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White County's Emma Hare, left, and Adelynn Knight take off at the start of the 100-meter race last week at Chestatee. Knight won the race, with Hare finishing second. (Photos/Mark Turner)
When the Region 7-AAA track meet kicks off this morning in Flowery Branch, White County High School will begin the chase for another pair of region championships.
After sweeping the boy's and girl's titles last year, the WCHS squads have been working all season with the next two days in mind.
WCHS is coming off a solid effort at a five-team meet last week at Chestatee, winning both divisions, and they will bring a lot of confidence when they walk on the track facility at Cherokee Bluff High School to start the competition.
“The hay is in the barn,” WCHS head coach Jake Cantrell said Monday afternoon. “There's not a lot left we can do to get ready. The next few days, we're going to focus on what we can do to get mentally ready to compete. There's not a whole lot of training we can do in three days, so we just want to make sure we are mentally ready on Thursday. We are focused on trying to win the region title and get as many people we can to the state meet”
Cantrell expects the meet to be a battle for both of the Warriors squads. The Lady Warriors have to deal with Cherokee Bluff, which has racked up a 37-1 mark during season, beating every team in each of their meets except one.
“Cherokee Bluff's girls are really, really good,” Cantrell said. “They were good last year and they've added some parts, filled their needs. They are the back-to-back Hall County champions.
On the boy's side, the Warriors are among the favorites along with Cherokee Bluff and West Hall.
“I think it's going to be nip and tuck between us, Bluff and West Hall,” Cantrell said. “The boy's (title) could come down to a couple of events. Look at the high jump. There are two guys that have cleared 6-0 or 6-2, then the third through ninth guys have all gotten 5-10, so a lot could happen. Some of the races are going to going to be really tight. It may come down to the final race (4x400-meter relay), and that's the way it should be. We have to go out and perform, it's not going to be easy but the opportunity to win it is there.”
The region team titles aren't the only things at stake at the meet. The top four finishes in each event advance to the Class AAA state sectionals next week at Greater Atlanta Christian in Atlanta.
The region meet begins at 9 a.m., with Session 1 of the field events – boy's high jump, triple jump and discus and girl's long jump, shot put, and pole vault.
The 4x800-meter finals will be held at 10 a.m., followed by Session 2 of field events at 10:30 a.m., for boy's long jump, shot put, and pole vault, and girl's high jump, triple jump, and discus.
The preliminary heats for running events begin at 1 p.m. The finals for the 4x200-meter race is at 2 p.m, with the 1,600-meter finals scheduled for 2:30 p.m.
On Friday, the running finals begin at 10 a.m., with the 4x100-meter relay. A team awards ceremony will be held at 4:30 p.m.
Chestatee meet
Last week in Gainesville, the Lady Warriors dominated the girl's division, winning seven individual events and two relay races, and scored 149.50 points. Chestatee had 106 points, while Rabun totaled 72 to finish off the Top 3.
The Lady Warriors got wins from Maci Shelnut (high jump), Nevaeh McCollough (pole vault), Von Minutello (shot put), Adelynn Knight (100 meters), Reese Vandegriff (1,600 meters), Lily Gearing (400 meters) and Emma Morrow (3,200 meters).
The Lady Warriors also had numerous Top 3 finishes.
Claire Beckman (high jump), Jayden Robinson (long jump), Rusty Dye (discus), Emma Hare (100 meters), Emma Morrow (1,600 meters), Nealeigh Broadwell (800 meters) all finished second in an event.
Tallulah Shack (pole vault), Emma Hare (long jump), Maci Shelnut (triple jump), Emma Lightsey (400 meters and 800 meters), and McCollough (200 meters) were third place finishers in an event.
Finishing in the fourth or fifth place in an event were Knight (high jump-4th and 200-meter race-5th), Brooke Pruitt (pole vault-5th), Beckman (triple jump-4th), Rachel Carter (800 meters-4th), and Shaylee Crane (300-meter hurdles-5th).
The girl's 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter teams both finished first, while the4x200-meter relay team was second.
On the boy's side, the Warriors racked up 138 points to finish ahead of Chestatee (97.5) and Rabun County (80) in the Top 3 spots
The Warriors had six event winners and three relay wins.
Josh Brooks led the way for the Warriors winning the long jump and the high jump, while Sean Hughes won the triple jump, and JD Trowell won the shot put. Cam Wilson won the 400-meter race, and Colton Turner won the 300-meter hurdles.
The Warriors' 4x200-meter, 4x100-meter, and 4x400-meter teams all posted first-place finishes.
Teddy Strange (triple jump), Malachi Zellars (shot put), Jarvis Jackson (400 meters) and Turner (110-meter hurdles) all had runner-up finishes.
Elijah Nelson (long jump and triple jump), Ryan Fowler (100 meters), Cole Gearing (800 meters), Zellars (discus and 300-meter hurdles), and Hughes (high jump) all captured third place finishes.
Finishing in the Top 5 in events were Isaac Sosebee (pole vault-4th), Justus Rogers (discus-4th), Trevor Knott (110-meter hurdles-5th), Logan Long (1,600 meters-5th), Elijah Nelson (800 meters-5th), Von Dre' Nelson (800 meters-5th), David Boman (high jump-5th), and Zellars (110-meter hurdles-4th).