Sports

Head of the state

• No. 1-seeded Nett Reed of Early County doesn’t disappoint as she leaps to the AA long jump state championship.

Derek Barichello

ALBANY —Sometimes good things do happen to good people.

That was the case with Early County’s Nett Reed on Day 2 of the girls GHSA State Track & Field Meet on Friday at Hugh Mills Stadium.

Reed, who is only a sophomore, won her second consecutive Class AA long jump title with a leap of 17 feet, 5 1/2 inches — besting state runner-up Jessica Tuggle from Greater Atlanta by half an inch, and more importantly adding 10 points to the score for her state contending Early County team.

To Lady Bobcats coach Craig Storey, the points could not have come from a better source.

“She is one of the sweetest, most kind-hearted people,” Storey said. “To put it this way, she won 10 gold medals at region and still holds the blocks for other kids.”

Needing to qualify with her second jump, Reed recorded the winning leap of 17-5 1/2 — and the number stood.

“I thought I could’ve done a little bit better,” Reed said. “But I’m satisfied to win a state championship.”

But as far as Early County success was concerned, Reed wasn’t alone.

High jumper Marah Wright added four more points to the Lady Bobcats total with a fourth place jump of 5-2.

“I wanted to get 5-4, but I just couldn’t get it,” said Wright who finished top 5 in the high jump for the fourth time. “Fourth is the highest I’ve ever finished (at state), so I’m still happy.”

At the end of Friday, Early County stood in seventh place with 14 points, 16 points behind first-place North Oconee.

But with Storey expecting big things today from his 4x100 relay team — which qualified for the finals with the fastest time and Reed expected to finish in the top two in the 200 and 400 — a AA state title might just be in the cards.

“We have just as good of a chance as anybody,” Storey said. “Why not?”

ON TOP OF ALBANY

At the end of Day 2, it is not track & field powerhouses Monroe or Westover on top of the city but Region 3-AAA rival Dougherty.

Tiffany Anderson finished fifth in the long jump to pick up two points, while Tiara Todd — who entered the day tied for the highest jump — finished tied for sixth in the high jump to earn 1/2 a point for a total of 2 1/2 to Westover and Monroe’s zero.

But Todd was less than pleased with her personal performance. After clearing 5-0, she could not get over the 5-2 mark and was eliminated.

“It stinks,” the sophomore said. “I couldn’t figure out what I was doing wrong.”

Anderson, however, was pleased with her performance in the long jump, posting a leap of 17-2.

“I did the best I have all year,” Anderson said.

Anderson also competed in the triple jump but did not finish in the top eight, ending with a jump of 34-2.

Also competing for Dougherty was Brishawauna Peterson, who had what she called an “off-day” as she finished with a throw of 97-6 in the discus and 33-8 in the shot put. She failed to reach the top eight in both.

UPSHAW LEADS WESTOVER

Senior Katori Upshaw was the only Lady Patriot to finish in the top eight — in any event — on Day 2.

Upshaw recorded a throw of 102-3 to grab a seventh-place finish.

“It was a great way to go out,” Upshaw said. “I put my all into it.”

Also competing for Westover on Friday, Megan Golinski notched a personal best in the pole vault with a height of 7-0, while Clennysha Jones had a strong run, but failed to medal, recording a triple jump of 32-6 and a high jump of 5-0.

MONROE'S DAY

Aside from Sekelia Anthony’s school record of 9-0 in the pole vault, the Lady Tornadoes didn’t have a very strong Day 2, even though they had contenders.

Lakeisha Jackson failed to qualify for the finals, despite recording a strong jump of 16-5 1/2 while Jasmine Harris — competing in the shot put — hurled 33-9 but failed to finish in the top eight.

MCDOWELL SHINES FOR BAINBRIDGE

Bainbridge shot putter Keva McDowell made the most of her first state trip.

The Lady Bearcats senior recorded a throw of 38-0 to finish among the medalists at seventh place.

“It’s a nice way to go out,” McDowell said.

McDowell had a throw beyond 40 feet, which would’ve been good for third had it not gone out of bounds.

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