DeKalb Sending 46 Girls Track Athletes to State Meet

The 2013 GHSA Girls’ High School State Track and Field Meet kicks off on Thursday, May 9 at Hugh Mills Stadium in Albany and 46 DeKalb County athletes are preparing for competition.

Class AAAAA athletes lead the way in the girls’ qualifying with 26 individuals preparing for the state meet led by Martin Luther King Jr. with six individuals and two relay teams moving forward.

Dunwoody follows with five individuals including Lauren Jackson (first in 400 and 800), Alex Cameron (first in 3200) and the 4x100 and 4x400 relays teams that each took first in Sectional B at Grovetown last Saturday.

Miller Grove follows with four individuals and three relay teams qualifying for state. The team is led by senior Tiffany Flynn that has tripled up on wins at Sectional in the 100 hurdles, long jump and triple jump.

Southwest DeKalb has three individuals advancing led by Kenya Wheeler who swept the shot put and discus at Sectionals while Tucker also advances three individuals all in the field events. Lakeside and Stephenson have two individuals heading to state competition while Arabia Mountain has one individual and the 4x400 relay team moving forward.

Defending Class AAAA state champion Redan has put five qualifiers through Sectional B at Carrollton to lead a group of three teams moving athletes into state competition. Crystal Gray leads the Lady Raiders qualifying in the 100 (first) and 200 (third) while all four relay teams moved into state competition led by the ‘A’ 4x400 relay team which took first.

Columbia follows with three individual qualifiers and one relay team (4x100) while Chamblee had a lone qualifier in Sidney Holmes (100 hurdles and triple jump).

Cedar Grove has a DeKalb County high of seven individuals qualified for state including Sectional winners at Lakewood in Kayla Pryor (300 hurdles), Christian Pryor (400) and Danielle Mitchell (long jump). All four Cedar Grove relay teams qualified in the 4x100 and 4x400, including the 4x400 sectional winner.

Towers had three qualifiers who reached state in two events each with their Sectional performances including triple jumper Nesha Defoe.

Druid Hills hurdler Dominique Sullivan was the lone qualifier in Class AAAAAA as she reached state in both the 100 and 300 meter hurdles.

Thursday’s first day of action is the field events for Classes A, AA and AAA beginning at 9:30 a.m. with qualifying in running events for Classes AA, AAA and AAAA beginning at 4 p.m. with the 4x100 relay. The 1600 meter run (5A and 6A) finals and the finals for the 3200 meter run (1A, 2A, 3A and 4A) will also be run.

Friday’s first session includes field events for Class AAAA, AAAAA and AAAAAA beginning at 9:30 a.m. The second session starts at 4 p.m. with the qualifying heats for running events for Class AAAAA and AAAAAA with finals for the 1600 meter run (1A, 2A, 3A and 4A) and 3200 meter run (5A and 6A).

The running event finals are set for 12 p.m. on Saturday beginning with the 4x100 relay. Admission is $7 per day.

Mark Brock is the Information Officer/Athletics Statistician/Web Manager for DeKalb County Schools Athletics