Calhoun wins the Jefferson Invitational
The Calhoun High School track and field team won its second consecutive meet last Friday, placing first at the Jefferson Invitational over 10 other teams.
The Yellow Jackets went over the 100-point mark with their team score for the third consecutive meet and were spurred on by six first places, including five individually.
With sophomore hurdler Jadon Thomason winning both hurdles races and junior big man Dylan Faulkner winning one field event and taking second place in two more, the Jackets are picking up steam heading into the upcoming Region 7-5A meet, which is scheduled to be held not long after spring break ends.
Thomason won the 110-meter hurdles and that may have been Calhoun’s best event of the day as the team from Gordon
County was first, second, and third in the race.
Thomason won it (14.97) and senior Quin Smith, who took gold in the triple jump, came in second (15.38), just ahead of junior teammate Dustin Kerns, who was a close third (15.63) as they were the only hurdlers to finish in less than 16 seconds.
And Thomason was a big winner in the 300-meter hurdles, finishing nearly three seconds ahead of the second-place time. Thomason won the longer race with a 41.36 and the runner-up had a time over 44 seconds.
Stover Morgan also represented Calhoun in the 300-meter hurdles.
Smith won the triple jump for the Yellow Jackets (42-04.25) with the only one beyond 42 feet. He was ahead of pair of jumpers from White County, who were second and third, respectively. Senior Blaze Hammett and junior Braxton Medders also were in the large group of triple jumpers for Calhoun.
Faulkner had a terrific day at Jefferson with his win in the high jump and second places in the discus and shot put.
Faulkner led an excellent showing in the high jump as he was first (6-06) and senior teammate Jaylan Harris, who won the long jump, was third (604). Medders also competed for the black-and-gold.
The 6-foot-9 junior also set personal records with his distances in the discus and the shot put and led a strong team performance in the discus with Calhoun securing three of the top five spots.
In the discus, Faulkner was second (138-03), but was pushed by senior teammates Lex Walraven and Derek Greene, who each finished in the top five. Walraven was fourth in the event (137-08) and Greene came fifth (128-01).
Over 30 boys competed in the discus at the meet.
And Faulkner was the runner-up in the shot put with his 47-07.25 a new personal best. The winning throw was a 51-02 by a shot putter from Athens Academy. The third place distance was 46 feet even.
Nearly 35 boys threw the shot put at the Jefferson Invitational.
Harris won the long jump by almost a foot as he is, like the rest of his teammates, another young man who is looking better and better each time the Yellow Jackets compete.
Harris, who was also third in the 100-meter dash, won the long jump with a 22-09 distance and he was the only person to go farther than 22 feet. The second place distance was a 2106 by a junior from White County.
And Harris medaled in the 100-meter dash, coming in third with a speedy 11.11 time. Cole Speer and Caden Williams were also part of that field and both ran times below 11.60.
Calhoun’s other victory came in the 4-x-100 meter relay as the team ran a solid 43.30 to finish a half-second ahead of the hosting school and nearly two full seconds over third place White County.
The Yellow Jackets did earn a second place in the 4-x-400 meter relay with a 3:33.74, coming in just behind Flowery Branch, who won with a 3:33.23. Both of those schools were a full three seconds in front of third place Jefferson High School.
And Calhoun came in fourth in the 4-x-200 relay with a 1:36.44. Flowery Branch also won that close competition, running a 1:35.50 or less than a full second faster than the locals. That meant four teams were basically at the finish line at the same time.
Individually, sophomore Caden Williams also had a fourth place in the 200-meter race. Williams had a 23.96 with teammates Luke Hawkins and Gage Leonard not far behind him.