Monroe girls finish fourth at state

ALBANY — The results of the Georgia High School Association state track & field meet will leave a bad taste in the mouths of the Monroe Lady Tornadoes this offseason.

The storied program finished fourth in Class AAAA at Hugh Mills Stadium on Saturday with 54 points behind Redan with 56.5, Baldwin with 70 and state champion Marist with 81.5.

The day ended on a sour note as the 4X400-meter relay team finished sixth despite being in the top two positions for three-fourths of the race. The anchor couldn’t hang on to the lead and fell behind in the final 150 meters.

Head coach Billy Glanton said injuries forced him to piece together the team at the last minute. The unit already had an alternate go down and her replacement on the day was just getting back from an injury. To make matters worse, their usual anchor Jahari Williams was pulled at the last minute at the request of the team doctor. Glanton said he wasn’t too thrilled with how the day ended.

“[It feels] awful really because I felt like even with an 80 percent Jahari on the track we’ll still win that race,” he said. “Even in the prelims, she was at 60 percent and we still went 3:51, 3:52. She was about 80 percent today and with her on there, I think we still would’ve ended up winning that race.”

Though hobbled, Williams still managed to place fifth in both the 100- and the 200-meter dash. Earlier that day she helped the 4X100-meter relay team finish second.

In that same race, Albany High’s relay team of Desirae Davis, Asija Kendricks, Chistianna Slaughter and Jakaela Dungee finished third. The squad comprised of two juniors, a sophomore and a freshman celebrated after the race and left head coach Jessica Thomas beaming with pride. She said the young group “just believed in themselves and pulled together and worked hard every day” to get to that point, and the small taste of victory has them pumped for next year.

“I’m extremely proud of them, extremely proud of them,” Thomas said. “All their hard work, they’re already talking about going to work through the summer and train and get in the weight room, so they’re already ready for next year.”

Dungee would also finish seventh in the 100-meter dash.

The Lady Tornadoes were in third at one point thanks to a fourth-place finish in the 400 by Jaeda Hunt and a third-place finish in the 800 by Deaundria Anderson, but they couldn’t hold on. Glanton said his team definitely has some work to do for next year.

“What we really preach is if you’re not first, second and third, doesn’t suit us too well,” he said. “It sparks us to get ready next year so that when we get here next year, even if we lose a strong person like Jahari we still have somebody else to pick it up and carry on. Even though we’ll have her back next year, we still want the rest of the team to understand that now I gotta carry my load whether she’s here or not.”