4x800 boys relay sets county record
The “thrill of victory and the agony of defeat” was popularized by ABC’s Wide World of Sports during its heyday.
Competitors from Jones County’s track and field teams were not yet born during that era of sports television, but they experienced a bit of both of those emotion’s during Saturday’s state sectionals in Union Grove that served as qualifiers for this week’s GHSA Class AAAAA state meet in Carrollton that’s scheduled for Thursday through Saturday.
A total of 12 events at the state meet will see someone from the JCHS purple and gold making their way to the line to compete. In one event, however, one expected entrant won’t be there due to a degree of heartbreak. Zion Ragins, a two-time state champion in the 100 meters and last year’s runner-up, won’t be able to go for another state title in that event after he was ruled to have jumped the start in Saturday’s 100-meter event. But that doesn’t mean there’s no title to chase for Ragins, also a 200-meter state champ as a freshman.
He’s part of the Greyhounds 4x100 relay team that set another season best Saturday, running a 41.58 to win first with others on the relay being Tyler Stewart, Jaivon Solomon and Bruno Hicks. Stewart, who has run neck-and-neck all season long with Ragins, won the 100 meters with a time of 10.53. Solomon will also compete at state in the triple jump after the leap of 44-6 earned a finish of fourth.
Joining Solomon as a state qualifier in field events was Austin Hanks, doing so by finishing second in the shot put with a throw of 50-1.5 and fourth in the discus at 150-2.
Some icing on the cake for the Greyhounds came by way of Jones County’s distance runners. Of the six finishers to qualify for state, three set season bests on the way there.
Two of those came in the 1600 meters with times of 4:29.38 and 4:30.25 by Luke Thornton and Tyler Marshall to finish seventh and eighth.
Also setting a season best was Gavin Robinson with his sixth-place run of 9:52.65 in the 3200 meters. Also qualifying for state in that event were Thornton in fifth place with a time of 9:52.33 and Tyler Marshall’s 9:55.74 in seventh.
The Greyhounds 4x800 relay team of Grady Newby, Clay Lacy, Ian Borsahole and Shaun Williams didn’t just set a season-best time of 8:26.38. They also came away as the new owners of the county record on a run that earned them an overall finish of fourth.
Two second-place finishes by Addison Robinson – one a seasonbest time of 2:20.71 in the 800 meters – led the Lady Greyhounds. Robinson was also second in the 1600 meters with a time of 5:23.34 with another second by Lilly Palmer with a time of 12:06.41 in the 3200 meters. Palmer also qualified for state with a time of 5:31.14 in the 1600 meters that was a season best with Isabella Sanchez being seventh in the 800 and 1600 meters with times of 2:28.05 and 5:33.85.
Camryn Wommack added to the state qualifier list by finishing seventh in the 3200 with a run of 12:41.97 Palmer, Robinson, Sanchez and Wommack combined to run a 10:10.95 in the 4x800, good for a finish of fourth that also qualified for the state meet.
