CHASING DOWN THE CROWN: Local athletes eye titles on championship Saturday

Published 12:05 am Saturday, May 6, 2017

Athletes from around the county made some strong moves in the first day of the 2017 AHSAA Track and Field State Championship meet in Cullman on Friday.

Red Level’s John Lee put up a fast time in the Class 1A Boys 100-Meter dash preliminary heat with a time of 11.48.

Lee’s time places him in second place behind Maplesville’s Terrance Dunlap for today’s championship run.

Lee and Dunlap are familiar foes on the track, with both winning state championships in 2016.

Lee edged out Dunlap for the 2016 Class 1A Boys 200-meter dash, and Dunlap edged Lee in the last year’s 100-meter dash.

Pleasant Home’s Camille Holley came in seventh place in the Class 1A Girls Discus Throw preliminaries and then finished ninth in the state championship event.

Straughn’s Chase Strickland and Caleb Thompson each earned spots in the Class 3A Boys Discus Throw championship event with strong numbers in the preliminary event.

Strickland finished second in the first flight with a score of 114-11.

In the second flight, Thompson came in fifth place with a score of 116-06. The top two throwers in the second flight both broke the previous state record of 154-10.5 set in 1985.

In the state championship event, finished in sixth place and Strickland came in seventh place.

Thompson had a strong showing in the Class 3A Boys shot put preliminary event when he placed first in the first flight with a score of 40-06.5.

Despite the strong score in the first flight, Thompson fell to eighth place in the finals after several strong throws from competitors in the second flight.

Straughn’s Ashley Hughes finished in 18th place in the Class 3A Girls shot put with a score of 25-04.

In the Class 3A Girls javelin throw, Straughn’s Aryanna Billips picked up third places finish in the first flight and seventh in the finals with a score of 85-01.

Opp’s Mason Davis finished in 16th place in the Class 3A Boys javelin throw with a score of 119-07, and Opp’s Darian Germany finished in the 20th with a score of 116-04.

Opp’s Brianna Aaron came in 14th place after scoring 4-02 in the Class 3A Girls High Jump.

The Opp Lady Bobcats earned a spot in today’s Class 3A Girls 4×100-Meter Relay after finishing second in heat No. 2 with a score of 56.78.

In the Class 3A Boys 4×100-Meter Relay, the Bobcats placed fourth overall in Friday’s preliminaries with a time of 47.07. Opp will today in the championship event.

Red Level’s Caylee Douglas picked up a 12th place finish in the Class 1A Girls 1,600-Meter Run finals with a score of 6:11.27.

In the Class 1A Boys 1,600-Meter Run finals, Pleasant Home’s Nathanial Erwin came in ninth place with a score of 5:15.92, Florala’s Zacchaeus Reese finished 12th with a score of 5:19.97 and Red Level’s Brody Ingram finished 18th with a score of 5:32.31.

Straughn’s Abigail Thomas finished in the 19th place in the Class 3A Girls 1,600-Meter Run finals with a score of 6:19.69.

Straughn’s Samuel Driver picked up a 17th place finish in Friday’s Class 3A Boys 1,600-Meter Run finals with a score of 5:17.30.

In the Class 3A Girls 100-Meter Dash, Straughn’s Sydney Kinsaul just missed qualifying for the state final event after putting up a score of 14.56 in Friday’s preliminary event.

In the Class 3A Boys 100-Meter Dash, Opp’s Orlando Lacey and Hennis Washington put up strong numbers in Friday’s preliminary heats to qualify for a spot in the today’s championship event. Lacey qualified in sixth place with a score of 11.60 and Washington came in ninth with a score of 11.79.