Jacket runners, jumpers compete at Nance
Who says split squads are strictly for baseball teams?
Not the Calhoun High School track and field team.
With half of its squad at the Southeast Invitational meet last Saturday in Whitfield County, the other half went to Ratner Stadium at Gordon Central High School and competed in the sixteam Nance Relays.
The Yellow Jackets had several impressive finishes and ran in a number of different style relays they normally wouldn’t compete in like the distance medley relay 4,000 and the sprint medley relay 800.
Their best event was the long jump, where two Yellow Jackets tied for first place as they finished with three of the top six spots overall in a field of nearly 20 jumpers.
Lium Garnett and Logan Speer were the Calhoun duo that finished tied with the same winning distance of 18 feet, seven inches. The top four jumpers were all within five inches of each other when the final results were released with third place an 18-03 and fourth place an 18-02.
Grant Garnett of Calhoun gave the Jackets half of the top six finishers by placing sixth overall and flying 16 feet, 11 inches.
In addition to those high finishes, the Yellow Jackets had two second places, one in the field events and the other in the sprint medley relay, and a trio of third place showings.
Sophomore Alec Upshaw was the runner-up in the discus, coming up a half-foot shy of winning the competition. The longest distance was a 103-11 distance from Model thrower Matthew Singletary and Upshaw ended with a 103-06 as they had the only throws 100 feet or farther. The third place distance was a 98-03 by a Sonoraville athlete.
The Calhoun A team was second in the SMR 800-meter relay in which all
seconds apart. The Model A team won the race with a 1:41.22 and Calhoun A was second with a 1:44.91. The Armuchee A relay was fourth with a 1:46.43.
For the Sonoraville girls, Lili Lovingood was second in the long jump for their highest individual finish. The Phoenix did well overall in the event with Kaylee Sanders coming in fifth, giving them two of the top five placers.
A Ringgold girl was first at 14 feet event before Lovingood placed second in a tight contest for that spot. She went a 12-09.25 for second with Sanders placing fifth with a 12-07 as only 2.25 inches separated the four girls.
The Lady Phoenix were also third in the sprint medley relay 800 race, with four runners combining for a time of 2:09.56. Sonoraville was just two seconds off the winning time of 2:07.85 by Model with the Gordon Central A team second at 2:08.50.