St. Pius X adds another state title
Reese and Castlin set new records
Class AAAA - 2006 Georgia H.S. Track & Field Championships
Hugh Mills Stadium - Albany, GA
When Southwest DeKalb’s Brittney Robbins tripped and fell in the 300 Intermediate Hurdles during the regional’s and failed to qualify for the state meet, I’m sure the “Lady Panthers” coaches knew that those 4-10 points she was favored to pick up might hurt them in the state championships…and it did.
The “Lady Golden Lions” from St. Pius X squeezed out every point they could and outpointed SWD 52-48 to take home the Class AAAA State Track & Field Championship. St. Pius X can add this trophy to the state basketball title they won in March.
There were three double winners in the meet and the most impressive doubles performance of the three may have come from Chamblee High School’s state record holder and defending 1600 and 3200 Meter champion Emily Reese. On the Friday, Reese and Emily Borsare from McIntosh battled all the way down the backstretch in the 3200 Meters before Reese cross the finish line in a state record time of 10:33.336, eclipsing her own record of 10:39.738. Borsare also broke the old mark finishing second in a time of 10:33.362.
Later on in the day the two hooked up again in the 1600 Meters but this time Reese had a littler easier time of it and still broke the Class AAAA record in a time of 4:52.245, eclipsing the old mark of 4:53.22 set in 1990 by Mamy Westphal from Brookwood.
After a settling for the silver medal in the Triple Jump last year Ana Oglesby from Cedar Shoals returned and “Finished The Drill” taking home the gold medal with a jump of 40’ 0.000”. Chapel Hill’s Kristi Castlin, who is headed to Virginia Tech next season finished second. Oglesby completed her double by going 18’ 0.500” to win the Long Jump.
The aforementioned Kristi Castlin easily defended her 100 Meter Hurdles crown with a record setting performance, hitting the finish line in a time of 13.751. Her time broke the old Class AAAA mark of 13.81 set in 1996 by Jacqueline Madison of Douglass high School in Atlanta. In the 300 Meter Hurdles Castlin battled Jazim Jones of Stockbridge for three-quarters of the race before pulling away to win in a time of 43.387.
Taylor Davidson was St. Pius’s lone individual winner as she blew away the field in the 100 Meters with a 12.181 clocking. Davidson was also a member of the “Lady Golden Lions” state championship basketball team this past season.
Columbia’s Takeia Pinckney got a little payback in the 200 Meters, clocking a time of 24.382 to knock off North Atlanta’s Porche Byrd. Byrd beat Pinckney in the region finals.
Byrd, who set the Class 2A record in the 400 Meters last season when she was running for Cross Keys, picked up another gold medal in that event this year as she dominated the race from start to finish. Her time of 53.725 was the fastest of the day in any classification.
Southwest DeKalb’s Racquel Daly had little trouble in the winning the 800 Meters, pulling away on the last turn to finish in a time of 2:17.235. Daly finished third in the 1600 Meters behind Reese and Borsare.
Lee County’s Yolanda Berryhill failed in her attempt for a repeat double gold performance like last year in the Discus and Shot Put. Instead she had to settle for the gold in the Shot Put and the silver medal in the Discus. Ashley Shepherd, who finished forth in the Discus last year tossed the disc 129’ 11.000” to dethrone Berryhill and win the gold this time around.
In the High Jump, Eastside’s Caroline Dickey jumped 5’ 7.000” to beat out Ringgold’s Katerine Harris for the gold medal. Over at the Pole Vault, Lindsay Farr from North Forsyth made a 10’ 0.000” vault in fewer attempts than Woodward Academy’s D’Arcy Duncan to capture the gold medal.
It was virtually a photo finish in the 4x100 Meter Relay, as St. Pius X, Southwest DeKalb and Baldwin all crossed the finish line together. When the final clocking was turned in it was an excited Southwest DeKalb team (Kia Jackson, Brittney Robbins, Dejia Ricks and Deonna Bailey) that was awarded the gold medal. St. Pius the silver and Baldwin the bronze.
In the 4x400 Relay the “Lady Panthers” replaced Ricks with Racquel Daly who joined Kia Jackson, Brittney Robbins and Deonna Bailey to capture the gold in a time of 3:50.440.
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| St. Pius flashing the X with the state trophy in hand. |
