Region Champ Wolves
Rome celebrates its first boys’ region title in school history while the girls finish second.
Rome celebrates its first boys’ region track title while the girls finish second.
Rome’s track and field athletes put on a display of drive and determination over the two days of the Region 7-5A track and field championships at Barron Stadium.
And on Monday, they were able to accomplish something that had not been done in the history of Rome High School.
With their performances in the 4x400 relay giving them a boost, the Rome boys won the Wolves’ first region track and field title in the school’s 25th year by outscoring Carrollton 129128. In addition, Rome’s girls kept up their resolve through some tough competition and finished second in the final team standings.
The results all come in the first season for coach Nick Bridges, who has worked to get the program competitive and make the students involved feel connected to it.
The Wolves entered the boys’ 4x400-meter relay — the final event of the day — behind Carrollton by seven points in the team standings. The advantage — they had qualified two teams for the finals, an “A” team that was seeded fifth, and a “B” team that qualified eighth.
“Our kids have fought all year. They’re fighters, and we challenged them a little bit,” Bridges said. “I went and gave them an earful of motivation before the race and I challenged our kids.”
It was a simple request. Bridges said he told the “B” team to break the school record — 3 minutes, 31.33 seconds — and for the “A” team to run even faster. And they did. The “B” team, consisting of Jamious Griffin, Shomari Bonham, Quenterrious Kennemore and
John Berry Bowling, finished fifth with a time of 3:30.62, about a half-second faster than the school record.
Meanwhile, Rome’s “A” team of Shidell Millsap, Nemo Reddish, Jayden Brewer and Montrell Millsap won with a time of 3:25.45, basically shattering the old record. The move to first came in the third leg with Brewer making his way up front. Then Montrell Millsap held the lead for the final 100 meters.
“It was an amazing thing to watch,” Bridges said. “You get our kids backed into a corner a little bit, and I knew they would come out fighting. Those guys are unbelievable. They’re so much fun to be around. Shoot, I’m blown away right now.”
Shidell Millsap won both the boys’ 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash, coming in at 10.82 and 22.07, respectively. John Berry Bowling, who came in just shy of winning the 1,600 meter last Friday, broke the two-minute mark in the 800 for the first time on Monday to win with a time of 1:59.93.
Montrell Millsap took second in the 300-meter hurdles and third in the 110-meter hurdles, Adam Anderson finished third in the discus, and Rome’s 4x100 “A” relay team came in second.
Rome’s girls were paced by the field events on Monday as Renauzay Jackson took first in the long jump with a leap of 17 feet, 3 ½ inch, while Alora Barasoain and Chloe Tilton finished second and third in the pole vault. Zaysha Brown took third place in the girls’ 100, while Jataria Jackson finished third in the 400.
An unfortunate incident during the girls’ 4x100-meter relay finals led to Rome’s “A” team being disqualified after posting a fastest qualifying time of 49.39 seconds last Friday. The team’s second handoff came outside of the exchange zone.
The lost points made an impact on the final team standings as Carrollton overtook the Lady Wolves after winning the girls’ 4x400 relay, but
‘You get our kids backed into a corner a little bit, and I knew they would come out fighting.’ Nick Bridges
Bridges said he was happy with the way his athletes performed and know they can continue to find success in the Class 5A State Sectionals next week in Carrollton.
“Our program is going in the right direction and I know that I have full support from our administration,” Bridges said. “We’re going to continue to get better.”
Rome coach