STAFF REPORT
Paced by a pair of long-distance wins by McKenna Trapheagen and one from Rylee Evans, the Woodland girls track and field team ran out winners of the Dalton Rotary Invitational on Saturday.
The Class 5A individual cross country champion, Trapheagen narrowly won the 800-meter run but thoroughly dominated the 1600. Cross country teammates Evans (3200 champion), Carli Clymer (second in 1600, third in 800) and Tess Cochran (second in 3200) also enjoyed stellar days.
Woodland did pretty well in the remaining running events, placing a runner inside the top six in all but the 100-meter dash and earning two top-eight showings in the relays.
Bella Carnes sprinted into third place in the 400-meter dash and into fourth in the 200, in which teammate Cheyenne Spinks added a seventh-place finish.
Hurdler Mya Moffitt wound up fourth in the 300 and sixth in the 100; the 4×400 team of Spinks, Baylee Evans, Carnes and Clymer finished as runner-up; and the 4×100 foursome of Micayla Moffitt, Jasmine Hill, Carnes and Sydney Molinaro placed eighth.
Outside of the running events, the Wildcats still produced some great performances. Skylar Chappell took second in the discus; Grace Webb placed third in the high jump; Morgan Cooper came in fifth in the high jump; and Brooke Cooper and Carnes finished second and fifth, respectively, in the pole vault.
The Cass boys put together an outstanding showing to finish fourth in the standings — the best result of the three Bartow County boys programs to participate.
Defending Class 5A state champion, Stephen Smith won the pole vault; Ethan Carter placed first in the 100-meter dash and fourth in the 200; Josh Varnum finished as runner-up in the high jump; and Nigel Whittington garnered a pair of fourth-place finishes in the 110- and 300-meter hurdles.
The 4×100 relay team — Malik Grimes, Varnum, Jacquez Fountain and Carter — came in second, just 0.07 seconds behind Rome. In the discus, Ian Herman edged out teammate Nathan Gant for fifth place. Fountain added an eighth-place result in the 100.
Just behind Cass in the final boys team standings was Woodland, which saw Jeven Reliford win the 400-meter dash and John Shropshire capture the 800.
Shropshire also added a fifth-place result in the 1600. Markal Brown and Titus Jones finished second and fourth, respectively, in the long jump. Tommy Duke (pole vault) and Aaron Carlson (discus) each had a fourth-place finish.
Dylan Stermer came in seventh in the 3200, while Dianthony Heathcock placed eighth in the high jump.
Meanwhile, the Cartersville boys landed eighth in the final rankings. The Canes were buoyed by the endurance running of Bill Archer, the hurdling of Daniel Ejieke and the vaulting of Nick Bebko.
Archer crossed the finish line in second during the 1600-meter run and third during the 800; Ejieke placed third in both hurdles; and Bebko leapt into fifth in the pole vault.
Chris Ejieke wound up fifth in the 300-meter hurdles. Harrison Banks was sixth in the 3200. Donovan Dennis came in eighth in the 400, and Michael Abernathy had the same finish in the discus. Dennis, Matthew Wilson, Chris Ejieke and Archer also placed eighth in the 4×400.
Cartersville’s girls team placed 10th. Once again, senior London Shaw dominated in the throwing events, winning the shot put and the discus.
The next-highest finishes for the Canes were all seventh-place results. That’s where Demya Bryan wound up in both the 100 and 200. Teammate Aaliyah Daniel finished eighth in the 200.
Bryan also ran the anchor leg in the 4×100, producing another seventh-place finish, along with London Moultrie, Destiny Nesbitt and Josie Turner.
Cartersville boys 1st, girls 2nd at Darlington
Last Thursday, the Cartersville track and field teams competed in a five-way meet at Darlington. The boys beat out Region 5-AAAA rival Cedartown for the title, while the girls finished just two points behind champion Darlington.
Bill Archer and London Shaw each won a pair of events to lead the Canes. Archer paced the boys with victories in the 800- and 1600-meter runs. Shaw, meanwhile, placed first in the discus and shot put by some distance.
Outside of Archer, the other Cartersville boys wins came from Harrison Banks in the 3200 and Nick Bebko in the pole vault. Even still, the Canes were 23 points clear of the Bulldogs due to several other high-placing finishes.
Daniel Ejieke was runner-up in each of the two hurdles, while Chris Ejieke took third in the 300-meter hurdles. Jadon Martin also had a couple of second-place showings in the long jump and high jump. Parker Breedlove garnered another silver medal for the Canes, finishing only behind Banks in the 3200, while Michael Abernathy took second in the discus.
Elsewhere, Donovan Dennis (400-meter dash), Max Florence (800), Jack Merritt (pole vault), and the 4×400 team of Dennis, Matthew Wilson, Chris Ejieke and Archer all wound up in third place.
On the girls side, Cartersville only won a single non-throwing event, as Josie Turner edged teammate Olamide Sadiku in the 400. However, the Canes racked up several runner-up finishes to push the hosts right to the end.
Demya Bryan and Trinity Atkins both had a pair of second-place showings. Bryan’s came in the 100- and 200-meter dashes, while Atkins shined in the 800 and 1600. McKinsey Spinks finished as runner-up in the 3200.
The Cartersville 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams also placed second. The shorter distance team consisted of Bryan, Aaliyah Daniel, Turner and Destiny Nesbitt. The longer distance group was made up of Bryan, Turner, Daniel and London Moultrie.
Nesbitt rounded out the team’s top-three finishes with a third-placing showing in the long jump.
Woodland sweeps 3-team event
The Woodland girls and boys track and field teams loaded up in the distance running events to easily outpace Sprayberry and Kennesaw Mountain in a three-way meet hosted by the latter school last Tuesday.
The Wildcats were the only team to participate in several girls running events, sweeping the top spots by default in the 800, 1600 and 3200. McKenna Trapheagen, Marlee Bowles and Carli Clymer won the respective individual titles in the three events.
Bella Carnes faced some outside competition in the 200- and 400-meter dashes. She won the former event and placed second in the latter.
Woodland also won the girls 4×400 relay with relative ease, as Rylee Evans, Baylee Evans, Carnes and Clymer teamed up. Skylar Chappell also picked up a win for the Wildcats in the discus.
The Woodland boys also had little issue piling up points. Dylan Stermer cruised to victory in the 1600 and 3200. The 4×400 relay team, consisting of Zach Avery, John Shropshire, Markal Brown and Jeven Reliford, also produced a winning performance.
Other Woodland champions included, Dianthony Heathcock in high jump, Tommy Duke in the pole vault, Nick Bailey in the shot put, Aaron Carlson in the discus and Bryant Knox in the 800.
