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AMERICUS – In about a month from now, the various region and state track and field meets will take place and the athletes from Sumter County (SUM), Furlow Charter (FC) and Schley County (SCH) prepared themselves for those meets by competing in the AME Quad #1 Meet hosted by Sumter County High School on Wednesday, March 30 at Alton Shell Stadium.

Sumter County Head Coach Shanicka Dyson was extremely pleased with the performances of both the Panthers and Lady Panthers in this meet.

“The girls did awesome today and so did the boys,” Dyson said. “I’m very proud that they did so well in front of the home crowd because, you know, the energy of a home crowd always brings good times. So we were looking forward to this and we were ready for this to come on and do what we do best.”

The Sumter County girls won the team championship with a total of 155 points and Schley County finished as the meet runner up with 83. The Furlow Charter Lady Falcons finished in fourth place with a total of 30 points.

As far as the boys’ standings were concerned, Sumter County also came out on top as the meet champions. The Panthers earned a total of 158 points and Schley County, the meet runners-up, finished with 97. Furlow Charter came in tied for fifth place with Pataula Charter with 24 points.

In boys’ action, both Caleb Josey-Durham and Anthony Tyson of SUM did extremely well in the Boys 100-Meter Dash Finals. Josey-Durham finished in third place with a time of 11.33 and Tyson finished right behind him in fourth in a time of 11.34. Their SUM teammate, Kadarris King, also turned in a strong performance in the event, as he finished in seventh place in a time of 11.53. King finished a few seconds behind Zayden Walker of Schley County, who finished sixth in a time of 11.47. Parish Majors of SUM finished the event in ninth place with a time of 12:06.

In addition to finishing third in the 100-Meter Dash, Josey-Durham had another strong showing in the Boys 200-Meter Dash. Josey-Durham finished in fourth place in a time of 23.69. Josey-Durham’s SUM teammates, Kenneth Pugh (23.72), Kenyon Williams (23.75), Lavaris Milledge (23.81) and Mason Butts (23.97) finished fifth through eighth in the event respectively. Anthony Tyson finished in 10^th place with a time of 25.11, which was one spot ahead of Justin Evans of SCH, who finished in a time of 25.15. Josey-Durham also won the Boys Triple Jump event by jumping a length of 41-10.50. SUM also got a victory when Latravis Angry, who won the 110-Meter Hurdles in a time of 17.07 and his teammate, Jaquan Bowens, finished as the runner-up (18.13). In the Boys 400-Meter Dash, the Panthers’ Hunter Dalton finished as the event runner-up (56.87) and his teammate and brother, Joshua Dalton, finished right behind him in third place in a time of 57.00.

SUM also claimed victory in both the Boys 4×100 and 4×400-Meter Relays. In the 4×400, the Panthers won the event in a time of 3:52.00, with Dooly County finishing as the runner-up (4:04.00). In the 4×100, SUM won the event in a time of 44.96 and Miller County finished in second place with a time of 46.51.

The Panthers also earned another individual victory from Bowens, who won the Boys High Jump event by jumping a height of 5-08.00. Tyrese Cook of SCH took third place in the event (5-04.00) and his teammate, Conner Rhyne, finished in fourth place (5-04.00). Mason Butts of SUM finished fifth in the event (5-02.00).

In the Boys Long Jump event, Lavaris Milledge of SUM finished in third place (18-04.50) and his teammate, Dakaryn Hurley, finished as the runner-up in the Boys Shot Put event (35-08.00). Wyatt Halstead of SCH won the event with a distance throw of 37-00.00.

In girls’ action, several Lady Panthers did extremely well in helping to lead SUM to the meet championship. In the Girls 400-Meter Dash, SUM’s Kamarya Waters won the event in a time of 1:14.00 and Karla Lizzarraga was the runner-up in the Girls 800-Meter run, as she finished in a time of 3:22.00. Maria Kilheffer of Furlow Charter won that event in a time of 2:51.00. Kilheffer also won the Girls 1600-Meter Run with a time of 6:31.00 and edged out event runner-up Trinity Smith of Schley County, who finished in a time of 7:26.00. Smith’s SCH teammate, Cheyenne Hardison, finished in third place in the event (7:32.00).

Waters, who won the 400-Meter Dash for the Lady Panthers, also won the Girls High Jump event (4-06.00). Her teammates, Zyria Battle and Asante Reid, finished second and third in the high jump to sweep the top three spots for SUM in that event. Waters also finished in third place in the Girls 300-Meter Hurdles (56.83). In fact, SUM swept the top three spots in that event as well, with SUM’s Taylor Rush coming in first (55.86) and Zyria Battle finishing as the runner-up (55.90). Jaiden Bridges of SUM finished in fourth place (57.05) and Malia Hardin and Trinity Smith of Schley County finished in fifth and sixth place respectively in times of 1:02.00 and 1:09.00.

The Lady Panthers also won the Girls 4×200-Meter Relay (1:57.00) and finished as the runner-up in the Girls 4×400-Meter Relay (5:32.00) behind event champion Miller County (5:15.00).

