Parkview Boys and Wesleyan Girls Crush Competition for Georgia State Track Titles

Copyright © 2009 Ed Bagley

Parkview High School got wins from Ethan Kasson, Julian Vann, Taron Squires, Davin Nash and Sean Stephenson and rode a bunch of depth in other events to dominate the competition and win the 2009 Georgia State Boys 5A Track Championship.

Kasson won the 400, Vann the triple jump and Parkview took the 4 x 400 relay as Mill Creek had to settle for the runner-up spot with 39 points to Parkview's 80.

In 4A competition, Kenneth Gilstrap won the 100 and 200 and was part of the winning 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 relay teams as Miller Grove High School took the title with 71 points to Alexander's 59. Not to be outdone, Stephen Hill added both a victory in the 300 hurdles and soared to the long jump title with a leap of 28-08.75. Hill's leap becomes the best prep performance in the United States this season.

Sir Paul Jones doubled in the 110 and 300 hurdles to lead Monroe to the 3A title over Elbert County, 57-45.

Westlake easily won the girls 5A title over runner-up Collins Hill, 65-48. Westlake's Zahra Thomas won the 400 in 55.34, Aubrielle Wright won the 800, Shani Chandler won the 300 hurdles, and Westlake took the 4 x 100 relay (with Thomas, Kinsley Lawson, Aminah Blount and Davita Washington) and 4 x 400 relay (with Thomas, Blount, Wright and Chandler).

5A competitor Chalonda Goodman of Newnan doubled in the 100 and 200 but did not exceed her leading times nationally in the 100 (11.30) or 200 (23.32). 5A competitor Amanda Winslow of Collins Hill doubled in the 1600 (4:44.97) and 3200 (10:42.70). Winslow's 4:44.97 time leads all runners nationally in the 1600.

Kia Jackson doubled in the 100 and 200, and Morgan Snow won the 100 hurdles to lead Southwest DeKalb to the girls 4A title over Starr's Mill, 61-54.

Monroe used wins by LaKeisha Jackson in the 100 hurdles, Mimieux Land in the high jump, and its 4 x 100 relay team (Jackson, Land, Alanesha McFarland and Kenza Bailey) to outlast Towers, 51-46, to capture the 3A championship.

Brittany Porter of Towers doubled in the long jump and triple jump. Porter is the top prep in the nation in the long jump with a leap of 20-03 and has another jump of 21-03.5.

In the 2A boys finals, Westminster ran away from runner-up Mitchell County 62 to 46 to win the championship with individual winners Maalik Reynolds in the high jump and LB Joel in the discus, and some depth that produced a lot of points that just kept adding up.

Warren County outscored runner-up Athens Christian 70.5 to 59 to win the 1A boys title as Warren County's Coby Reynolds doubled in the 100 and 200 and then anchored the winning 4 x 100 relay team with Kentrell Latimore, Andrew Webb and Antonio Benton.

One of the best individual performances of the day was by Raymond Higgs of Athens Christian who personally scored 30 of Athens Christian's 59 points by winning the high jump with an outstanding leap of 7-02.25 (the best of the day among all divisions), winning the long jump (24-04) and the triple jump (48-01).

Among the winning boys teams, it was both Westminster's and Warren County's 3rd state title. For the new kids on the block—Parkview, Miller Grove and Monroe—it was their first title ever. Legendary boys programs like Carrollton, with 24 state titles, and those with more recent success, like Landmark Christian with 7 straight titles, have had terrific success, but not this year.

The race for the title in the girls 2A Division was the closest of the day as Greater Atlanta Christian's 49 points was enough to outlast the Jordan and Decatur teams which both scored 46 to tie for runner-up. Greater Atlanta Christian rode to their championship on Lauren Kester's 3200 win and field victories by Jessica Tuggle in the triple jump and Claire Goodson in the pole vault.

Wesleyan amassed 83 points to run away with the girls 1A title as Darlington was runner-up with 51. The Wesleyan girls did not come to the meet to compete, they came to win with 1st place finishes by Erika Ramsey in the 1600, 4 x 200 relay (Emily Howell, Grace Leah Baughn, Caroline Miller and Chantel Kennedy), Anne Marie Armstrong in the high jump and Holli Wilkins in the shot put.

Wesleyan also had runner-ups in the 400 (Chantel Kennedy), and 4 x 100 relay (Elise Abernathy, Emily Howell, Erin Hall and Chantel Kennedy). Almost lost in the shuffle was an outstanding 400-meter winning time of 55.76 by Megan Malasarte while competing in the smallest school 1-A Division.

Among the winning girls teams, Southwest DeKalb won its 3rd straight title, Greater Atlanta Christian and Monroe won their 2nd, and Monroe and Wesleyan won their 1st. 1A powerhouse Landmark Christian, which had won 5 straight titles, 6 of the last 9 and tied in 2000 for 7 titles in the last 10 years, finished a distant 9th this year.

