Ragins repeats as state champion; relay teams finish second
COLUMBUS - For the second year in a row, Zion Ragins has brought track and field state championship hardware back to Jones County.
The final day of the GHSA Class AAAAA state track and field championships were held at Kinnett Stadium in Columbus, and Ragins didn’t melt under the pressure of expectations. Rather, he embraced them. Lining up from one of the center lanes, his time of 10.53 seconds won the event for the second year in a row, nine tenths of a second in front of Southwest Dekalb’s Ali Dargan.
Ragins’ time was five tenths quicker than Friday’s preliminary race when he ran a 10.58.
“I was kind of nervous, but once I got into the blocks, I settled down and focused,” Ragins said.
As gratifying as the win was for Ragins, the run had him wanting more, as he pointed out that he still has his eyes on breaking a personal record and winning the 100 meters as a junior and senior, too.
“I was trying to get my personal record from last year, but the best time wins,” Ragins said. “I feel good; I feel like I can do it again next year and my senior year.”
Ragins was also part of the Greyhounds 4x100 and 4x200 relay teams, both of which finished second to help Jones County finish tenth in the state as a team. Ragins ran anchor on both relays, meaning he was the final runner of each relay to get the baton in an effort to shave as much time off the clock as possible.
Running a time of 1:26.72 in the 4x200 relay, the team of Ragins, Tyler Stewart, Ed Chester and Javious Bond was second by 1:11 behind Southwest Dekalb. A difference of 19 tenths of a second proved to be the margin in the 4x100, giving JCHS a pair of runner-up finishes in relay.
“It feels good, but we like to win, we like first place,” Bond said.
Still, to know that they were so close to a state title stands to motivate the Greyhounds for next year. Jones County’s overall finish wasn’t from Saturday alone.
“All our handoffs were good, and coming down to it, they got us a little bit,” Stewart said. “We’ll come back for the win next year.”
Earlier in the meet, Austin Sullivan’s time of 10:40.91 was good for 14 th in the state in the 3,200-meter run.
Amaris Ridgeway was the Lady Greyhounds top state performer. In the triple jump, her jump of 36-3.5 placed her fifth. Tranasia Parker’s 4-10 in the high jump claimed a finish of 13 th , and Camryn Wommack ran a 13:03.18 in the 3200 meters.
