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Maci Shelnut finished as the state runner-up in the high jump girl’s division.
The White County High School track program had a successful trip to Carrollton last week for the Class AAA state meet, bringing home a pair of runner-up finishes and had five athletes finish in the Top 8 of an individual event.
Maci Shelnut and Lily Gearing both came close to winning a state title, while Sean Hughes, Rusty Dye, Cam Wilson, Colton Turner, and Teddy Strange all made their way to the state podium.
“We competed very well,” WCHS head coach Jake Cantrell said. “The kids embraced the moment and the opportunity, and the moment wasn't too big for them. Sometimes, being on the big stage at the state meet can impact the way you perform, but we had the right mental approach. The buzz is good around the track program right now.”
Shelnut was the runner-up in the girl's high jump, while Gearing grabbed the second-place spot in the girl's 300-meter hurdles. Hughes was third in the boy's 300-meter race, Dye was fourth in the girl's discus, Wilson was fifth in the boy's 200-meter race and seventh in the 100-meter event, and Turner was seventh in the boy's 300-meter hurdles.
In the team standings, Westminster captured the girl's title with 137 points, with Sandy Creek finishing second with 71 points. Greater Atlanta Christian (66), Hart County (42), and Savannah Arts Academy (40) rounded out the Top 5 teams among 34 teams. The Lady Warriors finished 12th with 21 points.
On the boy's side, Westminster finished off the sweep of the team titles, recording 89 points to edge out Hart County at 78 points. Southeast Bulloch (36 points), Crisp County (36), and East Forsyth (31) rounded out the Top 5 among 41 teams. WCHS finished 17th in the boy's division with 16 points.
In the girl's division, Shelnut and Gilmer County's Taylor McCormick turned the high jump into a battle of Region 7-AAA's two best jumpers.
Shelnut opened the competition with three straight successful jumps, clearing 4-10, 5-00, and 5-02 without a problem. She missed on her first attempt at 5-4, but cleared it on her second attempt. McCormick also cleared the height as did Westminster's Kelsey Chambers.
With the bar at 5-6, McCormick cleared the height on her first attempt. Shelnut missed on her first two attempts, but came through on her third attempt, recording the best jump of her career.
Chambers missed on all three attempts, leaving McCormick and Shelnut to decide the state championship. Both jumpers missed on all thee attempts at 5-08, giving McCormick the state title based on the number of misses. McCormick had four, while Shelnut ended up with six misses.
In the 300-meter finals, Westminster's Grace Smith was the favorite after turning in a time of 44.72 during the preliminary heat, while Gearing had a time of 47.47.
Both Smith and Gearing improved their times in the finals, with Smith winning at 44.35, while Gearing crossed the finish line at 46.04, holding off Sandy Creek's Noelle Boyd, who finished third at 46.57.
“If you are in the Top 8 at the state meet, it's an accomplishment, but to be the second best in the state is incredible and it's a testament to how hard Lily and Maci work, and their dedication to the sport,” Cantrell said. Lily and Maci have both been staples in our program for several years, and they put in the time and put in the work that it takes to get to this point. They went out there and left it all on the track.”
In the discus, Dye was making her second straight appearance on the big stage, and she came through with a stellar effort to finish fourth.
Dye cemented her place near the top of the standings on her second throw during the preliminary round, ripping off a mark of 120-0. Dye was one of only four contestants to post a throw of 120-0 or more. Liberty County's Leia Williams won the event, breaking the Class AAA state meet record twice and finished with a mark of 151-10 to win by more than 21-feet.
“Rusty is really talented,” Cantrell said. “She's finally putting everything together. I really wish she had about another month in the season because she's just starting to figure everything out now.”
The Lady Warriors had pair in the girl's pole vault. Ella Blair finished 11th at 8-6, and Tallulah Shack was 14th at 7-6.
