Heritage boys hang on to complete track sweep
♦ Generals win boys’ title by one half-point
For the last part of the season, they battled.
The LaFayette Ramblers took the Gordon Lee Invitational by just five points over Heritage back on April 16, and the Generals scored a 21-point win over runner-up LaFayette at the Lakeview Invitational just eight days later.
The third and final matchup between the NGAC’s two track heavyweights played out at LFO High School last Tuesday and Wednesday and it was everything fans could hope for. But in the end, there could only be one winner, and that winner wasn’t decided until the very last race of the season.
The Heritage Generals, leading by just 2.5 points going into the 4x400 relay, needed to finish no lower than second against the favored Ramblers in the race to secure the league title.
And that’s exactly what they did. The Generals’ countered LaFayette’s 10-point win in the event with an eightpoint runner-up finish and won the
NGAC championship by a mere halfpoint, 106-105.5.
Heritage had taken a sizeable lead after the field events on Tuesday. The Generals’ 51 points were 13.5 better than second-place Gordon Lee (37.5) and 23 better than LaFayette, who ended Day 1 with 28 points.
However, the Ramblers would start to make up ground on the track on Day 2, winning five events. Khalas Finley picked up two wins, one in the 200 (24.47) and the other in the 100 hurdles (15.50), while Daeshaun Goad raced to victory in the 100 (11.90). They also earned 10 points for a win in the 4x100 (48.54).
Heritage would punch back with wins by Will Riddell in the 400 and in the 800. His time of 58.00 in the 400 nipped Chattanooga Valley’s Jayvius Randolph by just 0.67, and his 2:25 in the 800 beat teammate Jacob Palmer by three seconds. Palmer would take the 1600 with a time of 5:40 for 10 more important points.
It would all boil down to the 4x400 and while LaFayette’s time of 3:52 was good enough for an easy 14-second victory, runner-up Heritage (4:06) finished 10 seconds in front of Chattanooga Valley to earn the eight points it needed to win the championship.
Gordon Lee (75.5) was third in the final team standings, followed by Chattanooga Valley (59.5), Rossville (58), Ringgold (44), Saddle Ridge (12) and Lakeview (10.5).
There wasn’t as much drama in the final night of the girls’ meet.
Heritage, who won three of the four field events on Tuesday and led Ringgold by 7.5 points after the first night, won three more events on Wednesday and added two more runner-up finishes to end the meet with 124.5 points. The Lady Tigers, who did not win any events on Day 2, collected 98 points and took home the runner-up trophy.
Chattanooga Valley, who won three events on Wednesday, amassed 73 points and overtook Lakeview (68.5) for third place. Gordon Lee (55) was fifth, while the rest of the standings were filled out by LaFayette (35), Rossville (7) and Saddle Ridge (6).
Lexi Berry clocked in at 1:07.17 to win the 400 for the Lady Generals. Piper Collins claimed victory in the 1600 with a time of 6:17, while the 4x400 relay team was dominant with a winning time of 4:45.
Amiya Smith won two events for
Chattanooga Valley, sweeping the 100 (13.09) and the 200 (27.69). The Lady Eagles also set a new school record during their 4x100 relay win (54.46).
The other two wins on Wednesday came from Lakeview’s Marissa Moreland, who won both the 800 (2:49) and the 100 hurdles (17.24).
Field event winners
Caiden Lowrey got a Day 1 victory for the Heritage boys in the shot put (349). LaFayette won twice on Tuesday as Finley won the high jump (5-6) and Goad took top honors in the long jump (18-1.5). The other win was recorded by Gordon Lee’s Griffin Moore in the discus (95-8.5).
Lindsey Gibson had a Tuesday to remember for Heritage as she swept the shot put (272.5) and the discus (71-6.5). Her teammate, Lexi Berry, also enjoyed a big moment as her victory in the high jump (5-2) broke a school record that had stood for 11 years. Chattanooga Valley’s Amiya Smith won the long jump (14-9) for her first of three wins in the meet.