Track seasons open

The middle school and high school track teams opened their seasons over the last several weeks. Below is a brief description of the meets and the highlights from each.
Bleckley County Runnin’ Royal Distance Carnival
Both MS and HS distance runners competed in the inaugural Bleckley County Runnin’ Royal Distance Carnival. The event consisted of the three distance events (800m, 1600m, and 3200m) plus the 4x400m Relay. The JD squads chose to focus on the 800m, 1600m, and 4x400m relay while not running anyone in the 3200m. Both teams had several standout performances for the first meet of the year.
Highlights
High School
Ellie Kate Marchant – 1st – 800m – 2:27.92
Allie Lewis – 4th – 800m – 2:36.88
Girls 4×400 Relay – 1st – 4:19.28 (Team Members: Laisha Hernandez, Allie Lewis, Ellie Kate Marchant, Laysie Lewis)
Pierce Parlor – 2nd – 800m – 2:08.40
Middle School
Zoey Girtman – 4th – 800m – 2:50.44
Abbie Williams – 5th – 800m -2:51.09
Girls 4×400 Relay – 2nd – 5:01. 78 (Team Members: Mattie Clair Worthington, Zoey Girtman, Abbie Williams, Brandy Castro)
Angel Pineda – 4th – 800m – 2:37.66
Peyton Hamilton – 5th – 800m – 2:43.53
Boys 4x 400 Relay – 3rd – 4:55.11 (Team Members: Peyton Hamilton, Angel Pineda, Gabriel Harrell, Jesse Galvan)
JDHS All-Comers Meet
The high school teams hosted their first home meet of the year, with running only events (No field events). Both the boys and girls squads performed well for the opening meet against several of the top teams from the area.
Highlights
Girls
Laisha Hernandez – 2nd – 100m – 13.41
Laisha Hernandez – 2nd – 200m – 27.41
Laysie Lewis – 1st – 400m – 1:06.55
Asheera Wright – 2nd – 400m – 1:11.13
Ellie Kate Marchant – 3rd – 1600m – 5:44.49. New School Record in the 1600m run, previous school record was held by Louis Bennett (5:46.13) since 1979
Ali Lewis – 4th – 1600m – 5:52.05
Rhiana Garcia – 3rd – 100m Hurdles – 18.53
Laisha Hernandez – 1st – 300m Hurdles – 47.97
Boys
Boys 400m Dash goes 2nd-5th place
Hayden Parlor – 2nd – 400m – 53.65
Pierce Parlor – 3rd – 400m – 54.14
Jalen Brown – 4th – 400m – 55.63
Jamari Hunter – 5th – 400m – 57.84
Pierce Parlor – 2nd – 800m – 2:13.15
Marcus Gunter – 1st – 110m Hurdles – 15.95
Marcus Gunter – 1st – 300m Hurdles – 42.65
Messiah Swinson – 2nd – 300m Hurdles – 44.28
ELMS Time Trial Meet
The middle school squads traveled to East Laurens MS for a time trial. The meet consisted of running only events and was cut short due to time.
Highlights
Girls
Aryianna Dotson – 4th – 200m – 29.55
Kaliah Gordon – 3rd – 300m Hurdles – 58.62
Abby Williams – 5th – 300m Hurdles – 1:01.00
Girls 4×100 Relay – 5th – 57.48 – (Team Members: Abby Williams, Skyler Capers, Zijanna Mincey, Kaliah Gordon)
Girls 4×800 Relay teams go #1 and #2
Team A (Mattie Clair Worthington, Zoey Girtman, Jade Franco, Abby Williams) – 1st – 12:02.17. New School Record, besting the previous record by over a minute and thirty seconds
Team B (Josemar Avila, Brandy Castro, Haley Hughes, Graysie Lewis) – 2nd – 12:43.04
Boys
Lee Shivers – 5th – 400m – 1:02.88
Mark Durden – 1st – 300m Hurdles – 48.05
Trent Carswell – 3rd – 300m Hurdles – 51.22
Boys 4×100 Relay – 4th – 49.35 – (Team Members: Lee Shivers, Jai-den West, Trent Carswell, Mark Durden)
Boys 4×800 Relay go #2 and #3
Team A – 2nd – 11:19.88 (Team Members: Peyton Hamilton, Gabriel Harrell, Angel Pineda, Luke Relihan). New School Record, previous school record was 11:28.30
Team B – 3rd – 12:00.50 (Team Members: Jesse Galvan, Braxton Adams, Truett McBride, Duke Mincey)