AMERICUS – Both the Southland Academy Raiders and Lady Raiders track & field teams had several athletes qualify for State at the GISA Region 3-AAA Meet at Hugh Mills Stadium in Albany held Wednesday, April 11. Many of those athletes will be headed back to Albany Thursday through Saturday, April 26-28, for the GISA Class AAA State Meet, also to be held at Hugh Mills Stadium.

The Southland Raiders will be seeking their first state championship in track & Field since 1992, while the Lady Raiders will be seeking their first state title since 1990. However, before their dreams of state championships could even be attempted, they first had to qualify at the Region 3-AAA Meet in Albany.

In the Boys Shot Put competition, Parker Weldon finished in third place with a distance throw of 37-05.50. The top four athletes qualify for State in each event.

Weldon, along with his teammate, Jackson McSweeney, finished in third and fourth place respectively in Boys Discus Throw. Weldon threw a distance of 102-03, while McSweeney threw a distance of 101-02. Brody Shattles won the Boys Pole Vault competition, reaching a height of 11-06.00. His teammate, Logan Morris, qualified for State by finishing in third place. Morris reached a height of 9-06.00. In the Boys Long Jump competition. Siage Batten and Clay Owens finished in the top two respectively. Batten won the event with a jump of 19-03.25, while Owens jumped a distance of 18-09.50.

In the Boys 100 Meter Dash, Owens and Landon Law finished in third and fourth place respectively at the region meet, thus qualifying for State. Owens ran a time of 11.66, while Law ran a time of 11.72. In the Boys 200 Meter Dash, Luke and Caleb Law finished in second and third place respectively at the region meet in Albany. Luke Law ran a time of 24.82 and Caleb Law ran the event in a time of 25.64.

In the Boys 400 Meter Dash, Nathan Duke qualified for the state meet by finishing in second place at the region meet. Duke ran the event in a time of 57.05. His teammate, Gabe Roland, also qualified for state by finishing in fourth place in the event with a time of 58.74.

In the Boys 800 Meter Dash, Morgan Youngdale qualified for State by finishing in fourth place with a time of 2:23.74. In the Boys 1600 Meter Run, Max Foster qualified for State in that event by finishing in fourth place at the region meet. Foster ran a time of 5:39.00. In the Boys 300 Meter Hurdles, Bennet Carey finished in third place with a time of 47.69. Carey also took first in the Boys 110 Meter Hurdles event with a time of 17.34. In the Boys 4×100 Meter Relay event, Southland took first place. The team of Clay Owens, Morgan Youngdale, Alex Roach, Landon Law, Caleb Law and Nathan Duke won the event in a time of 46.02.

In the Boys 4×400 Meter Relay, Southland’s team of Morgan Youngdale, Jontz Womack, Caleb Law, Landon Law, Luke Law and Gabe Roland took third place with a time of 4:03.78.

In the Boys High Jump event, both Owen Exley and Owen Hufsteller both punched their tickets to State by tying for third place with a jump of 5-06.00. The Raiders’ Jackson Saussy also punched his ticket to State, finishing in fourth place in the Boys 3200 Meter Run with a time of 12:32.32. Overall, the Southland Boys finished in second place with a total of 97 points, 103 points behind first-place Deerfield-Windsor.

In the Girls’ team rankings, the Lady Raiders finished in third place with a total of 52 points.

Ryleigh Bell qualified for State in the Girls 800 Meter Run. Bell finished in a time of 2:31.47. Jadie Burrell punched her ticket to State, as she finished in fourth place in the Girls 3200 Meter Run with a time of 13:24.42. In the Girls 4×400 Meter Relay, the Southland team of Ryleigh Bell, Calyn Fort, Lili Dickens, Jadie Burrell, Morgan Minick and Elizabeth Law qualified for State in the event with an overall time of 4:46.29.

Sydney Payne qualified for third place in both the high jump and the long jump. In the high jump, Payne reached a height of 4-06.00, while in the long jump. She jumped a distance of 14-11.25. Payne also qualified for State in the Girls Triple Jump, finishing in third place with a distance of 30-00.00. Savannah Banks won the Girls Shot Put competition with a distance throw of 32-05.00. In Girls Discus, Katie Rogers and Addison Starlin finished in third and fourth place respectively. Rogers threw a n average distance of 67-05.50 to clinch third place, while Starlin finished right behind Rogers with an average distance of 66-11.50.

In the Girls 1600 Meters, Ryleigh Bell and Jadie Burrell finished in second and fourth place respectively, thus qualifying for State in the event. Bell finished with a time of 5:47.47, while Burrell finished in a time of 6:20.39.

Elizabeth Law qualified for State in the Girls 3200 Meters, finishing in second place with a time of 13:19.69. Ryleigh Bell also qualified for State in the Girls 800 Meter Run. Bell finished in fourth place with a time of 2:51.88.

Overall, it was a solid performance turned in by both the Raiders and Lady Raiders. They are poised and ready for this weekend’s state meet in Albany.