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ALBANY – Each of the Schley County and Furlow Charter boys and girls track and field teams turned in strong showings at the GHSA1A Division 2 Region 6 Meet held at Hugh Mills Stadium in Albany on Monday, April 17.

As far as the team standings were concerned, the Lady Wildcats won the region title, but there was a discrepancy as far as the boys team was concerned. It was originally thought that the SCHS boys won the region title by 0.5 points, but due to a computer timing error during the 4×800 Meter Relay event that wasn’t caught until later that night, the final score was changed and the Wildcats finished in second place by one point.

In the Girls’ 1600 Meter Run, Mallory Crenshaw of SCHS won the event and will advance to the Sectional Meet. Crenshaw crossed the finish line in a time of 6:33.93, edging out Furlow Charter’s Elizabeth Arizmendi, who finished as the event runner up in a time of 6:44.78. The top four contestants in each event at the region meet move on to the sectional meet and the top eight competitors in the sectional meet move on to the state meet. Crenshaw also qualified for sectionals in the Girls’ 800 Meter Run, as she finished in third place in a time of 3:04.21.

SCHS also had a champion in the Girls 100 Meter Hurdles, as Daneria Thornton took home the region title in that event, crossing the finish line in a time of 17.19. Thornton’s teammate, Peyton Goodin, finished in third place in the event in a time of 19.19.

In the Girls’ 4×800 Meter Relay event, the Lady Wildcats qualified for third place and booked their ticket for sectionals. The team made up of Emily Wilder, Mallory Crenshaw, Kaleigh Johnson, Emma Campbell, Layla Williams, McKenzee Solomon, Shiriyah Battle and Taniya Holt finished in third place in a time of 13:02.03.

The Lady Wildcats swept the Girls Pole Vault event. Emily Wilder took home the region title by reaching a height of 8-00.00. Layla Williams finished as the event runner up (6-06.00) and Emma Campbell took home third place, as she vaulted a height of 6-00.00.

Daneria Thornton, who one the region championship in the Girls 100 Meter Hurdles, also won the Girls Long Jump event. Thornton jumped a distance of 15-11.75 to claim the prize. In addition to that, Thornton also won the Girls Triple Jump event, as she jumped a distance of 33-05.75.

In the Girls Shot Put event, Taniya Holt of SCHS took third place, as she threw a distance of 26-10.50. Holt also finished in third place in the Girls Discus event with a distance throw of 76-07.50.

In boys action, the Wildcats very nearly came away with a region title. Nonetheless, several Wildcats qualified for sectionals. In the Boys 200 Meter Dash, Schley County’s Brody Fuller finished as the event runner up in a time of 23.71. Fuller barely missed qualifying fro sectionals in the Boys 100 Meter Dash, as he finished in fifth place in a time of 11.63.

Clinton Jackson was another Wildcat who qualified for sectionals. Jackson finished in second place in the Boys 110 Meter Hurdles, crossing the finish line in a time of 16.17. His teammate, Tyrese Cook, barely missed qualifying for sectionals in this event. Cook finished in fifth place in a time of 17.11.

Cook will qualify for sectionals though, as he finished in third place in the Boys 300 Meter Hurdles. Cook crossed the finish line in a time of 44.96. Cook also qualified for sectionals in the Boys High Jump event, as he jumped a height of 5-10-00.

The SCHS boys 4×400 Meter Relay t=Team booked is ticket to the sectional meet by finishing in fourth place in a time of 4:15.84. This team was made up of Tra Thomas, Jayden Monford, Ethan Bliss, Declan Ekkel, Christian Moses, Luis Sanchez, Kyler Walton and Terrion Solomon. Many of these same athletes were part of the 4×800 Meter Relay Team who qualified for sectionals by finishing in fourth place in a time of 10:02.63.

Just as they did in the girls meet, the SCHS boys swept the Pole Vault event. Levi Johnson won the region championship by vaulting a height of 13 feet. His teammates, Matthew Nguyen and Declan Ekkel, finished in second and third place respectively by clearing a height of 10-06.00.

Clinton Jackson, who finished second in the Boys 110 Meter Hurdles, also won the region championship in the Boys Long Jump, as he jumped a distance of 22 feet. His teammate, Kendall Sims, finished fourth in the event by jumping a distance of 20-04.50.

Jackson will also represent the Wildcats in sectionals in the Boys Triple Jump, as he won the event by jumping a distance of 43-09.75.

In the Boys Shot Put event, the Wildcats had two athletes qualify for sectionals. Zayden Walker finished as the runner up in the event by throwing a distance of 43-06.50. Walker’s teammate, Wyatt Halstead, managed to qualify for the sectional meet by finishing in fourth place with a throw of 39-00.00.

Halstead also won the Boys Discus competition with a distance throw of 136-08.

As far as Furlow Charter was concerned, both their boys and girls teams finished fifth out of 10 teams, which is the highest team performance for the region championships for the Falcons and Lady Falcons in school history.

The girls 4×800 Meter Relay Team ended up winning the region championship in that event with a new PR (personal record) of 12:23. That team consisted of Isabel Amato, Jacklyn Chen, Maria Kilheffer and Elizabeth Arizmendi. Chen was also the region runner up in the Girls 80 Meter Run, as she finished in a time of 2:58.00 and Amato finished fourth in the event to qualify for sectionals in a time of 3:07, which is a new PR for her. Though she did not qualify for the sectional meet, FC’s Litzy Alejo, who finished in eighth place with a new PR of 3:38.

In the Girls 1600 Meter Run, Arizmendi ended up being the region runner up, as she crossed the finish line in a time of 6:44, which was a new PR for her. Jacklyn Chen also qualified for the sectional meet by finishing in fourth place in a time of 6:48, which was a new PR for her as well. Speaking of Arizmendi, She ended up being the region champion in the Girls 3200 Meter Run, finishing in a time of 15:15.93. Her teammate, Maria Kilheffer, was the region runner up in a time of 15:46.69. Karen Juarez-Perez barely missed qualifying for sectionals in the event, as she finished in fifth place in a time of 16:08.30.

FC will also send its Girls 4×400 Meter Relay Team, as they finished third in the region meet. The team made up of Isabel Amato, Maria Kilheffer, Jacklyn Chen and Elizabeth Arizmendi finished the event in a time of 5:08.

In boys’ action, the FC 4×800 Meter Relay team finished in third place in a time of 9:49.30. That team consisted of Ibis Gonzalez, Dennis Gonzalez, Edwin Gonzalez and Ian Biedermann.

Edwin Gonzalez was the region champion in the Boys 3200 Meter Run (11:38.47) and Biedermann finished right behind him as the region runner up in a time of 11:42.75. Dennis Gonzalez barely missed qualifying for sectionals in this event, as he finished in fifth place in a time of 11:47.85.

In the Boys 4×400 Meter Relay event, the Falcons team made up of Juan Alejo, Ibid Gonzalez, Edwin Gonzalez and Ian Biedermann finished in fifth place in a time of 4:20 and in the Boys 400 Meter Dash, both Michael Hernandez and Edmund Chen turned in PRs. Hernandez finished the event in a time of 63:44 and Chen crossed the finish line in a time of 65:69.

Both the Schley County and Furlow Charter Track and Field teams will be competing in the sectional meet at Hugh Mills Stadium in Albany on Saturday, May 6. The top eight athletes in each event in the sectional meet will advance to the state meet, which will be held at Kinnet Stadium in Columbus Thursday through Saturday, May 11-13.