Deerfield Windsor track & field teams win GISA Region 3-AAA titles

ALBANY — Coming into the second half of the GISA Region 3-AAA track & field meet on Wednesday, both the Deerfield-Windsor boys and girls teams sat atop the team standings from performances in last week’s abbreviated version.

While the Knights and Lady Knights faced stiff competition in the field events, both teams were able to win region titles.

The DWS girls team have a chance to win back-to-back state titles and their third in four years as they prepare for next week’s GISA state meet at Hugh Mills Stadium.

Last week, all of the running events except for the 3200 meters were completed at Hugh Mills Stadium. The remaining events were completed Wednesday at Deerfield-Windsor.

The DWS boys team was tested by Southland as the Raiders won three of the remaining seven events, but the Knights held on to win the meet with 157.5 points, finishing just 10.5 points ahead of the second-place Raiders.

The DWS girls had an easier time of it as they won five of their remaining seven events to win the meet with 227 points, more than 100 points ahead of second-place Tiftarea Academy.

Knowing that Southland was close behind in the standings, DWS boys coach Craig Rhodes was pleased.

“We had a great day today. Our guys competed extremely hard,” Rhodes said. “We knew it was going to be a struggle. Southland showed up strong and gave us a good battle today, but our guys competed hard and we did what we needed to do to win.”

The girls 3200 meter was won by Virginia Moore of Deerfield-Windsor with a time of 12:23.

“There was a little bit of wind on the stretch, but that didn’t stop me from running the time that I wanted to,” Moore said.

The Lady Knights’ Libby Greene picked up where she left off last week as she won the long jump and triple jump. Greene captured the long jump with a distance of 15-feet, 1 1/2-inches, and won the triple jump with a distance of 33-2.

Greene’s teammate, Samantha James, finished in second-place in the long jump with a distance of 14-7.5.

Tarah Young of Deerfield-Windsor ended up being the High Point Winner.

“Overall, it was a very good day for the girls and it sets us up well as we approach the state meet next week,” DWS girls coach Allen Lowe said.

In the boys 3200 Meters, Southland’s Wright Calhoun won the event with a time of 10:30, a little more than 30 seconds ahead of Ethan Merritt. Calhoun ended up being the boys High Point Winner for the meet.

“It was the first 3200 I’ve run in a while,” Calhoun said. “I actually had fun with it. I went for it and saw what I could do.”

Defending GISA Class AA state champion Ross Hunter of Terrell Academy won the boys high jump event with a height of 6-2. At next week’s state meet, Hunter will have a chance to complete a rare three-peat. He won the GISA Class A state title two years ago while at Randolph-Southern, then won the Class AA title last year at Terrell Academy.

The GISA state meet will take place April 30-May 2 at Hugh Mills Stadium.

GISA Region 3-AAA Track & Field Results

Boys High Point Winner: Wright Calhoun, Southland Academy

Boys Team Results: Deerfield Windsor 157.5, Southland 147, Tiftarea 97, Westwood 79,Valwood 62, Terrell Academy 44.5, 7. Brookwood 28

3200 Meters: 1. Wright Calhoun, Southland, 10:30; 2. Ethan Merrit, Deerfield-Windsor, 11:01; 3. Billy Calcutt, Southland, 12:04; 4. Ford Bennett, Deerfield-Windsor, 12:25

Pole Vault: 1. Josh Grant, Deerfield-Windsor, 13-0; 2. Will Calhoun, Deerfield-Windsor, 12-0; 3. Logan Morris, Southland, 9-6; 4. Brock Allen, Westwood, 8-6

Discus: 1. Hunter Weldon, Southland, 118-7; 2. Stephen Turton, Southland, 109-9; 3. Cameron McCook, Deerfield-Windsor, 109-3; 4. Jason Popdopolous, Valwood, 108-4.5

Shot Put: 1. Hunter Weldon, Southland, 42-8.5; 2. Jacques Irvin, Westwood, 41-10; 3. Cameron McCook, Deerfield-Windsor, 41-6.5; 4. Reid Carr, Westwood, 37-1.5

High Jump: 1. Ross Hunter, Terrell Academy, 6-2; 2. Austin Stripling, Tiftarea, 5-11; 3. Ryan Toole, Deerfield-Windsor, 5-11; 4. (tie) Steven Williams, Deerfield-Windsor and William Chambless, Terrell Academy, 5 -6

Triple Jump: 1. Austin Fallaw, Deerfield Windsor, 41-11; 2. Collier Baggett, Westwood, 41-3.5; 3. Ross Hunter, Terrell Academy, 39-9.5; 4. Geoffrey McDonald, Southland, 39-3

Long Jump: 1. Collier Baggett, Westwood, 20-2; 2. Ross Hunter, Terrell Academy, 19-5.5; 3. Terry Carter, Valwood, 18-10.5; 4. Jamal Rice, Southland, 18-8.75

Girls

Girls High Point Winner: Tarah Young, Deerfield Windsor

Girls Team Results: Deerfield Windsor 227, Tiftarea 113.5, Westwood 105.5, Southland 94, Valwood 39, Brookwood 10, Terrell Academy 7

3200 Meters: 1. Virginia Moore, Deerfield-Windsor, 12:23; 2. Sydney Hayes, Southland Academy, 13:36; 3. Camryn Bridges, Deerfield-Windsor, 14:05; 4. Maddie Harper, Tiftarea, 14:22

Pole Vault: 1. Sarah Jones, Deerfield Windsor, 9-0; 2. (tie) Savana Robertson, Westwood, 8-6 and Leah Hilliard, Westwood, 8-6

Discus: 1. Karlie Jones, Westwood, 96-9; 2. Cheyenne Colvin, Deerfield-Windsor, 96-8; 3. Madison McPherson, Southland, 89-5; 4. Lexi Davis, Westwood, 84-7.5

Long Jump: 1. Libby Greene, Deerfield-Windsor, 15-1.5; 2. Samantha James, Deerfield-Windsor, 14-7.5; 3. Abby Carswell, Tiftarea, 14-0 3/4; 4. Sydney Lamberth, Westwood, 13-7

High Jump: 1. Erin Moss, Valwood, 5-2; 2. Mary Warrington, Deerfield-Windsor, 5-0; 3. Carson Bryan, Tiftarea, 4-10; 4. Sydney Payne, Southland, 4-8

Triple Jump: 1. Libby Greene, Deerfield-Windsor, 33-2; 2. McKenlee Coleman, Westwood, 28-11.5; 3. Missy McKay, Tiftarea, 28-10; 4. Patsy Cartee, Deerfield-Windsor, 26-10.75

Shot Put: 1. Madison McPherson, Southland, 31-1; 2. Karlie Jones, Westwood, 28-10; 3. Kassidy Goodman, Tiftarea, 27-1; 4. Lexi Davis, Westwood, 26-8.5