Arabia Mountain’s Davenae Fagan (left) qaulified first in three events at the Class 5A State Sectional while Druid Hills’ Sanaa Frederick (right) qualified in two sprint events. (Photo by Mark Brock)
The 2023 GHSA State Track and Field Meets begin at four different sites around the state for the 95 (53 boys, 40 girls) individual entries and 42 (23 boys, 19 girls) relay teams from 17 DeKalb County track programs that qualified at the various State Sectional Track and Field Meets on Saturday.
DeKalb had 32 individual (21 boys, 11 girls) first places and eight relay teams (7 boys, 1 girls) take first place finishes at the State Sectionals last weekend.
Dunwoody (4 boys, 6 girls) and Lakeside (2 boys and 1 girl) compete in the Class 6A State Meet at Rome’s Barron Stadium this weekend. Neither school qualified a relay team for state. On the boys’ side Dunwoody’s Blake Williams was the top performer finishing second in the 110-meter hurdles and third in the 300-meter hurdles. Lakeside’s Jean Luc Noisin took third in the long jump.
The girls’ top performer in Class 6A was Dunwoody’s Claire Shelton with a pair of fourth place finishes (1600-meter and 3200-meter runs) while Dunwoody’s Anderson Bowe took fourth in the discus.
One of the largest contingents from DeKalb comes in Class 5A with five schools represented including Arabia Mountain, Chamblee, Martin Luther King Jr., Lithonia and Tucker that combined to qualify 17 guys and 14 girls along with 13 relay teams (9 boys, 4 girls) to the Class 5A State Meet at Kinnett Stadium in Columbus.
Arabia Mountain’s Davenae Fagan led the way in the girls’ sectional picking up three firsts including the 100-meter, 200-meter and 400-meter dashes. India Thorpe of Martin Luther King Jr. swept the 100-meter and 300-meter hurdle events. Chamblee’s Emi Sarago took the pole vault and Tucker’s Kristan Simmons took the shot put. Chamblee’s Matthew Coates (3200-meter run) and Tucker’s Ian Hodge (high jump) were the lone top finishers individually in Class 5A to go with Tucker’s first in the 4×100-meter relay.
Southwest DeKalb’s Isaiah Taylor (left) swept the 110-meter and 300-meter hurdles at the Class 4A State Sectional last weekend while Dunwoody’s Blake Williams (right) qualifed second and third in both events at the Class 6A State Sectional. (Photo by Mark Brock)
Defending state champions Southwest DeKalb Panthers along with Clarkston, Druid Hills, Miller Grove and Stephenson are set for Hugh Mills Stadium in Albany for the Class 4A State Meet. The teams have a combined 31 individual qualifiers (17 boys, 14 girls) and 17 relay teams (8 boys, 9 girls) readying for state competitions.
The Panthers qualified first in the 110- and 300-meter hurdles (Isaiah Taylor) at Sectionals along with two firsts in relay qualifying. Stephenson had a first in the 100-meter dash (Jace Coleman) and high jump (Jaelin Joseph) and in the 4×100-meter relay. Miller Grove picked up a first in the high jump (Terrell Scott) and 200-meter dash (Ali Dargan).
On the girls side the Druid Hills Lady Red Devils got first place qualifiers from Sanaa Frederick in the 100- and 200-meter dashes and Sole Frederick in the 400-meter dash along with the 4×100-meter and 4×400-meter relay teams. Stephenson took first in the 4×200-meter relay.
Cedar Grove is also headed to Albany and Hugh Mills Stadium for the Class 3A State Meet. Cedar Grove is sending five individual competitors (3 boys, 2 girls) and four relay teams (2 boys, 2 girls) to vie for the gold. Solomon Hall took first in the shot put as the only Saint to head to state as a one.
Columbia, McNair, Redan and Towers travel to McEachern High School in Powder Springs for the Class 2A State Championships. The four schools are sending 16 athletes (10 boys, 6 girls) and eight relay teams (4 boys, 4 girls) to compete for state titles.
Tevin Collins of Towers and Nizer Smith of Redan both tied for first in the high jump and Redan picked up a first-place qualifying spot in the 4×800-meter relay. Towers’ Nashari Edwards took first at sectionals in the triple jump in girls’ competition
See links below for State Sectional results and list of State Meet qualifiers: