The 2022 GHSA Track and Field State Championships are just over a month away (May 12-14) and those will be held at four separate locations, with A Public and 4A (Hugh Mills Stadium), A Private and 7A (McEachern), 3A, 6A and Adapted (Grisham Stadium) and 2A and 5A (Kinnett) divided into the different venues.
The County Championship meets largely took place two weekends ago and the rest of the season features a lineup of meets both in-state and across state lines before the Region/Area schedule concludes on April 30. Sectionals will take place the following weekend on May 7 and then the much-anticipated championships will be here. Douglas County, however held its Championships this past weekend and Alexander swept titles with the girls scoring a 148-point victory over second-place Lithia Springs’ 60 and the boys tallying a 135-point win over second-place Chapel Hill’s 90 points. Alexander also swept junior varsity titles—resulting in a dominant overall weekend for the Cougars.
This weekend’s upcoming meets includes the Etowah Invitational with Cherokee, Creekview, Cumberland Christian Academy, Etowah, North Cobb, Osborne, Sequoyah and Tri-Cities. The McEachern Invitational on Saturday will feature a massive list of teams, including Alpharetta, Athens Academy, Banneker, Bleckley County, Campbell, Central Gwinnett, Chattahoochee, Dunwoody, Gainesville, Harris County, Harrison, Hart County, Hillgrove, Holy Innocents’, Johnson-Savannah, King’s Ridge, Lakeside-DeKalb, Lakeside-Evans, Lambert, Landmark Christian, Langston Hughes, Marietta, Mays, McEachern, Midtown, North Atlanta, North Cobb Christian, North Paulding, Pebblebrook, Riverwood, South Forsyth, South Gwinnett, South Paulding, Sprayberry, Starr’s Mill, Stephenson, Walton, West Forsyth, Wheeler, Whitewater, Woodstock and Woodward Academy.
Host Etowah swept its Invitational over the weekend with the girls scoring a 160.67 cumulative mark, edging second-place Creekview’s 153.50 and Sequoyah’s 131.33. The boys posted 183.50 and Creekview came in at 162 ahead of third-place North Cobb’s 134.50. The girls excelled in the sprints and relays, while the boys racked up the majority of their points in the distance and field events.
Throughout the season, top performers are recognized by Georgia Mile Split in the track and field athlete of the week(s). There were plenty of worthy candidates over the course of the 4/11-4/16 time period that are being considered for the honor. Savannah Christian’s Maggie Byrd earned recognition with her 5-7 high hump to win the Savannah Private School Championships. Peachtree Ridge’s Tamiia Fuller continued her phenomenal season with victories in both the 100 meter (11.66) and 200 meter dash (23.63) at the Shiloh Invitational.
Woodward Academy’s Olivia Powell clocked first-place finishes in both the 300 and 100 meter hurdles (42.94/14.08) this past weekend at the McEachern Invitational. Additionally, Harrison’s Samantha McGarity took the 1600 meter at McEachern with a 5:02 finish and Sandy Creek’s Chelsea Davis landed a 19-8 in the Long Jump to clinch victory at the Eagle’s Landing Invitational.
These two major meets are among the last ones before the Region championships begin next week. Before the Region championships, however, here are some of the highlights from the spring break meets over the past two weeks. At the Fifth annual GA Spring Break Showdown at Marietta on April 2, there were 29 girls and 35 boys programs that participated in the event and the Lowndes girls and Marietta boys earned top team finishes. Lowndes’ top finish was fueled by a memorable performance by Kaniya Johnson—who clocked a first-place 23.60 in the 200 meter dash and a first-place 11.88 in the 100 meter dash. Johnson’s 200-meter time was a top 10 time in the state this year and her 100 meter dash was a top 25 time. Her top finishes earned her female track and field athlete of the week(s) for the period of 3/28-4/9 by ga.milesplit. The other finalists were the Westlake girls—who set a state record in the 4x200 relays with a blazing 1:36.31. Westminster’s Palmer Walstad broke the 5-minute mark with a 4:59 in the 1600 at the Spring Break Showdown and Marist’s Johna Grisik took first with a 2:13 finish in the 800. As for the field events, North Atlanta’s Amber Jamison landed a 38-8 triple jump to win the spring break showdown and Alexander’s Adaejah Hodge won the 400 meter dash with a 55.34 and also took first in the long jump with a 20-.05 at the Beach Run Invitational. Westlake’s Jasmine Harmon also earned a top finish with a 13.78 in the 100 meter hurdles at the Arcadia meet.
On the boys side, New Manchester’s Seth Allen made history with a 198-0 throw in the discus—which marks the fourth-best distance in state history. Ridgeland’s Logan Montgomery won the shotput at the Gordon Lee Invitational with a 60-0 and Southeast Bulloch’s James Hodges cleared 14-8 in the pole vault to win the Rebel Invitational. Creekside’s Dainsus Miller won the Need for Speed triple jump with a 48-8.75 and Westminster’s Malik Mixon clocked a 4:11 finish in the 1600 meter at the GA Spring Break Showdown.
Shiloh’s Christion Barker has led the Generals this season and captured a top finish in the 300 meter hurdles with his 37.06 to take the Gwinnett County championships. Additionally, Heritage’s Rashun Fountain took top finishes in both the 100 and 200 meter championship at NewRock with a 10.54 and 21.10. The month of April also witnessed Southwest DeKalb post a 1:26.66 in the 4x200 meter relay—marking the ninth fastest time in state history.
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