Track and Field Blog: Alexander, Woodward Academy sweep region titles

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Credit: @ATLtrackclub

Credit: @ATLtrackclub

In Class 7A, the West Forsyth Girls (195) edged Lambert (183), Forsyth Central (103) and Milton (71.33) for the Region 6 title and the Lambert Boys earned first with 166 points to eclipse second-place Denmark (129.50) and South Forsyth (129). West Forsyth earned 56 points in the jumps and the Lambert boys earned 43 points in the distance events in addition to 32 and 31 in the throws and jumps, respectively. Rome’s Barron Stadium hosted the Class 6A Region 6 Championships last week and the Etowah girls (168) and Rome boys (169) earned top finishes. The Etowah girls earned 49 points in the Sprints and the Rome boys picked up 35 points in the distance events with success across the board.

In Class 6A Region 5, Alexander swept the boys and girls titles. The girls accumulated 215 points to top second-place New Manchester (138) and the boys earned 183 points to edge Hughes’ 158.50. The Alexander girls earned 57 points in the Distance events and 51 in the Jumps and the boys earned the bulk of their points in the Distance with 56 of their 183.

Woodward Academy swept the Region 3-6A titles with the girls racking up 225 points and the boys picking up 166 points. Rockdale County finished runner-up in the girls (90) and boys (148).

Heritage-Conyers swept the Region 8-5A titles with a 208 total for the girls and 133 score for the boys. Jefferson finished runner-up to the Bulldogs in both with scores of 147 (girls) and 130.50 (boys).

The GHSA Track and Field state championships will take place on May 11-13 at Hugh Mills Stadium (3A & 4A), Kinnett Stadium (A-DII & 5A), McEachern (2A & 7A) and Barron Stadium (A-DI, 6A & Adapted). The championship meets and battle for the team titles will be historic and will set the stage the following week for the Wingfoot Nigh of Champions at Georgia Tech presented by Atlanta Track Club.

The event will start at 5 p.m. and according to the official website, “The Wingfoot Night of Champions will see Georgia’s best jumpers, throwers and runners go head-to-head, under the lights at Georgia Tech’s Griffin Track & Field Facility on Saturday, May 21 to determine the best athlete in the state across 14 disciplines. The meet follows the legacy and tradition of the former Meet of Champions with many of the coaches who made that meet a success, lending their time and expertise to the new meet.

This event is open only to Georgia athletes. The season’s Georgia state champions receive guaranteed entry in their respective disciplines. Remaining spots will be filled by athletes who achieve the meet’s qualifying standards linked below. Each event will be capped at 16 athletes.

What makes the Wingfoot Night of Champions especially intriguing is that it will crown the all-classification champions in one night of non-stop elite action. The WNOC Qualified Athletes as of April 10 can be accessed in the following links.

Tfirst batch of region championships concluded last week and Class 4A crowned its Region 8 champions. The North Hall girls scored a 147 team score to capture the region title and held off runner-up North Oconee’s 132, Cherokee Bluff’s 106 and Seckinger’s 80. North Hall accumulated 62 points in the distance events and 52 in the jumps for the bulk of its total. Sophomore Clodagh O’Bryant took first place in the 3200 meter run with a time of 11:37.03—which was a Georgia Top 25 result. Her sophomore teammate Harleigh Smith finished fourth place (12:09.68) to tack on another five points to O’Bryant’s 10 points and junior MaKayla Jones earned three points with a sixth-place finish (12:58.14). North Hall’s Abi Moore earned a top finish in the 1600 meter with a personal record time of 5:12.86 and O’Bryant finished second with a 5:15.10 mark to add another eight points. Sophomore Jessie Dubnik finished fifth and earned four points with a personal record time of 5:28.20. In the high jump, junior Eve Taylor recorded a personal record 5-4 to give North Hall 10 points and landed a personal record 34-4 triple jump to take first and give the Trojans 10 points.

On the boys side, North Oconee earned the region championship with 127 points as East Forsyth finished runner-up (97) ahead of Chestatee (78) and Madison County (76). The Titans earned the bulk of their points in the jumps, while also picking up 28 points in both the sprints and relays and 17 points in the distance events.

In the Class 7A Region 7 Championships at Peachtree Ridge, the Lions swept the titles with the Girls edging runner-up North Gwinnett 244-to-166.50 and the boys topping runner-up North Gwinnett 194-to-138.50. Peachtree Ridge senior Tweh Justin won the boys 200 meter with a 21.84 and took the 400 meter with a 48.54. Teammate Thorps Kylen finished runner-up in the 400 with a 49.68 and junior Caleb McBride’s fifth-place 51.40 profited a total of 22 points in the event.

The Girls won the 4x200 meter relay with a 1:41.48, finished runner-up in the 4x100 meter relay and first in the 4x400 meter relay. Sophomore Beville Daedrian earned a first-place finish in the Long Jump with a 18-0 mark and senior Hines Mya recorded a 5-2 High Jump to earn 10 points in the Lions’ triumph.