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ALBANY – On Saturday, May 6, several Furlow Charter and Schley County male and female track and field athletes realized their season-long goals by earning high enough marks and times to qualify for state at the GHSA 1A Division 2 Sectional A Meet at Hugh Mills Stadium in Albany.

“I am very proud of them,” Furlow Charter Head Coach Brittany Skiles said. “They went out there. They laid it on the track. They gave 100 percent. They ran with heart.”

In the Girls’ 4×800 Meter Relay event, the Lady Falcons set a new school record, finishing in second place in a time of 12:01.39. The members of the team were Jacklyn Chen, Isabel Amato, Maria Kilheffer, Elizabeth Arizmendi and Karen Perez-Juarez. The Lady Falcons also qualified for state in the Girls’ 4×400 Meter Relay team, as they finished in eighth place in a time of 5:04.54. The athletes that finish in the top eight in each event at sectionals move on to the state meet. The members of the 4×400 Meter Relay Team were Isabel Amato, Jacklyn Chen, Maria Kilheffer, Elizabeth Arizmendi and Karen Perez-Juarez.

Speaking of Arizmendi, she also qualified for state in both the 1600 and 3200 Meter Runs. Arizmendi finished in second place in both those events with a time of 6:31.55 in the 1600 and 15:18.29 in the 3200.

Jacklyn Chen finished in fourth place in the 1600 with a time of 6:43.58 and she qualified for state in the 800 Meter Run as well, finishing in eighth place with a time of 2:54.16. Maria Kilheffer also qualified for state in one of the distance events, as she finished in sixth place in the 3200 Meter Run (16:16.75).

In boys’ action, four Falcons qualified for state. The 4×800 Relay team of Dennis Gonzalez, Ibis Gonzalez, Edwin Gonzalez, Ian Bierdermann, Juan Alejo and Marcus Bateman finished in fifth place in the event with a time of 9:32.88.

Edwin Gonzalez also qualified for state in the boys’ 1600 Meter run with a third place finish (5:04.38) and a third place finish in the boys’ 3200 Meter Run (11:26.50). Ian Biedermann also qualified for state in the boys’ 1600 and 3200 Meter events. Biedermann crossed the finish line in sixth place in the 1600 (5:12.73) and finished in sixth place in the 3200 Meter event as well (12:02.55).

It was also a great day for Schley County as well, as many of their male and female athletes qualified for the state meet.

“I am very happy with our performance today,” SCHS Head Coach Scott Burgess said. “We had a good number of athletes move on to State next week. The goal for today was make it in the top eight and advance and I feel that our athletes did a very good job of giving their best effort and feel that the results show that.”

Emily Wilder won the Girls Pole Vault event for the Lady Wildcats by reaching a height of eight feet. Her two teammates, Layla Williams and Emma Campbell, placed in fifth and seventh place respectively in the event., as each of them reached a height of six feet.

Daneria Thornton also qualified for state in several field events. She finished in sixth place in both the Girls’ Long Jump (15-06.75) and the Girls’ High Jump event (4-06.00). Thornton also took home third place in the Girls’ Triple Jump (31-10.00) and she finished in second place in the 110 Meter Hurdles (17.80).

In the Girls’ 1600 Meter event, Mallory Crenshaw gave the Lady Wildcats another state berth, as she qualified by finishing in seventh place (6:57.15). Crenshaw was also a member of the Schley County Girls’ 4×800 Meter Relay team that finished in eighth place (13:32.95), which was good enough for a state berth. The other members of the team were Emily Wilder, Kaleigh Johnson, Emma Campbell, Layla Williams, McKenzee Solomon, Shiriyah Battle and TaNiya Holt).

Speaking of Holt, she also qualified for state in the Girls’ Shot Put event, as she was able to heave the metal ball a distance of 28-05.25, good enough for a sixth place finish. Holt also qualified in the Discus event, as she finished in seventh place with a distance throw of 77-05.50.

In boys’ action, the Wildcats were able to place several athletes into the state meet next weekend in Columbus. Tyrese Cook qualified for state in the Boys’ 300 Meter Hurdles, as he finished in seventh place in a time of 43.18.

The Wildcats were also able to get their boys’ 4×800 Meter Relay team into the state meet, as the team finished in seventh place in a time of 10:07.07. The members of the team were Luis Sanchez, Ethan Bliss, Declan Ekkel, Markus Sowell, Tra Thomas, Hudson Barker, Jayden Munford and Kyler Walton.

In the Boys’ Pole Vault event, the Wildcats shined, as Levi Johnson won the event, vaulting a height of 13 feet. His teammate, Declan Ekkel, finished in second place in the event with a height of 10 feet. Mathew Nguyen also qualified for state in the pole vault event, as he finished in eighth place (seven feet, six inches).

Another event that saw a Wildcat finish a top the leaderboard was the long jump event. Clinton Jackson took home first place in the event, jumping a distance of 21-06.00. Jackson also won the triple jump event, jumping a distance of 43-03.00. Jackson nearly qualified for state in the Boys’ 110Meter Hurdles, but finished in ninth place with a time of 16.97.

In the Boys’ Shot Put event, Wyatt Halstead finished in seventh place with a distance throw of 44-01.00 and he won the Discus event as well, making a distance throw of 135-08.

The Furlow Charter and Schley County athletes who qualified for state will compete next weekend, May 11-13, at the GHSA Class A Division 2 state meet at Kinnett Stadium in Columbus.