In the Girls Long Jump, SUM’s Anniya Tyson finished as the event runner up (14-08.00) behind Zariyona Williams of Miller County (15-07.00). Daneria Thornton of Schley County finished in third place in the event with a distance jump of 14-07.00.

Thornton also won the Girls Triple Jump (31-08.00) and SUM’s Zyria Battle and Cristyonna Battle finished in second and third place respectively in that event (30-00.00, 27-07.00).

The Lady Panthers also earned a victory in the Girls Shot Put, as Eriel Aldridge won the event with a distance throw of 32-06.00. Liberty Justice of SCH was the event runner-up (30-06.00) and her Lady Wildcat teammate, Taniya Holt, finished in third place (26-08.00). In the Girls 200-Meter Dash, SUM’s Jakierra Pride finished in third place in a time of 26.85 and her teammate, Anniya Tyson, finished in fourth place in a time of 27.50.

While they did not finish at or near the top of the team standings, Furlow Charter (FC) Head Coach Brittany Skiles was extremely proud of how both the Falcons and Lady Falcons performed in this meet. “I was very proud of everyone,” Skiles said. “Maria (Kilheffer) and Edwin (Gonzalez) are new to the 800, but they both had excellent performances.” Gonzalez won the Boys 800-Meter Run in a time of 2:19.00 and edged out SUM’s Griffin Toms by four seconds, as Toms finished as the event runner-up (2:23.00). “My strategy was just to stay with the front pack and my coach told me to run 600 meters to pick it up and try and get the win, and that’s exactly what I tried to do,” Gonzalez said. “I accomplished my goal. I can’t thank my coach, myself and my team around me enough.” Javioan Terry of SUM finished third in the event and Schley County runners Ethan Bliss (2:37.00), Kyler Walton (2:49.00), and Hudson Barker (2:58.00) finished fifth, sixth and seventh respectively in the event.

In the Boys 1600-Meter Run, Gonzalez finished in third place (5:49.00) and Toms finished as the runner-up in a time of 5:47.00. Dustin Howard of Schley County won the 1600 in a time of 5:39.00.

In the Girls 3200-Meter Run, FC got a victory when Jacklyn Chen won the event in a time of 17:11.00. Maelyn Anthony of SCH finished as the runner-up (20:58.00) and her teammate, Abby Kirkland, finished in third place in a time of 22:16.00. FC’s Maria Kilheffer won the Girls 800-Meter Run in a time of 2:51.00 and she won the Girls 1600-Meter Run in a time of 6:31.00.

In the Boys 3200-Meter Run, the Schley County Wildcats (SCH) swept the top three spots, as Howard won the event in a time of 12:28.00. Hudson Barker finished as the runner-up (15:47.00) and Javier Lopez finished in third place (16:46.00).

FC’s Edmund Chen finished in fourth place (16:47.00) and Kyler Walton of SCH finished in fifth (17:52.00).

In the Boys 300-Meter Hurdles, several SUM and SCH athletes shined. Tyrese Cook of SCH finished as the event runner up (47.45) and SUM’s Tatellin Wright finished in third place in a time of 50.83. Zachary Felton of Dooly County won the 300 in a time of 46.65. Joshua Dalton of SUM came in fourth place in the event (50.95) and Conner Rhyne of SCH finished in fifth place (50.95).

This was also a very successful meet for Schley County. The Wildcats had three event winners and two runners-up, while the Lady Wildcats had one event winner and three who finished as runners-up. “I feel that we had a pretty good showing today for what we had,” SCH Head Coach Scott Burgess said. “Unfortunately, the pole vault wasn’t contested today, so our vaulters went to a meet at Deerfield in Albany. Also, the discus wasn’t contested, which is one of our better events this year. Unfortunately, we have several athletes that were not able to compete today due to injuries and we are hoping that they will be back in time for the Region Meet that is in four weeks.”

In spite of not having the Pole Vault and Discus events in this meet and missing athletes due to injury, both the Wildcats and Lady Wildcats turned in strong performances. Dustin Howard won the Boys 1600-Meter Run, finishing in a time of 5:39.00. Howard also won the Boys 3200-Meter event in a time of 12:28.00. Howard’s teammate, Hudson Barker, was the runner-up in the 3200 with a time of 15:47.00.

The Wildcats’ Tyrese Cook was the runner-up in the Boys 300-Meter Hurdles (47.45) and finished in third place in the Boys High Jump, jumping a height of 5-04.00.

In the Boys Shot Put event, SCH’s Wyatt Halstead won the event with a distance throw of 37-00.00 and Trinity Smith finished as the runner-up in the Girls 1600-Meter Run. Maelyn Anthony gave the Lady Wildcats a second place finish in the Girls 300-Meter Hurdles (20:58.00) and her teammate, Abby Kirkland, finished in third place in the event in a time of 22:16.00. Daneria Thornton won first place for SCH in the Girls Triple Jump (31-08.00) and Liberty Justice finished as the runner up for SCH in the Girls Shot Put event by throwing a distance of 30-06.00. Justice’s teammate, Taniya Holt, finished in third behind Justice with a throw of 26:08.00.