Heritage, Ridgeland boys qualify for track sectionals
The race for the Region 7-AAAA boys’ track championship came down to the final couple of events last Tuesday and, when the dust had settled at Southeast Whitfield High School, it was the Lions of CentralCarroll earning the championship and giving them a sweep of the team awards over the two-day event.
Central finished with 137 points to take the top spot. Cedartown (117) nipped Heritage (116) for the runner-up trophy, while the rest of the field included Pickens (104), Northwest (100), Ridgeland (51) and host Southeast Whitfield (29).
The meet got underway last Monday morning and while each event had spectators watching, the boys’ shot put had a few extra eyes on it as throws from Ridgeland’s Logan Montgomery have become something of a can’t miss event, even when he’s just warming up.
And while the junior came up a little less than two feet shy of brekaing his own personal record of 58-feet, 3-inches, he still managed to outdistance runner-up Patrick Gardner of Cedartown (45-5) by a full 11 feet, drawing a few ooh’s, ahh’s, low whistles and chuckling headshakes from some of those watching.
With multiple throws that landed at the very back of the pit and/or literally bounced out of the pit, Montgomery broke his own school record with a winning mark of 565. It was also the longest throw in all of Class AAAA, according to stats complied by Ga.Milesplit.com.
Montgomery followed up a day later by once again setting the Class AAAA bar in the discus with a winning throw of 166-8. The throw broke his own school record and won the region event by nearly 29 feet.
Heritage’s Jonathan Washburn is also headed to the Class AAAA sectionals at North Oconee High School as his shot put throw of 43-4.5 was good enough for fourth place and the final qualifying spot
for sectionals. Ridgeland’s Cade Dunn set a new personal record (PR) with a throw of 42-3.75 to finish seventh.
Montgomery’s win was the only field event victory for either the Ridgeland or Heritage boys on the first day of the meet.
Heritage’s Eli Owens qualified for sectionals in the high jump with a mark of 6-0, while his teammate Griffin Black cleared 5-4 to finish seventh.
In the boys’ triple jump, Ridgeland’s Seth Wingo (40-5) set a new PR and picked up the fourth and final state sectional qualifying spot. Heritage’s Jared Phillips finished fifth, but also set a PR of 40-4.
Heritage’s Gavin Chandler crossed the line in 4:36.05 to finish in second place in the 1600 on Monday. Davis Justice also set a PR at 5:02.66 to earn eighth-place points for the Generals.
The only win for the Generals on Tuesday came in the 4x800 relay as the team of Chandler, Collin Black, Griffin Black and Will Waldrop crossed the line first in a time of 8:44.29.
Chandler added two more runnerup finishes. He clocked in at 2:05.16 to set a PR in the 800, while he crossed the line in 10:16.47 to place second in
the 3200. The other runner-up finish for the Generals came from Brandon Hamilton, whose PR of 43.09 was good enough for second place in the 300 hurdles.
Paxton McCrary had a PR of 23.50 to finish third in the 200. Collin Black earned third place in the 400 with a time of 53.13. Justin Lee ran a 53.33 (PR) to finish fourth in the 400, while Phillips reached 19-8, a new PR, and placed fourth in the long jump to earn a spot at sectionals.
Fifth-place finishers for Heritage included McCrary in the 100 (11.58, PR), Justice in the 3200 (11:11.50, PR), Isaiah Bryant in the 400 (54.13, PR), Chandler Bailey in the pole vault (9-0) and the 4x400 relay team of Collin Black, Griffin Black, Lee and Bryant (3:44.74).
McCrary and Hamilton teamed up with Blake Sanders and Ryan Heet to finish sixth in the 4x100 (47.59). Collin Black was sixth in the 800 (2:17.35, PR), while Griffin Black was seventh (2:22.01) in the same event. Also finishing in seventh place was Washburn in the discus (115-9) and
Will Jones in the pole vault (8-6, PR). The final point for the Generals was scored by Braden Krajesky, who placed eighth in the pole vault (8-0, PR).
Also qualifying for state sectionals for the Panthers was King Mason, whose 100 time of 11.39 was good enough for third place and a PR, according to Milesplit. Wingo will also head to North Oconee after a fourthplace showing in the 300 hurdles. His time of 43.79 was also a PR.
Mason, Wingo, Maeniki Brown and Malachi Hutchinson teamed up to run the 4x100 in a time of 46.18, which was good enough for fifth place. Nate Montgomery set a new PR in the discus at 121-3 , while Elijah Hood finished seventh in the 300 hurdles with a PR of 47.43.
The Panthers would finish in seventh place in two different relays races. The team of Brown, Isaac Woodall, Victor Gross and Henry Holden clocked in at 3:59.92 in the 4x400, while Holden, Destin Hoover, A.J. Walker and Matthew Cole finished the 4x800 in a time of 10:00.71.