalb squad. Tamera Harris clocked a 57.27 in the 400 which was good enough for 5th. Nakia Linson sped to a runnerup finish in the 200m (24.77) followed by Harris as she hurdled to gold in the 300h (43.90) clinching the title for Tucker. The Lady Tigers celebrated with a 4 lap "victory parade" in the 1600 relay (3:54.91) closing out a great season.
SW DeKalb displayed their Panther pride by not going gently away as they placed 2nd overall by maximizing their scoring opportunities. Amina Avril got them going on Friday by placing 4th in the Discus (130-00) and 8th in the Shot. SW got 2nd in the 400 relay as mentioned above (47.51) getting them on the prowl for points. Morgan Snow and Kenya Scott placed 3rd/4th in the 100m clocking an 11.94/12.04. Minutes later Snow was on the mondo again and smoked it in the 100h (13.98) for the gold putting SW DeKalb in 2nd overall for good. Kenya Scott placed 4th in the 200m (24.98) ending their campaign.
Mt.Zion Jonesboro took over 3rd place in the team battle on the final event of the meet by placing 2nd in the 1600 relay (3:57.36) Alycia Prior set the track on fire enroute to a blazing 11.62 in the 100m (top performance of the meet) followed by 24.31 in the 200m. Helping propel Mt.Zion up the leaderboard were Dominique Givance placing 4th in the 800 (2:23.94), Klarke Bass and Arashawna Yanes.
Lakeside-Evans had a monster first 2 days of the meet led by Anna Bowles as motored around the track in the 3200 meters winning the gold in a pr top performance effort of 10:46.19. Katie Townsend hung with her the entire trek and also went sub 11: with a pr of 10:52.49. On Friday Bowles had another great run in the 1600m, but came up just short in 2nd at 5:03.93 behind Meghan Wetterhall of Lakeside-DeKalb. Townsend also ran well placing 4th in 5:06.26. Little sis' Sarah Bowles also got in on the act placing 5th in the 800m (2:24.62)...A well informed source allowed at the meet that next XC season 2 rising freshman will be competing for LS-Evans that have pr's of 5:35 and 5:40 in the 1600m....So, watch out for these girls in the Fall and at the 2011 Coaches Classic as the 4 x 1600 record may be in tatters. Rounding out the top 8 teams were Woodland-Cartersville, Starrs Mill, Bainbridge and Marist.
Outstanding Performers (not mentioned above):
Savannah Kirk, North Springs: 800m (2:16.40), 1600m (5:05.19)
Megan Wetterhall, Lakeside, DeKalb: 1st 1600m (5:03.26), 4th 3200: (11:22.45)
S'kayia Hampton, Jonesboro: 2nd 100m (11.85), 3rd 200m (24.93)
Chayna Thompson, Woodland-Cartersville: 3rds LJ (18-0.25), TJ (36-8.5)
Nancy Session, Bainbridge: 2nd 400m (55.49), 5th 200m (25.17)
Other Gold Medalists:
Andrea Fullmore, Wayne County: LJ (18-4.5)
Raven Thomas, Statesboro: 400m (55.49)
Ladondra Johnson, Cedar Shoals: TJ (38-5)
Melanie Mainor, Hillgrove: HJ (5-4)
Caroline Evans, Starrs Mill (10-6)
Dianna Wimpy, Woodland, Cartersville: Discus (132-9)
AAA- Monroe-Albany Dominates Finals Scoring 102 Points
Leaving no doubt about their dominance the Lady Tornadoes blew away the field on Saturday in an even more impressive performance than 09 by scoring 67 points. On Friday, Mimieux Land dominated all the jumps winning 3 events starting with the LJ (18-11)--top performance of the meet--, HJ (5-6) and the TJ (40-0.25), all excellent marks. Alexandria Childs slung the Discus 113-3 to place 4th. Monroe began Saturday with 35 points, trailing St.Pius (51), but that margin was soon to shrink as the storm blew in with the 400 relay (47.22)m Maikea Davis taking 3rd/4th in the 100/200m races and Lakeisha Jackson running away with both hurdles events (14.78, 44.51) Ashley Johnson was runnerup in the 100h (15.23), and 5th in the 300h (46.56) The kicker came from 21 total relay points, and all the contributions from girls who did not win golds but scored significant points.
St. Pius had 2 giant days as they scored at will piling up points in the distance finals and from all over the field for 51 points! Devon Dabney got the Lady Lions roaring Thursday evening placing 4th in the 3200 (11:39.1) Shelby Ashe struck gold in the Shot with a top meet performance of 46-5 and added 6 points in the Discus (114-8). Crystal Taylor placed 2nd in the LJ (18-9), 3rd in the TJ (36-8.5) and Danielle Penk added a gold medal in the PV (11-3). Later in the evening Kathleen LaPorte hit the track and placed 3rd in the 1600 (5:12.77). Heading into Saturday St. Pius only had 3 events left and Crystal Taylor added 5 points in the 100m (12.22) and LaPorte nearly won the 800 placing 2nd in 2:16.54 putting the Lady Lions firmly in 2nd overall.
Tying for 3rd place overall were Shaw and Therrell as it came down to the final event as Therrell won in 3:56.18. Shaw battled hard to hold on to 5th in the event at 4:00.58. Leading the efforts for Therrell was Jawanda King as she had 2 runnerup places in the 200/400 at (24.23, 57.16) Sandrika Simmons placed 4th in the 300h (46.15). Shaw was bolstered by their relay squads picking up 12 points and Torrenzia Lyles placed 3rd in the 400m (57.68) and 6th in the 200m (25.27). Shaw's hurdles trio of Aijalon Cobb, Charquisa Burnley and Laterria D Staton generated 15 points. Rounding out the top 8 teams were Riverwood, Spalding, West Forsyth and Washington County.
Outstanding Performances of the Meet (not mentioned above):
Jasmine Smith, Jackson: 1st 100/200m (11.79, 24.03)
Allie Scaich, Lambert: 1st 3200m, 2nd 1600 (10:53.34, 5:09.73)
Bret McDaniel, Riverwood: 1st 1600m, 2nd 3200m (5:01.61, 11:08.06)
Jamilah Middlebrooks, Riverwood: 2nd 100m, 3rd 200m (11.99, 24.08)
Ashley Ivey, Washington County: 2nd TJ, 3rd 100h (39-1.5, 15.24)
Gold Medalists (other than mentioned above)
Jana Jones, Liberty County: Discus (123-8)
Erika Rucker, Flowery Branch: 400m (55.53)
Jenna Wesley, Spalding: 800m (2:15.96)