Photo courtesy of Alex Chaney
By Chris McCarthyPublisher/Editor
The Southside boys won their sixth straight title (not counting the canceled COVID-19 season of 2020) and the girls claimed their second straight championship at the Etowah County Schools track and field meet last Wed-nesday (Apr. 12) at Gadsden City High School.
The Panthers took home 38 total medals out of 34 events, including 20 first-place gold.
Glencoe High senior Katie Giles and Southside sopho-more Evan Christopher were named Girls and Boys MVP, respectively. Giles placed first in the 3200-meter run, 1600-meter run and the 800-meter run and earned a third-place bronze as a member of the Lady Yellow Jackets’ 4×400-meter relay team. Christopher won all three of the above distance events as well as being a member of the Panthers’ gold medal-winning 4×800-meter relay team.
Although only Sardis is in Southside’s Class 5A AHSAA classification, SHS head coach Ray Cargill noted that his team takes the county meet very seriously.
“Every year, we make sure that county is one of the meets where we give it our all,” he said. “We have a lot of kids stepping into events that they really never practiced before, just to compete and get some points.”
Missing from the meet was Southside senior and standout distance runner Jackson Griggs, who was in Washington, D.C., accepting an academic scholarship. Griggs committed to UAH earlier this year.
“The rest of the boys really stepped up with Jackson out,” said Cargill. “We made a vow that we were going to win it for him, because we all understand that academics come first. Evan took up [Griggs’] position and wound up getting us 40 points. Evan’s a quiet kind of leader, and the kids follow him.”
Cargill pointed to sophomore Taylor Dortch’s perfor-mance as a key factor in the girls’ victory. Dortch was a member of the Lady Panthers’ first-place 4×800 and 4×400-meter relay teams while finishing runner-up in the 800-meter run and third in the 1600-meter run.
“This is Taylor’s first year running track, and she did well in all of her four events,” said Cargill. “She works really hard and has a bright future.”
It was the third straight Giles’ took home the county meet’s top individual honor.
“This is the third year in a row that I won all of the dis-tance events, so it feels pretty good,” said Giles, who will run cross country at South Alabama this fall. “It’s a long day and it’s exhausting, but it’s a small meet, so it goes pretty fast.”
Girls 4×800-meter relay
1. Southside, 11:30.56, Mallory Tucker, Marlee Tucker, Sarah Burger, Taylor Dortch
2. Glencoe, 11:44.00, Allie Jo Amos, Palin Cook, Chloe Douglas, Mckinley Kay
3. West End, 12:26.54, Kaylee Tarpley, Toree Chaney, Payton Hall, Karlee Tarpley
Boys 4×800-meter relay
1. Southside, 9:43.80, Hayden Tucker, Grant Mathews, Jonathan Russell, Evan Christopher
2. Glencoe, 10:05.44, Cason Arther, Reid Drenner, Josiah Medders, Conner Cothran
3. Sardis, 10:37.71, Austin Edmondson, Andrew Hopper, Kaden McCurley, Aiden Pierce
Girls 100-meter hurdles
1. Haley Powers, Southside, 19.68
2. Allie Willett, Glencoe, 21.64
3. Emma Doss, Hokes Bluff, 22.86
Boys 110-meter hurdles
1. Anthony Padula, Southside, 18.86
2. Eli Heath, Hokes Bluff, 19.85
3. Joshua Peoples, Southside 20.93
Girls 100-meter dash
1. Mary Davenport, Hokes Bluff, 13.02
2. Haley Kate Wellingham, Hokes Bluff, 13.10
3. Anna Cashman, Southside,13.20
Boys 100-meter dash
1. Jamvion Jones, Southside, 11.12
2. Garrett Burns, Sardis, 11.57
3. Kody Kueny, Southside, 11.63
Girls 1600-meter run
1. Katie Giles, Glencoe, 6:06.02
2. Emna Godfrey, Hokes Bluff, 6:11.96
3. Taylor Dortch, Southside, 6:13.40
Boys 1600-meter run
1. Evan Christopher, Southside, 4:58.05
2. Bryer Morrison, Hokes Bluff, 5:07.38
3. Ethan Patterson, Hokes Bluff, 5:07.80
