By Chris McCarthy, Publisher/Editor
Several local track and field teams acquitted themselves well at the AHSAA sectionals meets on April 28 and 29.
The Class 1A-3A state qualifiers will compete at Cullman on May 12 and 13. The Class 4A-7A qualifiers will compete in Gulf Shores on May 11, 12 and 13.
Class 5A Section 3 boys
Southside (pictured above) won the Class 5A Section 3 meet at Lincoln out of 15 teams, edging out John Carroll Catholic by one point, 119 to 118.
Ten Panthers medaled, including two each by Jamvion Jones and Jackson Griggs. Jones earned the first-place gold in the 200-meter dash at 22.23 and the second-place silver in the 100-meter dash at 11.32. Griggs took first in the 3200-meter run at 9:47.05 and was runner-up in the 1600-meter run at 4:36.30. Griggs also qualified for state in the 800-meter run with a seventh-place finish of 2:07.93.
Other Southside individual medalists were Brooks NeSmith in the high jump (first, 6-0),
Evan Christopher in the 3200-meter run (second, 9:53.40), Collins Davis in the discus (second, 119-4), Cole Chastain in the javelin (second, 148-10) and Will Shirley in the shot put (second, 45-3).
The Panthers won the third-place bronze in two relay events – the 4×100 (43.78) and the 4×800 (8:49.58).
Also qualifying for the state meet were Kody Kueny in the 200-meter dash (fourth, 22.69), Anthony Padula in the 100-meter hurdles (fifth, 18.51), Will Shirley in the discus (sixth, 106-9), Davis in the shot put (fourth, 41-11) and Jacob Struck in the shot put (sixth, 40-8).
Class 3A Section 3 girls
Glencoe senior Katie Giles won all three of her distance events on the way to being named the girls MVP at the Class 3A Section 3 Meet at Fort Payne.
Giles took home the gold in the 800-meter run (2:30.36), the 1600-meter run (5:42.20) and the 3200-meter run (12:38.14). She was also a member of the Lady Yellow Jackets’ fifth place 4×400-meter relay team along with Alli Jo Amos, Palin Cook and Chloe Douglas.
Also medaling for the Lady Jackets was the second place 4×800-meter relay team (11:58.51) of Alli Jo Amos, Palin Cook, Chloe Douglas and McKinley Kay. Douglas also qualified for state in the the 800-meter run (fourth, 2:36.59) and the 400-meter run (sixth, 1:06.77).
For Hokes Bluff, Haley Kate Wellingham and Mary Davenport both earned two individual medals as the Lady Eagles had eight girls qualify for state. Wellingham won the long jump at 15-7.5 and came in second in the 200-meter dash at 27.19. She also qualified in the 400-meter dash with a fourth-place time of 1:04.44. Davenport took the bronze in both the 100-meter dash (12.96) and 200-meter dash (27.35).
In addition, Wellingham and Davenport were members of the third place 4×100-meter relay team along with Jenna Bradley and Addison Simmons at 53.17. Davenport, Simmons, Haley Heath and Haylen Marbut finished sixth in the 4×400-meter dash (4:48.48) to qualify a wild card. Marbut and Bradley qualified in the triple jump with respective leaps of 29-7 and 27-8.5.
Emma Godfrey qualified in three events – the 1600-meter run (fifth, 6:06.83), the 3200-meter run (fourth, 13:09.80) and the 800-meter run (seventh, 2:42.06).
Chloe Dodd made state in the javelin (fourth, 102-6) and the discus (sixth, 70-09). Addie Robertson also qualified on the javelin at 81-10.
Qualifying from Westbrook Christian were Taylor Meador in the triple jump (fourth, 30-2.25),
Ava Zuniga in the 300-meter hurdles (fifth, 55.27) and Noel Griffin in the 1600-meter run (seventh, 6:24.90).
Class 4A Section 2 girls
Ashville tied for second with Cherokee County out of 13 teams at the Class 4A Section 2 Meet at Lincoln. Emma Drinkard was named girls third-place MVP after winning the 400-meter dash (59.15), placing third in the 200-meter dash (26:30) and coming in fourth in the 100-meter dash (12.88).
