Richmond Hill High School senior Nikki Shields is a step closer to competing for a state title after she won the Region 2-AAAA 400-meter crown last week in Waycross.

Shields, who turned in a time of 57.34 seconds in the race, was one of six Wildcats to advance to the state sectionals. Also advancing from the girls’ team is sophomore long-distance runner Amanda Elliott, who placed second in the 3,200 and third in the 1,600.

On the boys’ side, Darryl Dunham and Tradd Stephens earned second and third, respectively, in the 400 to advance. Dunham ran the race in 50.51 and Stephens finished in 51.02.

They’ll also compete as part of the school’s 4x400 relay team, which includes Marcus Morris and Deon Davis. The team finished second at the region meet with a time of 3 minutes, 24.46 seconds.

Richmond Hill coach Levi Sybert said the region meet held few surprises.

"I was thinking these would be our best events to move on going into the region meet," Sybert said. "I was thinking Deon Davis and Andy Balas would be on the bubble to move on as well, but it just did not come together right that day for those two."

Davis placed seventh in the 300 hurdles while Balas came in sixth in the 800.

Only the top four finishers in each event qualified for sectionals under a new format. In past years, the top two runners in each event automatically qualified for the state meet.

See full story in Saturday's Bryan County News.