Girls 4×100-meter relay
1. Southside, 51.63, Zoie Menk, Anna Cashman, Rylie Kitchens, Lauren Henderson
2. Hokes Bluff, 54.84, Mary Davenport, Markala Ste-ward, Haylen Marbut, Jenna Bradley
3. Glencoe, 55.72, Ella Hipps, Ellie Ginn, Ella Hines, Emma Hyfield
Boys 4×100-meter relay
1. Southside, 43.98, Gauge NeSmith, Jamvion Jones, Cody Roberts, Kody Kueny
2. Hokes Bluff, 47.76, Blain Barron, Blake Green, Eli Heath, Dylan Lancaster
3. Glencoe, 53.53, Stephen Orr, Luke Brown, Triston Gray, Brylan Walton
Girls 400-meter dash
1. Zoie Menk, Southside, 1:02.73
2. Haley Kate Wellingham, Hokes Bluff, 1:04.12
3. Payton Ridley, Southside, 1:07.68
Boys 400-meter dash
1. Alexander Moland, Hokes Bluff, 53.86
2. Jonathan Lusk, Sardis, 54.03
3. Canyon McGee, Sardis, 55.97
Girls 300-meter hurdles
1. Kathryn Webb, Southside, 56.61
2. Kaylee Tarpley, West End, 1:00.31
3. Haley Powers, Southside, 1:04.49
Boys 300-meter hurdles
1. Hunter Graham, Southside, 47.57
2. Anthony Padula, Southside, 48.87
3. Jacob Haisten, Sardis, 48.91
Girls 800-meter run
1. Katie Giles, Glencoe, 38.94
2. Taylor Dortch, Southside, 45.32
3. Karlee Tarpley, West End 2:51.64
Boys 800-meter run
1. Evan Christopher, Southside, 2:11.53
2. Conner Cothran, Glencoe, 2:11.90
3. Bryer Morrison, Hokes Bluff, 2:12.92
Girls 200-meter dash
1. Zoie Menk, Southside, 27.09
2. Haley Kate Wellingham, Hokes Bluff, 27.67
3. Mary Davenport, Hokes Bluff, 27.97
Boys 200-meter dash
1. Jamvion Jones, Southside, 22.94
2. Kody Kueny, Southside, 23.63
3. Garrett Burns, Sardis, 23.70
Girls 3200-meter run
1. Katie Giles, Glencoe, 13:49.55
2. Marlee Tucker, Southside, 13:58.42
3. Emma Godfrey, Hokes Bluff, 14:02.49
Boys 3200-meter run
1. Evan Christopher, Southside, 11:00.94
2. Bryer Morrison, Hokes Bluff, 11:51.78
3. Aiden Pierce, Sardis, 12:01.27
Girls 4×400-meter relay
1. Southside, 4:44.65, Payton Ridley, Emily Brown, Mallory Tucker, Taylor Dortch
2. Hokes Bluff, 4:53.44, Haley Heath, Mary Davenport, Addison Simmons, Markala Steward
3. Glencoe, 4:55.99, Chloe Douglas, Alli Jo Amos, Palin Cook, Katie Giles
Boys 4×400-meter relay
1. Sardis, 3:41.34, Jonathan Lusk, Canyon McGee, Alex Davis, Garrett Burns
2. Southside, 3:52.16, Gauge NeSmith, Jonathan Ru-ssell, Blake Phillips, Alex Oden
3. Hokes Bluff, 3:58.98, Alexander Moland, Eli Heath, Bryer Morrison, Ethan Patterson
Girls long jump
1. Haley Kate Wellingham, Hokes Bluff,15-02.75
2. Kathryn Webb, Southside, 14-11.00
3. Ellie Ginn, Glencoe, 14-01.75
Boys long jump
1. Cody Roberts, Southside, 19-02.50
2. Canyon McGee, Sardis, 18-11.00
3. Kodie Bogle, Gaston, 18-05.50
Girls shot put
1. Anna Cashman, Southside, 26-06.00
2. Hayden Kittle, Sardis, 25-02.00
3. Taylor Hudson, Gaston, 23-02.00
Boys shot put
1. Will Shirley, Southside, 44-01.00
2. Gage Garner, Sardis, 39-06.00
3. Leon Chen, Hokes Bluff, 39-06.00
Girls discus
1. Shelby Waters, Gaston, 86-00
2. Haley Powers, Southside, 62-01
3. Gracyn Bunt, Glencoe, 61-01
Boys discus
1. Will Shirley, Southside, 117-08
2. Collins Davis, Southside, 112-01
3. Harrison Cummings, Hokes Bluff, 102-06
Girls high jump
1. Kathryn Webb, Southside, 4-10.00
2. Allie Jo Amos, Glencoe, 4-06.00
3. Chloe Dodd, Hokes Bluff, 4-04.00
Boys high jump
1. Jake Alewine, Sardis, 5-10.00
2. Kodie Bogle, Gaston, 5-08.00
3. Gauge NeSmith, Southside, 5-08.00
Girls triple jump
1. Haylen Marbut, Hokes Bluff, 26-10.00
2. Lauren Henderson, Southside, 26-08.00
3. Faith Harris, Sardis, 25-11.00
Boys triple jump
1. Kodie Bogle, Gaston, 40-09.00
2. Jake Alewine, Sardis, 38-09.50
3. Caleb Gallagher, Southside, 36-07.50
Girls javelin
1. Chloe Dodd, Hokes Bluff, 97-02
2. Addie Robertson, Hokes Bluff, 80-10
3. Hayden Kittle, Sardis, 77-10
Boys javelin
1. Kodie Bogle, Gaston, 168-06
2. Cole Chastain, Southside, 150-07
3. Brayden Walker, Sardis, 143-00.50