Other medalists for the Lady Bulldogs were Anzlee Farmer in the pole vault (second, 7-6), the 4×800-meter relay team of Taylor Knight, Allie Cone, Molly Northam and Alana Whitehead (10:32.30), Taylor Knight in the 1600-meter run (third, 5:34.37), Lydia Northam in the 300-meter hurdles (third, 51.39) and Keely Massey in the triple jump (third, 30-6). Knight also finished fourth in the 3200-meter run at 12:40.60 and seventh in the 800-meter run at 2:34.01.
Also qualifying for state were Mya Beason in the discus (fourth, 77-4), Allie Cone in the 800-meter run (fourth, 2:30.02), Alora White in the high jump (fourth, 4-10), Lydia Northam in the high jump (sixth, 4-8), Molly Northam in the javelin (sixth, 87-6) and the 4×400-meter relay team of Molly Northam, Allie Cone, Emma Drinkard and Alana Whiteman (fourth, 4:25.98).
Class 4A Section 2 boys
Ashville placed fourth out of 14 teams. Senior Greyson Simpson was named Meet MVP for the male field events after capturing first place in both the javelin (156-5) and the pole vault (12-0). He also qualified for the triple jump with an eighth-place showing of 40-5.
Also medaling for the Bulldogs were Parker Smith in the high jump (third, 6-0) and the 4×800-meter relay team of Coby Caswell, Ryan Matthews, Joe Stevens and Maddox Vann with a third-place time of 8:35.25.
Also qualifying for state were Stevens in the 3200-meter run (fourth, 10:21.47), the 1600-meter run (fifth, 4:43.40) and the 800-meter run (2:04.58); Matthews in the 1600-meter run (fourth, 4:43.04) and the 3200-meter run (fifth, 10:22.84) and Garrett Spears in the pole vault (fifth, 10-0).
Qualifying from Etowah were Anthony Tubiolo (fifth, 19.25) and Daylen Baise (sixth, 19.26) in the 110-meter hurdles and Trent Bothwell in the triple jump at 40-5.
Class 1A Section 4 girls
Coosa Christian earned five medals on the way to finishing fifth out of 10 teams at the Class 1A Section 4 Meet at Lincoln.
Maryanne Wright won gold in both the 800-meter run (2:49.45) and the 1600-meter run (7:19.08). Kailah East took first place in the shot put (30-8) and won the silver in the 800-meter run (2:49.60). Ellene East finished runner-up in the 1600-meter run (7:20.44).
Class 5A Section 4 boys
Sardis finished fifth out of 14 teams at the Class 5A Section 4 Meet at Scottsboro. Jake Alewine tied the school record in the high jump with a gold-medal-winning leap of 6-2, while Garrett Burns set a school record in the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.08. Also breaking a school mark was the 4×400-meter really team of Burns, Jonathan Lusk, Canyon McGee and Alex Davis, which clocked in with a third-place time of 3:33.86. Also medaling was Gage Garner in the shot put with a third-place throw of 43 feet and three inches.
Burns qualified in the 100-meter dash with a fourth-place time of 11.50, while Alewine made the cut in the triple jump with a fifth-place leap of 40-8.5 and in the long jump with a seventh-place effort of 20-1.25.
Class 6A Section 4 girls
Karleigh Sheffield and Kyla Price had a day to remember at the Class 6A Section 4 Meet at Fort Payne.
The Gadsden City duo combined for four individual medals and were a part of two more in relay action. Sheffield finished first in the 100-meter dash (12.36) and 200-meter dash (25.61), while Price won the 400-meter dash (59.22) and came in second in the 200-meter dash (25.94). The GCHS duo was also a part of the Lady Titans’ second-place 4×400-meter relay team along with Skylar Stevens and Iyiana Huff with a time of 4:11.15. Huff also gained a state wildcard berth in the 300-meter hurdles at 50.90.
Also winning the gold was Mariah Ragland in the long jump at 16-4.25. Nyla Franklin placed third in the high jump at 5-0.
Class 5A Section 3 girls
Southside placed sixth out of 15 teams at the Class 5A Section 3 Meet at Lincoln.
Three Lady Panthers took home meals, led by Kathryn Webb with her gold-winning
high jump of 5-2. Taylor Dotch won the bronze in the 800-meter run at 2:31.61, while Marlee Tucker placed third in the 3200-meter run at 12:46.88.
