AHS, Westover, Bainbridge stars win individual state track titles; all three in hunt for team crowns

JEFFERSON — Albany High sent just five individuals to the GHSA state track & field meet, but the Indians showed the rest of Georgia how to get the most out of what you’ve got Thursday when they took the lead in the Class AA state meet, racking up 27 points from just four individuals in the field events.

Roscoe Byrd, an honor student who is the co-captain of both the football and basketball teams, won the shot put title (53-4 1/2) and finished fifth in the discus, while Jontavious Morris, who also co-captains the football and basketball teams, finished third in the discus. Tim Pierce was third in the triple jump and Shivam Patel finished eighth in the pole vault to lift Albany into the lead. Elbert County is second with 23 points.

“Just looking at it with us being on top is a surprise,” Albany High track & field coach Jessica Thomas said. “But I’m not surprised by their performances. I knew they could do it. It was a good day. I don’t have any idea when the last time someone from Albany High won a state championship, so we are really proud of Roscoe Byrd winning a state championship, and of all them.”

All the Indians have left at the meet is a 4×400 relay team and Jerrod Williams in the 800, and it’s unlikely 27 points will hold up to win the state title, but no one was better in Class AA on Day 1 than Albany.

“We just need to bring more runners,” Thomas said. “But this will boost our (program), and it will also boost the cross country program because they will want to stay in shape.

“These kids have never been here before. They finished second in the region and that gave them the desire to win region next year, and this will give them a desire to win state. I think it will mean we get more runners to come out next year. All of our kids who are here are sophomores and juniors, so they will want to come back and win it next year.”

Westover, meanwhile, had a huge day and is challenging defending state champ Carrollton for the lead in Class AAA, and Bainbridge took the first step to defend its Class AAAA championship by scoring 19 points, which was good enough for a share of the lead with Pope.

Defending Class A state champ Pelham is in third with 11 points and Mitchell County, which has hopes of winning a state title, is in sixth with eight points in the Class A meet. Athens Christian leads the Class A field after the six field events with 24 points.

Westover needed a big day in the field events Thursday and got it — and more.

Not only did the Patriots go 1-2 in the discus with Dontrevious Ousley winning the title (166-5) and Derrick Akin (149-9) taking second in the state, but Justin Taylor shocked everyone in Class AAA when he won the triple jump with a personal record leap of 47-feet 1 1/4 inch.

“Justin Taylor … what can you say,” said an elated Harley Calhoun, who is Westover’s athletic director and is instrumental with both the boys and girls track teams. “To come in here as a region runner-up and win the state championship, that speaks volumes. That was a big surprise. His best jump before the state meet was 45-6, and he goes 47 feet. What can you say?”

It was Taylor who predicted that Westover was ready for the state meet, saying beforehand, “We will give Carrollton a run.” He kept his word, and so did Westover on the first day of the three-day meet, which ends Saturday with the running finals.

Carrollton, the defending state champ and arguably the biggest track & field power in Georgia, is leading after Day 1 with 36 points, but Westover is right there with 33 points, and four teams are tied for third place with 10 points each.

Calhoun said Wednesday that the Patriots had to get points from everywhere, and they just about did that Thursday. Reggie Lewis finished fifth in the long jump for four points and Martin McKenny showed up in the shot put with an eighth-place finish to give the Patriots another point.

“Every point is a big point in the state track meet,” Calhoun said. “We’re doing what we’re supposed to do, and Carrollton slipped a little bit. We’ve got to keep scoring.

“Carrollton should have gotten 48 points in the field (but didn’t). We’re out there. We just have to keep it up and duke it out with Carrollton over the next two days for the state championship.”

Ousley and Akins set the tone — loudly.

“We just did what coach wanted us to do, use a lot of techniques and were comfortable with what we were doing,” Ousley said. “It feels good getting first and second. Those are important points for our team. Maybe we can get a ring.”

Calhoun knew he had two of the top discus throwers in the state, and was ecstatic they came through, especially because of the way it happened. Akins was in sixth when he unleashed his final throw, which landed him in second place.

“Oh man, that was big for them to go 1-2,” he said. “Derrick Akins had to work his way back to get second. They both did a great job. Everything worked out wonderfully.”

Bainbridge felt the same way after a big first day in Class AAAA.

The Bearcats even had their own emotional moment when Delonte Martistee strained a hamstring on his first attempt in the triple jump. Martistee managed to finish the jump at 47 feet 2 1/2 inches, though, and then sat out the rest of the day. He watched as one by one, the other contenders tried to catch him.

They never did.

As it turned out, he won the state title with one jump.

“Coach (Larry Clark) told me I was going to have to come out hard,” Martistee said. “This is my last year, I wanted to make it the best.”

It was torture for Martistee to have to sit back and watch.

“I was pretty anxious that somebody might get it, and I thought I couldn’t do anything about it,” he said. “But I waited it out, and it turned out the way I wanted.”

Clark said earlier in the week that it would be more difficult to win it all this year, and felt the same way — even after Bainbridge had a big day in the field.

“It was never easy, and it’s still going to be very difficult. We’re not as strong on the track as we have been in the past,” Clark said. “We’re just hoping we can just nickel and dime and just pick up some points. And even looking at last year, we only had one first place, and that was in the (400-meter relay). So, (by holding on) to first place in the triple jump, we maybe can come out of the field (events) pretty much in the same situation we were in a year ago.”

Venisee Cosby was sixth in the high jump, and Steven Crowell was sixth in the shot put. Dewayne Gurley was seventh in the discus, and Rohan Gaines finished eighth in the long jump to give the Bearcats a big day Thursday.

Kenneth Randall was second in the long jump and sixth in the triple jump to score all 11 of Pelham’s points. Reuben Jackson (sixth in the high jump), Grover Stewart (sixth in the discus) and Jaquan Williams (seventh in the triple jump) gave Mitchell County eight points. Vincent Powell (fourth in the high jump) and Corey Ingram (eighth in the shot put) gave Calhoun County six points, and Randolph-Clay’s Johnny Foster finished fourth in the long jump to give the Red Devils five points.

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David Friedlander of the Gwinnett Daily Post contributed to this report