“Ella has battled a bad ankle sprain,” Cantrell said. “We weren't even sure she would be able to compete at the region meet, but she keep working and made it to state. Her ankle kept her from being able to do some stuff the last month or so, and when you get to state the margin for error is very small, and I think that caught up with us. But if you look at the whole body of work, she had a very good season. For a freshman to make it to state in the pole vault, that's really hard to do,” Cantrell said. “We're looking for huge things from Tallulah next year; she's going to be really good.”
Adelynn Knight made her first appearance at the state meet, finishing 14th in the high jump.
“Adelynn came to us late from soccer, and that makes it tough,” Cantrell said. “For her to make it to state is huge.”
In the boy's division, Hughes led the way with a third place finish in the triple jump, while Strange finished seventh.
Hughes took the lead on his first jump, landing a PR mark of 43-7. Hughes stayed in the lead until Hart County's JC Curry ripped off a jump of 45-2.25. Windsor Forest's D'Ante Bass hit a jump of 43-10 to earn second place in the event.
Strange finished with four jumps of more than 42-feet, with his best mark at 42-5.50 landing him in the Top 10.
Hughes also competed in the long jump, finishing 10th with a mark of 21-1.
“Sean will do anything we ask him to do,” Cantrell said. “We could ask him to throw the discus and he'd do it, and that's representative of this team. This is not a selfish team. Triple jump is his favorite, and he went out there and competed. It's good to see kids like him have success. Finishing in the Top 10 in two events is huge accomplishment. This was Teddy's second year at state, and it's great to see him on the podium. He's had to battle a hamstring injury, and he's one of the hardest working kids out here. He always does what he's supposed to do. We talk about doing the right thing, and he's a prime example of that.”
Wilson also had a pair of Top 10 finishes in the sprint races.
Wilson was fifth in the 200-meter race and seventh in the 100-meter race. He posted a time of 22.42 in the 200-meter final, while posting a time of 11.11 in the 100-meter race. During the preliminary heat, Wilson had a PR in the 100, crossing the line at 10.98.
“Cam placed in both races, and he's the first 100-meter finalist I've had, so that's a pretty big deal,” Cantrell said. “He ran a PR in the prelims, and it's hard to turn around the next day and do that again. It was a fast year overall in the 100 and 200; there are some fast guys in AAA this year.”
Turner earned a spot in the 300-meter hurdles final with a time of 41.39, and then improved his time in the finals, finishing seventh at 40.98.
“I wish Colton had another month of the season because it all came together for him the last couple weeks,” Cantrell. “Just making the finals was big; there's a lot of speed in this race and there was one guy everyone was chasing. Colton competes and gives you everything he's got.”
Ashton Pickett was the Warriors' final entrant in an individual event, competing in the pole vault. Pickett suffered an upper body injury less than a month ago but battled through some pain to clear 10-6 and finish 14th.
“Ashton is another one that's had to battle an injury,” Cantrell said. “He basically tore a pec muscle two weeks ago, so there have been some days he could jump and other days when he couldn't. If he had been healthy, I think there's a great chance he would have been on the podium.”
Relay races
The Warriors' 4x400-meter team of Cam Wilson, Jackson Jarvis, David Boman, and Elijah Nelson had a heart-breaking finish in the preliminary round. A collision and fall slowed the Warriors down as the they finished ninth at 3:32.19, missing a finals berth by less than .30 seconds to Burke County.
The girl's had two relay teams in the state meet. The 4x800-meter team of Emma Lightsey, Nealeigh Broadwell, Rachel Carter, and Reese Vandegriff narrowly missed the podium, finishing ninth with a time of 10:42.27.
The girl's 4x400-meter team of Gearing, Lightsey, Kendyl Cantrell, and Nevaeh McCollough finished 10th with a time of 4:17.33.
“Our relay teams competed; they ran hard and they didn't quit,” Cantrell said. “In boy's race, we had a collision and had a runner fall down. But we got up and keep going and just missed making the finals. This is the first time in a long time that we didn't have a relay team make the finals, and the kids were disappointed and hurt. But that's sports. They were upset and disappointed because they have put a lot of time and effort, so it leaves a bittersweet taste in your mouth at the end of the year.”