From STAFF REPORTS

ALBANY – Southland Academy head track and field coach, Nathan Hammack’s Raider track program sent 12 men and seven women to the GISA State Track Championships held between April 28-30 at Hugh Mills Stadium in Albany.
In the AAA division, Trinity Dublin edged Trinity Sharpsburg 87-86 for the team title. Deerfield-Windsor came in third place with 66 points, followed by Southland and Westfield, who tied for fourth place with 43 points each.
The fourth-place finish and 43- point total were Southland’s best in more than a decade. Twenty teams scored in the AAA division of the championship meet.
The top individual scorer for Southland was senior distance-runner, Wright Calhoun. Calhoun, a Columbus State signee broke the 1600-meter school record with a time of 4:29.46 to finish as state runner-up. He also was runner-up in the 3200-meter race, finishing in 9:47.68. Calhoun took third place in the 800-meter race with a personal best time of 2:02.93.

Seven other Raiders placed in the championship meet as well.
Sophomore pole vaulters, Brody Shattles and Logan Morris, both made the podium, earning honors in fifth place and eighth place, respectively.
Stephen Taggart took a sixth-place win in the shot put with a throw spanning 39’ 10”. Stephen Turton earned the seventh-place spot in the disc event, throwing 105’ 10”.
Freshman, Bennett Carey, grabbed fifth place in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 17.79. Sophomore, Townsend Ray, turned in a 23.77 200-meter time to make the finals, then finished in seventh place.
Billy Calcutt ran a 53.63 personal record in the 400-meter dash to make the finals as well, finishing sixth. Calcutt also placed seventh in the 3200-meter race with a time of 10:51.66.
The 4×400 relay team of Calhoun, Calcutt, Brian Miller, and Morgan Youngdale (running in place of injured Ridge Roland) matched a season best time of 3:44, but did not make the finals.
Senior, Ellis Ivey, turned in excellent times in both hurdles events in the qualifiers to finish his season.
Southland’s women finished with 16.5 points to place 15th of the 21 teams to score, led by eighth-grade distance runner, Ryleigh Bell.
In her first appearance at the championships, Bell placed in all three of her individual events, earning fourth place in the 800-meter race in 2:29.72; seventh place in the 1600-meter race in 5:42.34; and seventh in the 3200-meter race in 12:58.94. All three of these finishes marked personal-best times for Bell.
Freshman teammate, Calyn Fort, finished eighth in the 3200-meter race with a time of 13:03.24 and ran a personal best 5:52.79 in the 1600-meter event.
Bell also anchored the 4 x 400 relay team which featured Fort as well as sophomores, Alex Exum and Lilli Dickens. Bell outran Bulloch’s anchor leg to grab the last spot in the finals with a time of 4:30.01, then helped the team make the eighth-place spot on the podium with a season-best time of 4:28.98 in Saturday’s competition.
The top individual placer for the Lady Raiders was freshman jumper, Sydney Payne, who ended Friday in third place in the high jump. Payne also competed well in the long jump, as did seniors, Jordan Sanders (triple jump), and Kaitlyn Smith (disc).
Every Southland athlete who scored in the state meet, except Calhoun, will return next season.
Coach Hammack was assisted this season by Doug Parrish (jumps), Mike Shattles (pole vault), Patrick Calcutt and Angie Bell (middle school and distance runners, aided by consultant Bruce Skiles).