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PAGE 4B
BARROW NEWS-JOURNAL
WEDNESDAY, MAY 2, 2018
at sectionals with a 4:03.23, but will likely
need to bump that time down under four
minutes in order to place.
“The 4x100 team is getting better and
we’re working for the opportunity to get
to the podium on the final day,” Apalachee
head coach David Seawright said. “The
4x4 team is going to have to get a little
faster. We’re going to try to get a good
week in this week, have a good hard week
of practice, use a couple days to recover
and get ready to go. We’ve got the extra
week (between sectionals and state), and
as coaches, we have to keep the athletes
focused and continue to push and motivate
them.”
Three of the Lady Wildcats’ 4x100 run
ners also qualified individually in other
events. Ferguson took fourth in the 400-
meter run (59.62 seconds), Gross was
fourth in the 300-meter hurdles (48.73),
and Sierra Barnett finished sixth in the
long jump (17 feet, 9.5 inches).
In other events, Winder-Barrow senior
Breanna McNamara won the girls pole
vault with another personal-best vault of
11 feet. McNamara had vaulted a per
sonal-best 10 feet, 9 inches at the Region
8-AAAAAA meet, clearing her previous
best of 10 feet, 6 inches.
“She’s really peaking at the right time,”
Winder-Barrow head coach Charlie Sparks
said of McNamara. “I thought the day
went well for us. It was a really good day,
but it was especially exciting to see how a
lot of our underclassmen stepped up and
had a big day to qualify.”
McNamara was joined in qualifying
for state by teammate Ticia King, who
finished second (10 feet) and Apalachee’s
Cassidy Hunter, who took fifth (8 feet, 6
inches).
In the girls shot put, Winder-Barrow
sophomore Rebekah Freeman (37 feet,
9.25 inches) and Apalachee junior Nakia
Hooks (37 feet. 3.75 inches) finished
second and third respectively, while Wind
er-Barrow freshman Kiona Lindsay qual
ified with an eighth-place finish (35 feet,
1.5 inches). Freeman also qualified for
state in the discus, finishing fifth at sec
tionals (103 feet, 3 inches).
On the boys side, Winder-Barrow junior
Djangmah Narhmartey continued his
late-season success, finishing third in the
800-meter run with a personal-best time
of 1:59.26, a week after taking nearly 10
seconds off his preliminary time to win the
region championship.
“He’s just so confident right now which
is great to see, especially going into state,”
Sparks said of Narhmartey. “
He’s going up against some fast runners
at state so he knows he’s going to have to
run quick but his confidence is just unbe
lievable.”
In other boys running events,
Apalachee’s Kevin Haley Jr. finished third
in the 400-meter run (49.46) to qualify,
and Wildcat freshman Tauheed Ferguson
qualified with a sixth-place finish in the
300-meter hurdles (40.42 seconds).
Apalachee’s Malik Wiggins took third
in the high jump (6 feet, 4 inches), while
Winder-Barrow’s Luke Doolittle took
eighth (6 feet). After battling it out for the
region title a week earlier, Apalachee’s
Tucker Keadle and Winder-Barrow’s
Brian Dudley tied for fourth in the pole
vault (12 feet).
Winder-Barrow’s Logan Cash finished
third in the discus (156 feet, 3 inches) and
sixth in the shot put (47 feet, 8 inches),
Track continued from IB
while Apalachee’s Kenny Tobiasz took
seventh in the discus (141 feet, 3 inches).
“Logan has been so consistent all year,
but he wants to get that discus throw above
160 feet,” Sparks said of Cash. “It’s just
about putting it all together in one throw
for him.”
The Class AAAAAA state meet is May
10-12 at Carrollton High School.
The field events will be May 10. fol
lowed by the running prelims on May 11
and the running finals on May 12.
“The state meet is unique because you’re
running back to back days,” Seawright
said. “We set up the region meet to allow
for maximum recovery, but here you’ve
got to really prepare the kids for the fact
that if they qualify in prelims, they’re
going to be running again 24 hours later.”
Sparks said his athletes who are still
competing are looking forward to the extra
week off.
“Only having three to four days would
really be a quick turnaround for having to
jump or throw again,” he said. “This gives
us a chance to recover and make sure we
take care of any nagging injuries. We’re all
focused on maintaining our fitness and not
trying to change too much while getting
recovered as quickly as we can.”
CLASS AAAAAA STATE MEET
May 10-12 at Carrollton High School
Events involving local athletes
MAY 10
•Boys pole vault finals (Tucker Kea
dle from Apalachee, Brian Dudley from
Winder-Barrow), noon
•Girls discus finals (Rebekah Freeman
from Winder-Barrow), noon
•Boys shot put finals (Logan Cash from
Winder-Barrow), noon
•Girls long jump finals (Sierra Barnett
from Apalachee), noon
•Boys high jump finals (Malik Wig
gins from Apalachee, Luke Doolittle from
Winder-Barrow), 2:30 p.m.
•Girls pole vault finals (Brean
na McNamara and Ticia King from
Winder-Barrow, Cassidy Hunter from
Apalachee), 2:30 p.m.
•Boys discus finals (Cash, Kenny Tobi
asz from Apalachee). 2:30 p.m.
•Girls shot put finals (Freeman, Nakia
Hooks from Apalachee, Kiona Lindsay
from Winder-Barrow), 2:30 p.m.
MAY 11
•4x100-meter relay girls prelims
(Apalachee’s Sierra Barnett. Samira Bar
nett. Tahlia Ferguson and Joanna Gross),
noon
•400-meter dash prelims (Ferguson
for Apalachee girls, Kevin Haley Jr. for
Apalachee boys), 12:40 p.m.
•800-meter run prelims (Djangmah
Narhmartey for Winder-Barrow boys),
2:50 p.m.
•300-meter hurdles prelims (Gross for
Apalachee girls, Tauheed Ferguson for
Apalachee boys), 4:10 p.m.
•4x400-meter relay girls prelims
(Apalachee’s Sierra Barnett, Ferguson,
Gross and Destiny Gibbs), 6 p.m.
MAY 12
•4x100-meter relay finals, noon
•400-meter dash finals, 12:40 p.m.
•800-meter run finals, 2:30 p.m.
•300-meter hurdles finals, 3:40 p.m.
•4x400-meter relay finals. 4:20 p.m.
•Presentation of trophies, 5 p.m.
HALEY QUALIFIES
Apalachee sophomore Kevin Haley Jr., seen here running at the GHSA
Region 8-AAAAAA championship meet last month, finished third in the 400-
meter run Saturday at the Class AAAAAA “A” sectionals at Grovetown High
School. The performance qualified him for the state meet, which will be held
at Carrollton High School May 10-12. Photos by Scott Thompson
CLEARING ANOTHER HURDLE
Apalachee’s Joanna Gross took fourth in the 300-meter hurdles at sectionals
to qualify for the state meet May 10-12 at Carrollton High School. Gross is
also part of the Lady Wildcats’ 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter relay teams that
qualified for state.
THIRD PLACE
Apalachee’s Tucker Keadle finished in a tie for third with Winder-Barrow’s
Brian Dudley in the pole vault at sectionals to qualify for state.