A few of the DCSD track and field athletes headed to the state meets this week. (Photos by Mark Brock)
Ninety-five track stars from DeKalb County begin competition on Thursday (today) in their respective GHSA State Track and Field Meets at various locations across the state.
Thirty of the participants are set for the Class 5A State Meet set for Grisham Stadium in Carrollton including boys’ and girls’ runners and field participants from Arabia Mountain (5), Chamblee (7), Martin Luther King Jr. (8) and Tucker (10). The schools also combined to send 11 relay squads to state.
On the boys’ side defending long jump champion Hasaan Sykes of Tucker returns to defend his title and teammates Ian Hodge (runner-up in high jump) and John Pacely (runner-up in discus) are ones to watch. Hodge finished first in the sectional high jump and 400-meter dash and Pacely took first in both the shot put and discus at sectional.
Another to keep an eye on is M.L. King’s Bryce Wilson (first in 110m hurdles, 4th 300m hurdles).
King’s India Thorpe won both the 100m hurdles and 300m hurdles at sectionals and should challenge for the gold this year after a third place finish in the 300 a year ago. Tucker’s Kristan Simmons was third in the state in the shot put a year ago and enters this year’s competition after topping the field in sectionals in both the shot and discus.
In the Class 4A state meet at Hughs Mills Stadium in Albany, DeKalb is sending another big contingent of 28 (9 girls, 19 boys) and 20 relay teams (8 boys, 12 girls).
Druid Hills’ sprinter Sanaa Frederick returns to defend her state titles in the 100m and 200m dashes coming off wins at the sectional. She, her sister and teammate Delali Setrana qualified for state in both events. Druid Hills also qualified in all four relay events including their national title contending 4×200 relay team.
Miller Grove has seven girls qualified for state along with three relay teams and Clarkston’s Kierra McKanna heads into state with a win in the triple jump at sectional.
Stephenson leads the boys’ contingent with 10 individual qualifiers and three relay teams led by Todd Burton (first at sectional in the 400m) and Ca’Von Lucas (third in both the 100m and 200m at sectional).
Miller Grove has returning 100m and 200m dash state champ Ali Dargan returning to defend his titles and Southwest DeKalb sends Amari Scott to state as sectional champ in the 110m and 300m hurdles.
Cedar Grove joins the DeKalb contingent at Albany with two individual girls and three boys. The girls have two relay teams and the boys qualified in three relay events. The girls 4x200m relay squad qualified first at sectional.
Twenty-two individuals (13 boys, 9 girls) and 16 relay teams (9 boys, 7 girls) from Columbia, McNair, Redan and Towers make the trek to East Jackson High School in Commerce for the Class 2A state meet.
On the girls’ side Towers has six individuals headed to state along with four relay teams. Hurdler Macada McDonald (1st in 300 and 3rd in 100) leads the group. Redan is led by sectional high jump leader Kameron Smith.
The Redan Raiders have five individuals and three relay teams headed to Commerce led by hurdler Jamari Drumright and jumper Kaleem Joseph. Towers is sending four individuals (seven events) and four relay teams to state led by hurdler Jerkarean West and sprinter Tyler Phillips.
Dunwoody and Lakeside head to Barron Stadium in Rome for the Class 6A state meet.
The Dunwoody girls are sending two individuals in Claire Shelton (1600m and 3200m) and Kaz McLoughlin (discus and shot put). Shelton broke the county championships records in both events that had last 16 years and won the 1600 in the sectional. Lakeside is led by Adara Davis who finished second in both the 100m and 200m dashes at sectional as well as Abby Roberts (discus). The Lady Vikings are sending their 4×100 and 4×200 relay teams.
The Wildcats qualified four individuals in five events led by Blake Williams who won both the 110m and 300m hurdles at the sectional last weekend. Luke Cole qualified in both the discus (third) and the shot put (fourth). The 4x100m relay squad also qualified with a third place at sectional.
Lakeside is sending pole vaulter Alex Katsoudas and long jumper Jean Luc Noisin.
See links below for state qualifiers, sectional and region results:
2024 DCSD STATE TRACK AND FIELD QUALIFIERS