Bryan County’s girls came close but couldn’t overcome Metter’s four first-place finishes Monday as the Tigers claimed the Class A-DII state championship which was held at the sparkling new $59.8 million University of Georgia track complex.
The Redskins girls, led by junior Emily Johnson and freshman Tristen Glover, had their highest finish ever as they took second-place with 50 points. Metter claimed first with 62 points on the strength of its first-place finishes worth 10 points each.
Metter’s girls last won a state championship in 1999 although they tied Landmark Christian for first in 2000. Zion Saffire won the triple jump and Tyra Howard the 800 while Tigers 4x400 and 4x800 teams took firsts.
In the boys division, Bryan County also had its best finish ever as Coach Tim Adams saw his thinclads finish 10th. The Redskins finished 19th in last year’s meet.
It should be noted this shows a marked improvement in the track program. Two years ago, the Redskins girls had six points on Johnson’s third-place finish in the discus and the boys had five thanks to then senior Austin Clemons’ fourth-place in the shot.
The girls meet was a repeat of the Region 3A-DII meet in which Bryan County finished second behind Metter. This marked the second straight year a Region 3 team won the state title as Claxton won it all last year.
The finish in both divisions reflected the overall strength and depth of Region 3 with three girls teams finishing in the top six. Claxton, thanks to another outstanding performance from Jayla Jordan, claimed sixth.
In the boys’ division, Mitchell County won its third straight title with 68 points. Portal took second with 52 points and Screven was fifth with 41. Bryan County gave the region three teams in the top 10 as it had 22 points.
Two weeks ago, the Redskins boys had edged out Portal by three points for the region championship.
The future, however, looks bright for the Redskins thinclads especially for first year coach Brysen Collier’s girls. Collier is the son of boys’ assistant coach Ryan Collier but is no stranger to the program as he has worked the last several years as a volunteer coach with the football, wrestling and track teams while he completed his undergraduate degree work.
All but 11 of the girls' points were scored by underclassmen with Johnson leading the way with 17 points and Glover close behind with 13.
Johnson made the podium for the third straight year as she finished second in the discus and third in the shot put while taking sixth in the triple jump.
Jordan, also a junior, took first in the discus and shot for the second straight year for Claxton. It has been Jordan’s misfortune to be in the same class as Johnson who won both events by several feet.
Glover is expected to be a key player for the Redskins basketball team next year but it appears she also has a future in track based on her performance this season.
As the only freshman to score points for Bryan County, she took second in the 400 meters, finished fifth in the long jump and was a member of the fifth-place 4x400 relay team.
Unlike in years past when the meet was held over two days, this year’s meet was completed in one day--much to the detriment of junior Abbigail Stucker who had qualified for the state meet in four events: the 800, 1600 and 3200 meters plus the 4x800 relay.
With it being physically impossible for Stucker to compete effectively in all four events in one day she wound up taking second in the 1600 and being a member of the third-place 4x800 relay team. Stucker was third in the 1600 at last year’s meet.
Also scoring in two events were junior Ni’Jalah Walker, who was seventh in the 400 and was on the fifth-place 4x400 team, and sophomore Lila Hannah who was on the 4x400 team and on the third-place 4x800.
Senior Braelynn Shuman was second in the pole vault and fellow senior Briana Crawford was sixth in the 300-meter hurdles. Junior Lexi Lane ran on the 4x800 team as did sophomore Khloe Smith while sophomore Gracin Gamble was on the 4x400 unit.
With the exception of seniors Will Summerford who ran on the third-place 4x800 team and Anddreas McKinney who ran anchor for the fourth-place 4x400 team the remaining Redskins points, like the girls, were posted by underclassmen.
Sophomore Mari Green led the way with a second-place in the 400 meters and was on the 4x400 team. Sophomores Braeden Sharp and Walker Summerford claimed seventh in the 110-meter hurdles and 1600, respectively.
Joining McKinney and Green on the 4x400 team were freshman Roderick Stephens and junior Jaylen Cosey.
Stephens ran anchor on the 4x800 which also included Will Summerford, Walker Summerford and sophomore basketball standout Jordan Carlos.