At the Sixth Annual Spring Break Showdown this weekend at Marietta High School, the Westminster girls took first place with a 128-point total to pace the 38 team field. Marist finished runner-up on the girls side with a distant 58 points. The Langston Hughes boys edged Westminster for first place with a 100-point finish to the Wildcats’ 76. Midtown, Etowah and Marietta capped the top 5.
Pebblebrook junior Dwight Phillips has been this season’s sensation with his record-setting 100 meter dash times and was just named the Mile Split boys performer of the week to conclude the month of March. Phillips, who won the state championship in the event as a sophomore last season made national noise and dominated the headlines. Phillips Jr. clocked a blazing 10.31 time two weeks ago—giving him the fastest national time seen in the event this season.
Phillips recently committed to the University of Georgia to play football for the Bulldogs and is a two-way player that also stars in the return game. Before the Class of 2024 standout concludes his junior season, he will look to capture another state title and there are plenty of big meets—including the Cobb County Championships. Phillips shaved even more time off his 100 meter and paced the field with a 10.26 finish. His sophomore teammate Keyawn Spencer finished second with a 10.68. Both times were personal records for the Falcons’ standouts.
This past weekend, Mountain View High School hosted the Gail Devers Invitational that included 1,395 total performances. Brookwood’s Janai Jones placed first in the 100 meter (12.05) and 200 meter (25.56) and teammate Serena Tate earned first in the 400 meter (56.06). On the boys side, Langston Hughes had a strong performance with Maurice Gleaton placing first in the 100 meter (10.71), 200 meter (21.58) and helping the Panthers earn top finishes in the 4x100 meter (41.59) and 4x200 meter (1.27.63). Georgia-Tech football signee Bryce Dopson finished runner-up in the 300 meter hurdles with a 38.11 and was edged by Southwest DeKalb’s Isaiah Taylor, who clocked a blazing 37.24. Shiloh’s Bryce Southerland (14.01) and George Benjamin (14.10) earned top two finishes in the 100 meter, Taylor placed third (14.25), Morgan County’s Josh Jones finished fourth (14.42) and Dopson earned fifth with a 14.76.
The A.J. Terrell Invitational at Westlake High School that is named after the former Lion and Falcons starting cornerback hosted 1,104 total performances over the weekend. Austin McGee (Athens Academy) and Antwan Smith (Westlake). Seymore prevailed with a 21.63 top finish in the 200 meter and Didi Nijie (Westlake) took the 400 meter with a 46.87—comfortably topping second-place Westminster Wildcat William Gituku’s 48.33.
Earlier this month, Alexander senior and Georgia Tech football commit Eric Singleton set a school-record with a 10.35 in the 100 meter. Singleton’s time was the top in the nation prior to Phillips’ 10.29 at the AJ Terrell Invitational.
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