Dortch also came in fifth in the both 1600-meter run (5:56.06) and 3200-meter run (13:07.95), while Webb placed sixth in the long jump at 16-6 and Anna Cashman seventh in the shot put (29-6).
Other state qualifiers were Anna Cashman (fifth, 13.00) and Lauren Henderson (13.20) in the 100-meter dash and Zoie Menk in the 400-meter dash (sixth, 1:01.62).
Class 3A Section 3 boys
Hokes Bluff took away five individual medals and three in relay action at the Class 3A Section 3 Meet at Fort Payne.
Conner Wellingham earned the Eagles’ lone gold medal with a 146-7 throw in the javelin.
Bryer Morrison placed third in the 3200-meter run at 11:08.20 and fourth in the 1600-meter run at 5:07.57. He and Brenten Hale, Alexander Moland and Ethan Patterson won the bronze in the 4×800-meter relay at 9:25.50. Morrison also qualified in the 800-meter run with a seventh-place time of 2:11.31.
Moland finished second in the 400-meter dash at 53.32, while Leon Chen placed third in the shot put at 39-2.25.
Both the 4×100 and 4×400-meter dash teams came in third. Hale, Blain Barron, Blake Green and Eli Heath clocked in at 47.07 in the 4×100, while Heath, Moland, Patterson and Dylan Lancaster posted a time of 3:50.84 in the 4×400.
Also qualifying for state were Patterson in the 1600-meter run (fifth, 5:08.31) and the 800-meter run (eighth, 2:11.68); Harrison Cummings in the discus (fourth, 108.00) and shot put (fifth, 38-7.5), Lancaster in the triple jump (sixth, 36-10.75) and Heath in the 110-meter hurdles (19.15).
Qualifying for Glencoe were Conner Cothran in the 800-meter run (fifth, 2:10.44), Reid Drenner in the 1600-meter run (seventh, 5:19.86) and Cothran, Drenner, Cason Arther and Stephen Orr in the 4×800-meter relay (fourth, 9:37.80).
Westbrook Christian’s Eric Kirkpatrick won the silver in the shot put at 39-5.5, while Keaton Bean placed third in the long jump at 18-5.75.
Class 2A Section 3 girls
Paten Battles came away with two gold medals and a bronze in relay action at the Class 2A Section 3 Meet at Fort Payne.
Battles took first place in both the 1600-meter run (6:06.97) and the 3200-meter run (13:12.52) and was a member of the Lady Patriots’ third-place 4×800-meter relay team along with Kaylee Tarpley, Karlee Tarpley and Toree Chaney (11:53.75).
Karlee Tarpley won the silver medal in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:43.21.
Peyton Hall finished fourth in both the 100 and 200-meter dashes at 13.78 and 29.30 seconds, respectively. Kaylee Tarpley qualified as a wildcard in the 1600-meter run at 6:22.48.
For Gaston, Shelby Waters placed fourth in the discus with a throw of 77-8.
Class 6A Section 4 boys
The Gadsden City relay teams stood out at the Class 6A Section 4 Meet at Fort Payne.
Taking home the gold in the 4×400-meter relay for the Titans were Cameron Rolley, Caleb Davis, Tylan Sims and Braydon Mayes at 3:29.56.
Rolley, Zyan Gibson, Kerrell Yow and Caleb Davis earned a silver medal in the 4×100 at 43.11.
Jackson Veasey’s throw of 43-8.75 in the shot put was good for fourth place, while Zyan Gibson came in fourth in the 200-meter dash at 22.86.
Class 2A Section 3 boys
Gaston’s Kodie Bogle won gold, silver and bronze medals at the Class 2A Section 3 boys meet at Fort Payne.
Bogle took first in the javelin at 166-9, second in the triple jump at 38-0 and third in the high jump at 5-6.
Triston Chaney and Kane Lawson qualified for West End. Chaney took second place in the 100-meter dash (11.55), fourth in the 200-meter dash (24.02) and fifth in the long jump (18-11). Lawson came in fifth in the javelin at 123-6.
Class 1A Section 4 boys
At the Class 1A Section 4 Meet at Lincoln, Joseph East qualified for the state meet in three events – the 800-meter run (sixth, 2:16.65), the 1600-meter run (fifth, 5:17.92) and the 3200-meter run (fourth, 11:53.45).