State meets wrap up with top-5 finishes
Individual athletes make the most of the final day of competition.
The end of the prep track and field season brought closure to some and high marks for others, but it also began the journey to work for next year.
Darlington’s boys finished with eight different athletes scoring points at the Class A Private state meet at Berry College, one of three sites statewide that hosted the GHSA Track and Field State Championships. Six of the Tigers’ state placers are underclassmen, and Darlington was able to finish fifth in the final team standings with 35 points. A couple of Floyd County athletes performed well individually at the Class AA state meet in Albany. Pepperell’s Dawson Melton finished third in the boys’ 300-meter hurdles with a time of 40.49 seconds, while Armuchee’s Chaney Holder took third in the boys’ 800-meter with a time of 2:02.89.
Darlington track coach Kevin Hunt could not complain about his team’s performance. And with nearly the entire team coming back next season, Hunt knows it can only get better from here.
“We tried to match ourselves against great competition all season, and it has paid off this weekend,” Hunt said. “When you’re young you need to be tested for races like this, and our guys came in focused.”
Junior Tijai Whatley finished seventh in the boys’ 200 and 100 Saturday while sophomore Roth Wilcox took fifth in the boys’ 300 hurdles. One of Darlington’s few seniors competing was Kate Flory, who finished in seventh in the girls’ 800 on Saturday after taking fifth in the 3,200 on Thursday.
Her second top-eight finish of the week capped off an eventful day for Flory, who participated in Darlington’s commencement only hours before running her final event.
“It has been a very stressful day, that’s for sure,” Flory said. “I barely had anything to eat this morning, and I’ve been nervous with all the graduation stuff. But it’s also been such a great day, especially being on the podium. It’s a perfect way to end my senior year.”
Rome’s Montrell Millsap finished eighth in the boys’ 300 hurdles at the Class 5A meet in Carrollton.
The Wolves had two athletes place in the top eight, but coach Nick Bridges stayed optimistic about the program’s future.
“Our kids competed hard, there were just some fast folks out there,” Bridges said. “But there were many young guys and gals out there, and I thought it was great for them to get that experience. All I can ask is for them to compete.”
Rockmart’s boys scored in five different events at the Class AA meet with the 4x100-meters relay team finishing sixth and Zoryan Hendricks taking fifth in the 300 hurdles. Zabrion Wiley took eighth in both the 100 and 200, and Miya Christopher finished eighth in the 400.
Carrah Arrant scored Coosa’s only points of the weekend, finishing fifth in the girls’ 300 hurdles. The Model girls finished 10th overall with 25 points.
After Alex Quarles won the 1,600 Friday, Kelsey Wade finished fifth and McKenna Johnston took seventh in the 800 on Saturday.