By MICHAEL MURRAY

The Schley County Wildcats’ track and field team marked an important benchmark for their program on April 12, winning the Georgia High School Association (GHSA) Region 4-A championship meet with an impressive team score of 134 points. The Wildcats came in 19 points ahead of second-place finishers, the Macon County Bulldogs. The Marion County Eagles finished third in the region with a team score of 100 points.
The Schley crew had several team members place in the top four in various events, earning them individual spots in the upcoming sectional meet, scheduled to begin on April 29. The state meet is slated to kick off on May 11.
The Wildcat’s victory marks the first time that the Schley squad has taken top honors in Region 4-A since the 2008 season.
Schley’s Marquell Sims, Jake Hall, James Baker, Austin Anthony, and Cameron Dailey helped set the pace for the Wildcats at the meet, each bringing home a first-place award.
Sims earned the top spot in the 200-meter race with a time of 51:53 and Hall took top honors in the 1600-meter run after finishing the race in 5:25:79. Anthony bested his competitors in the 3200-meter race with a time of 11:46:50 and Dailey left his foes in the dust, completing the 300-meter hurdle event in 45:33. Baker took the number-one spot in Region 4-A in the triple jump event, clearing just over 40 feet of ground with his trio of leaps.
Schley’s Peyton Register and Landon Dailey were both seeded as first-place contenders in the pole vault event with a height of 8 feet, but that event was not completed at the region meet. These two athletes will advance straight to the area championships.
Baker also earned a third-place win in the 200-meter race with a time of 23:29 and Noah Sims earned third runner-up honors in the 400-meter race, finishing in 54:48. Hammons also took second place in the 800-meter event, finishing the dash in 2:12:62.
Anthony followed Hall’s lead in the 3200-meter event, finishing fourth in the race in 5:35:75. Dailey finished fourth in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 17:74.
Schley’s 4×400-meter relay team of Sims, Hammons, Tra Sampson, and Jackson Fulks, took second place in their race with a time of 3:45.33.
Fulks took third place in the long jump, leaping 20.03 feet; just a hair farther than fourth-place finisher, Baker.
Fulks earned a fourth-place finish in the triple jump, spanning 38.06 feet in his three bounds.
Schley’s Jakobi Thornton finished third in the discus toss with a throw spanning 121’6” and Wade Rogers was right behind him, tossing 115’2” for the fourth-place spot.
Several other athletes also scored points for the Wildcats, including Dartavious Napper, who took sixth place in the 200-meter race; Chase Norris, who finished eighth in the 800-meter event; Landon Dailey, who placed fifth in the 110-meter hurdles, Truxton Sprott, who placed seventh in the 3200-meter race; Tyree Hawkins, who placed sixth in the 300-meter hurdles, and the 4×400-meter relay team of C. Dailey, Derric Tatum, Jakim Williamson, and Sprott, who finished the race in eighth place.
Sims and Fulks finished fifth and seventh in the high jump event, respectively.