Led by two state champion performances by Sam James, the Richmond Hill boys’ track team captured second place at the 6A state meet last week in Carrollton.

The Wildcats finished the meet with 56 points, two points behind Allatoona. Richmond Hill won the final event, the 4x400 relay, in a time of 3:20.04. The Wildcats needed Allatoona to finish no better than third to capture the state title, but the Buccaneers took second in the relay.

The Wildcats’ 4x400 team consisted of Demond Fleming, James, Rakim Gonzalez and Jacob Hedgepeth.

James also won the state title in the 400 with a time of 47.72. The junior, who has received multiple Division I offers in football, also garnered all-state honors in the 4x100 relay and in the 200. The top eight finishers in each event are named all-state.

James’ time in the 200 was 22.01, good for fifth. He ran with Matthew Clark, L’Marqez Prather and Fleming in the 4x100. They finished in 42.22, good for third.

Prather was also fourth in the 100 with a time of 11.05 and fifth in the 200 at 22.98. Hedgepeth took second in the 1600 at 4:21.40 and fourth in the 3200 at 9:41.77. Rakeem Littles took eighth in the 3200 at 9:50.38. Gonzalez was sixth in the pole vault at 13 feet. Fleming captured sixth in the 300 hurdles with a time of 40.09.

For the Richmond Hill girls’ team, Daryn Petitt and Kayla Gholar had two all-state performances each.

Petitt, the state champion in 5A last year in the 800, took second this year with a time of 2:18.50. Gholar was sixth in 2:22.81. Petitt finished fifth in the 1600 in 5:14.57, while Gholar was seventh with a time of 5:20.20.