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BARROW NEWS-JOURNAL
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2018
Track and Field
GHSA Region 8-AAAAAA meet
COMING FROM BEHIND
Winder-Barrow’s Djangmah Narhmartey, left, won first place in the boys 800-
meter run at the GHSA Region 8-AAAAAA meet at Apalachee High School
last Thursday. Photos by Scott Thompson
SIDE BY SIDE
From left, Apalachee’s Chelsea Nunez-Paredes (fourth place), Winder-
Barrow’s Sarah-Grace Weatherford (third) and Apalachee’s Molly Silva (sec
ond) compete in the 3,200-meter final. Silva also won the 1,600-meter run.
ABOVE THE REST
Apalachee senior Tucker Keadle won first place in the pole vault with a vault
of 13 feet, 6 inches. His younger brother, Brock, took third place at 12 feet as
both qualified for sectionals.
NICE JOB
Winder-Barrow’s Brian Dudley, right, gets a congratulations from coach Cook
Holliday after setting a personal record in the pole vault.
AHS girls win first-ever region title; several local athletes qualify for sectionals
By Scott Thompson
Sports Editor
With several athletes who
qualified for the state meet
returning from last year,
Apalachee High School head
track and field coach David
Seawright knew his girls
team had a chance to have a
strong season.
The Lady Wildcats hav
en’t disappointed, and last
week they made history,
winning the GHSA Region
8-AAAAAA championship
meet at home to claim the
school's first-ever track and
field team region title.
Apalachee finished with
171 points, outpacing Lanier
(134). Dacula (117). Gaines
ville (96), Winder-Barrow
(85) and Habersham Cen
tral (16) during the three-day
meet at R. Harold Hanison
Stadium.
“It’s a big deal,” Seawright
said of the title. “The girls
have really bought in and
been committed and import
ant to the process. It’s a real
ly solid group and the other
thing that really helps is the
continuity of the coaching
staff. It’s the second season
with the exact same staff in
place and that helps tremen
dously.”
The Lady Wildcats got
first-place finishes from the
4x100-meter relay team of
Samira Barnett, Sierra Bar
nett, Tahlia Ferguson and
Joanna Gross (48.85 sec
onds) and the 4x400-meter
relay team of Sierra Barnett,
Ferguson, Destiny Gibbs and
Gross (4:06.83).
“That 4x100 team has got
ten better throughout the sea
son and is such a fun group
to watch,” Seawright said of
the group which has only one
senior in Sierra Barnett. “The
4x400 has gotten to really be
a popular event here, too and
we’re pleased to have a lot of
depth there.”
Sierra Barnett also won
in the long lump (16 feet,
11.75 inches) while Molly
Silva won first in the 1,600-
meter run (6:13.06) and sec
ond in the 3,200-meter run
(13:29.06). Ferguson took
second in both the 200-meter
and 400-meter runs. Sami
ra Barnett placed second in
the 100-meter and third in
the 200-meter run, and Gross
finished third in the 300-
meter hurdles. Gibbs took
third in the 400-meter dash.
Other Apalachee female
athletes who qualified for the
Class AAAAAA sectionals
included Nakia Hooks (sec
ond in the shot put), Maya
Mason (third in the high
jump), Dayshabelle Bel-
lo-Cabrera (third in the 800-
meter run), Cassidy Hunt
er (third in the pole vault),
Aniah Wooten (fourth in the
triple jump) and Chelsea
Nunez-Paredes (fourth in the
3,200-meter run).
The Apalachee boys fin
ished fifth overall with 84
points — behind Dacula
(150). Gainesville (142),
Lanier (115) and Wind
er-Barrow (101) and ahead
of Habersham Central (27)
but also qualified several ath
letes for sectionals.
Senior Malik Wiggins won
first place in the high jump.
He fell short of his person
al and school record of 6
feet, 7 inches, but his 6-foot
jump was enough to get the
win. Senior Tucker Keadle
won the pole vault (13 feet,
6 inches), while his brother,
sophomore Brock Keadle,
took third in the event (12
feet).