2009 Georgia State Champions - Boys 5A Division
Team Winner - Parkview with 80 Points - Runner-Up - Mill Creek with 39.

100-Meter Dash - 10.7 - Eric Harris of Kell High School.
200 - 21.18 - Eric Harris of Kell High School.
400 - 47.43 - Ethan Kasson of Parkview.
800 - 1:54.94 'Blair Obryant of Chapel Hill.
1600 - 4:17.36 - Kirubel Erassa of Grayson.
3200 - 9:21.99 - Tyler Anyan of Brookwood.
110 Hurdles - 13.93 - Aleec Harris of Duluth.
300 Hurdles - 37.95 - Justin Sims of Redan.
4 x 100 Relay - 41.46 - Stephenson (Raymond Sanders, Jonathan Blackley, Kerry Hartley and Richard Drake).
4 x 400 Relay - 3:16.98 - Parkview (Ethan Kasson, Taron Squires, Davin Nash and Sean Stephenson).
High Jump - 7-02 - David Smith of Lovejoy.
Long Jump - 24-06.5 'Demar Forbes of M. L. King.
Triple Jump - 47.01.25 - Julian Vann of Parkview.
Pole Vault - 14-06 - Michael Kopanski of Mill Creek.
Shot Put - 60-03.5 - Nabil Mubarak of Grayson.
Discus - 162.01 - Nabil Mubarak of Grayson.

2009 Georgia State Champions - Boys 4A Division
Team Winner - Miller Grove with 71 - Runner-Up - Alexander with 59.

100 - 10.44 - Kenneth Gilstrap of Miller Grove.
200 - 21.23 - Kenneth Gilstrap of Miller Grove.
400 - 46.85 - Andre Carter of Alexander.
800 - 1:53.2 - Vince Brown of McIntosh.
1600 - 4:27.21 - AJ Meyer of Northwest Whitfield.
3200 - 9:46.23 - Cameron Reed of Alexander.
110 Hurdles - 13.98 - Marcus Maxey of Clarke Central.
300 Hurdles - 37.91 - Stephen Hill of Miller Grove.
4 x 100 Relay - 40.95 - Miller Grove (Kendrick Ings, Johnathan Norris, Kenneth Gilstrap and Antione Hightower).
4 x 400 Relay - 3:19.55 - Miller Grove (Stephen Hill, Antonio Carter, Kenneth Gilstrap and Antione Hightower).
High Jump - 6-08 - Graylin Ward of Northgate.
Long Jump - 25-08.75 - Stephen Hill of Miller Grove.
Triple Jump - 47-05.5 - David Lee of Tucker.
Pole Vault - 14-00 - Jake Bridges of Northwest Whitfield.
Shot Put - 61-05.75 - Davis Fraker of McIntosh.
Discus - 181-01 - Davis Fraker of McIntosh.

2009 Georgia State Champions - Girls 5A Division
Team Winner - Westlake with 65 - Runner-Up - Collins Hill with 48.

100 - 11.54 - Chalonda Goodman of Newnan.
200 - 23.91 - Chalonda Goodman of Newnan.
400 - 55.34 - Zahra Thomas of Westlake.
800 - 2:13.09 - Aubrielle Wright of Westlake.
1600 - 4:44.97 - Amanda Winslow of Collins Hill.
3200 - 10:42.70 - Amanda Winslow of Collins Hill.
100 Hurdles - 14.12 - Jasmine Edgerson of Campbell.
300 Hurdles - 43.33 - Shani Chandler of Westlake.
4 x 100 Relay - 46.77 - Westlake (Zahra Thomas, Kinsley Lawson, Aminah Blount and Davita Washington).
4 x 400 Relay - 3:36.11 - Westlake (Zahra Thomas, Aminah Blount, Aubrielle Wright and Shani Chandler).
High Jump - 5-06 - Keira Peak of Lowndes.
Long Jump - 18-08 - Tamala Daley of Redan.
Triple Jump - 38-03 - Tamala Daley of Redan.
Pole Vault - 11-07 - Lauren Hutchinson of North Cobb.
Shot Put - 47-03 - Lauren Chambers of Kell.
Discus - 130-07 - Emily Brewer of Brookwood.

2009 Georgia State Champions - Girls 4A Division
Team Winner - Southwest DeKalb with 61 - Runner-Up - Starr's Mill with 54.

100 - 11.63 - Kia Jackson of Southwest DeKalb.
200 - 24.86 - Kia Jackson of Southwest DeKalb.
400 - 57.17 - Morgan Williams of Northwest Whitfield.
800 - 2:18.09 - Morgan Williams of Northwest Whitfield.
1600 - 5:07.54 - Meghan Wetterhall of Lakeside DeKalb.
3200 - 11:07.16 - Meghan Wetterhall of Lakeside DeKalb.
100 Hurdles - 14.40 - Morgan Snow of Southwest DeKalb.
300 Hurdles - 43.53 - Sonni Austin of Miller Grove.
High Jump - 5-04 - Baiesha Johnson of Glynn Academy.
Long Jump - 18-04 - Baiesha Johnson of Glynn Academy.
Triple Jump - 38-06 'Cynia Clark of Lithonia.
Pole Vault - 10-0 - Jordan Cole of Alexander.
Shot Put - 42-11 - Patrice Gates of Villa Rica.
Discus - 133-09 - Katie Bragg of Starr's Mill.