Bryan County wrapped up the most successful track and field season in school history last weekend when the girls finished seventh in the Class A-DII state meet and the boys were 19th.
The Redskins did not have any individual winners but they had nearly everyone who qualified for the state meet and they did it with one of the youngest groups of qualifiers in the meet.
Riley Shuman was the only senior on the track for Bryan County and all in all it left Coach Tim Adams and assistant coaches Sean Coburn, Ryan Collier and Brysen Collier excited about the future.
“Riley was a really good one,” Adams said. “We’re going to miss him. He was named the Male Co-Athlete of the Year along with Allen Williams at our all-sports banquet last week. He’s meant a lot to the track team and his times have improved.
“He’s come a long way and we’re going to miss him and his leadership.”
The growth of the track program has been a work in progress. This season, Adams said, the teams had 26 girls and 25 boys on the roster with eight girls and eight boys advancing to state as either individuals or on a relay team.
“The kids we have are really, really good kids,” Adams said. “I mean that in all areas: they go to class, behave well, represent the school and community well and their work habits are good.
“I have nothing but positives to say about these kids. They’ve bought in, want to train and do better. The coaches are all proud of them.”
Region 3A rival Claxton claimed the girls state title with 74 points and Metter was third with Elite Scholars Academy taking second. Following Metter was Washington-Wilkes, Charlton County and Telfair County and the Redskins who had 28.5 points.
Sophomore Emily Johnson made it to the podium with a fourth-place finish in the discus and by taking sixth in the shot. She was third in the discus last year.
Junior Braelynn Shuman was third in the pole vault while Abbi Stucker took third in the 1600 meter run and Ni’Jalah Walker was sixth in the 400. Stucker, sophomore Lexi Lane and freshmen Lila Hannah and Khloe Smith teamed to finish third in the 4 x 800 relay.
Riley Shuman was fifth in the 800 and anchored the boys 4 x 800 relay to a third-place finish. He was joined by juniors Will Summerford and James Hodges and freshman Walker Summerford on the relay team.
Anddreas McKinney grabbed sixth in the 400 and anchored the seventh-place 4 x 400 relay team which included Mari Green, Ryan Harrington and Shuman.
“Buck (McKinney) left it all out on the track,” Adams said of McKinney’s 400 run. “He ran a tremendous 400 on the relay. He’s another one whose times have improved. I think the 400 and the 800 are the two toughest races on track.”
The 4 x 800 relay team entered the meet with the second-best time in the state, less than two seconds behind Mitchell County and it ran its best time ever with an 8:49.19, five seconds under its previous best. However, Mitchell County (8:43.40) and Furlow Charter (8:47.33) also turned in their best times of the season.
Region 3 is considered one of the strongest in the state in all sports and it was reflected in the finishes posted by both the boys and girls track teams.
Mitchell County, as expected, won the boys title but Portal was third, McIntosh County Academy was fourth and Jenkins County was ninth. Screven County was 15th followed by Bryan County with Claxton at 21st and Metter at 22nd.
In addition to Claxton, Metter and Bryan County finishing in the top seven the region had six of the top 14 teams as ECI and Screven tied for 11th and Portal was 14th.
“The biggest thing that keeps us from going further in track is depth,” Adams said. “Teams that win are the ones that have multiple finishers in events.
“The kids we’ve got did a phenomenal job. Several made it to the podium but to get to where we want to be we’ve got to add more depth and that will be a priority next year.”