Gordon Lee boys win LaFayette Invitational

With the North Georgia Athletic Conference track championship a little over a month away, eight of the league’s 10 schools (all but Dade County and Trion) converged on LaFayette High School this past Thursday night to see where they stood early in the short season.

In the case of the Gordon Lee Trojans, they liked what they saw.

The Navy-and-White won seven of the eight running events and collected 128 points to keep Heritage (107.5) at arm’s length. Ringgold (81) was third, followed by LaFayette (74), Chattanooga Valley (50.5), Saddle Ridge (16), Lakeview (13) and Rossville (10).

Jake Lee got the ball rolling for the Trojans as he clocked in at 5:26 to win the 1600 meters and he later added a victory in the 800 (2:26.32) as Gordon Lee claimed victory in the final seven events of the evening.

Griffin Collins motored his way to wins in the 100 (12.28) and the 200 (25.26), while Kameron Oliver won the 400 (1:00.37). The Trojans’ 4x100 “A” team won with a time of 51.43, while the 4x400 “A” team clocked in at 4:11 to polish off the team title.

The other top performance of the night went to Ringgold’ Gage Elmore, who blew away the field to win the 100 hurdles (14.39) after earlier winning the high jump (5-2).

The other event winners for the boys included Chattanooga Valley’s Jeremiah Turner in the shot put (35-9), Ringgold’s William House in the discus (111-1) and LaFayette’s Jaylon Ramsey in the long jump (16-7 1/2).

In the girls’ meet, Chattanooga Valley won three events to Heritage’s two, but the Lady Generals would amass 110 points to beat the Lady Eagles by nine. Ringgold (87) took third and LaFayette (61.5) earned fourth. Gordon Lee (57.5), Saddle Ridge (42), Lakeview (4) and Rossville (0) rounded out the field.

Heritage got firstplace points from Kaylan Davis in the 800 (2:50), while the 4x400”A” relay team clocked in at 4:57 to earn 10 points for the win.

Chattanooga Valley’s Cordasia Watkins won both the shot put (26-7 1/8) and the 200 (28.41), while Annabel Hill won the high jump (4-4) for the Lady Eagles.

Ringgold picked up wins by Jersey McCann in the 100 hurdles (18.19) and Autumn Green in the 100 (13.19), while the 4x100 “A” team won in a time of 57 seconds flat. Sarah Ray won the long jump for LaFayette (1311).

Gordon Lee got 20 points thanks to wins from Arilyn Lee in the discus (86-0) and Addison Sturdivant in the 400 (1:07.47). Sixth grader Haynie Gilstrap won the lone event for Saddle Ridge, clocking in at 6:16 to win the 1600.