“Malik has really gotten
stronger in his running and
got on some resistance train
ing which helped with his
strength and jumping. He just
really has a great attitude,”
Seawright said. “(The Keadle
brothers) moved in here this
year and are really focused
and dedicated. There’s a lot
of talented vaulters in this
county at both schools.”
Also for the Apalachee
boys, Kevin Haley Jr. fin
ished third in the 400-meter
dash and fourth in the 200-
meter dash. Kenny Tobiasz
finished third in the discus,
Adarius Andrews finished
fourth in the high jump and
Tauheed Ferguson finished
fourth in the 300-meter hur
dles. The 4x400-meter relay
team of Haley, Andrews. AJ
Millbrooks and Ferguson fin
ished second while the 4x100
team of Leshon Richardson,
Ferguson, Millbrooks and
Mason Giddens finished
fourth, sliding in ahead of
the Winder-Barrow team that
had beaten them in the pre
liminaries.
WBHS qualifies
several athletes
Three male athletes and a
female athlete from Wind
er-Barrow also won region
titles last week. The biggest
surprise came in the 800-
meter run. where junior
Djangmah Narhmartey, who
had placed sixth in the pre
lims, shaved nine seconds off
his time and won the finals
race with a time of 2:01.56.
Narhmartey started in the
middle of pack, but gradual
ly began picking runners off
before fulling away on the
back stretch.
“We knew he had the
potential; he just had to get
in the right race,” Wind
er-Barrow head coach Char
lie Sparks said, adding that
Narhmartey may have felt a
little bitter over just missing
out on qualifying in the 400-
meter dash and had some
added motivation. “He just
really ran a gutsy race and he
ran a smart race. He’s a really
smart and confident runner.”
Also, Jaidon Turner won
first in the long jump (21 feet,
7.5 inches) and third in the
triple jump (42 feet, 7.5 inch
es) while Logan Cash won
the discus (152 feet, 4 inches)
and finished second in the
shot put (49 feet, 1 inch).
“Jaidon has consistently
been one of the guys we
can count on,” Sparks said.
“He did really well on the
long jump, especially after
not having the day he wanted
with the triple. Logan just did
what he’s been doing. He’s
been really consistent and
he braved some really rough
and windy conditions.”
On the girls side, Breanna
McNamara won first in the
REGION CHAMPS
The Apalachee girls track and field athletes and coaches are pictured above.
The Lady Wildcats won the first team track and field region title in school
history last week. Submitted photo
pole vault, vaulting a per
sonal-best 10 feet, 9 inch
es despite steadily strong
winds with a few huge
gusts. Her teammate, Ticia
King (10 feet) took second,
while Brian Dudley had a
career-best performance (13
feet) to finish second in the
boys pole vault.
Other Winder-Barrow
athletes qualifying for
sectionals included Luke
Doolittle (third in the high
jump). Lamonta Mack
(third in the long jump),
Michaela Carter (fourth in
the long jump), Rebekah
Freeman (third in both the
discus and shot put), Arle-
na Crosdale (fourth in the
discus), Kiona Lindsay
(fourth in the shot put),
Tyreek Norman (fourth in
the shot put), Sarah-Grace
Weatherford (third in the
3,200-meter and fourth in
the 1,600-meter runs), Bri-
anna Hood (fourth in the
100-meter dash) and Imani
Martin (fourth in the 400-
meter dash).
“I’m proud of all the
kids,” said Sparks, who is
in his first season as head
coach after taking over for
Chris Davis.
“I think things have gone
really well. We "re dealing
with some youth on the girls
side, but that really bodes
well for the future. The kids
have had to adapt to a new
training style that’s different
from years past and really
bought into it. I’m thankful
for my assistants who have
been out there and made
things tremendously easy
on me.”
The qualifying athletes
will compete in the section
als Saturday at Grovetown
High School against ath
letes from regions 1. 2. 3
and 8. The top eight in each
event will advance to the
Class AAAAAA state meet
May 10-12 in Carrollton.
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