RON SEIBEL: Monroe’s state title yet another positive for Albany’s schools

ALBANY — Ten months ago, Albany’s high school athletics scene was having to work through some things.

Albany High’s sudden closure at the end of the 2016-17 school year forced some quick adjustments. It didn’t help that a plan to allow Albany’s seniors to open enroll in the district’s three remaining public high schools was essentially disapproved by the GHSA less than a week before school started, making for a chaotic start to 2017-18.

Although two high schools qualified for the GHSA football playoffs, the qualifications were more a result of surviving a five-team region that had one of its teams endure an uncharacteristic winless season. And while there were some successes on the basketball floor, including region champions in Westover’s boys and Monroe’s girls, none of Dougherty County’s GHSA teams advanced past the second round of the state playoffs.

Recently, however, Albany’s high schools have strung together a nice little run of positive moments. Momentum for bigger things, perhaps?

Two of the county’s football head coaching positions came open, and the schools made some big-name hires. Both Westover’s Olten Downs and Dougherty’s Damien Gary have collegiate experience, knowledge that will not only help the county’s football players develop but also set them on a course to be ready for next-level competition.

Both schools were given the green light to move forward with practice field remodeling plans, modernizing their facilities with artificial turf fields. That will help those programs become more attractive, as will the remodeling work at Monroe that will, this fall, give the school a much-needed new gymnasium.

Saturday, we saw one of the county’s schools pick up the biggest momentum builder of all: a state championship.

State titles are nothing new for Monroe girls track and field. Saturday’s victory was its ninth in 18 years. But it was a victory that showed that a team in Dougherty County can not only rebound from adversity, but also pick up a win against a school with more going for it in the resource department.

A year ago, Monroe found itself on the short end of a head-to-head duel with Greater Atlanta Christian. GAC was a little deeper that day, picking up the extra points here and there that are crucial to winning state track titles.

Monroe didn’t fold against the private school from Gwinnett County. The coaches and athletes didn’t concede to the idea, be it truth or folly, that a private Atlanta-area school automatically has it made over any program so far away from the big city.

Working day after day in the parking lots and open spaces around a school under construction, Monroe’s athletes stuck with their training plan. They brought additional people into the program and did the type of work needed to compete for a state title.

GAC athletes had some big days Saturday. They set three Class 3A records, with hurdler Jasmine Jones rewriting the Class 3A record books in both hurdle events.

Monroe, however, had a roster at the state meet that was just a bit deeper this time around. A 1-2 sweep in the 4×400 relay, the final event of the meet, put an exclamation point on the concept head coach Billy Glanton preached that the sport of track and field is truly a team effort.

The meet, which had Monroe and GAC runners competing in adjoining lanes in several races, was a fun one to watch. There’s every reason to believe the rivalry will continue to blossom, with both teams remaining in Class 3A for the next two years following this summer’s mid-cycle adjustment.

Saturday’s meet was a great way to end a school year that didn’t start so well. And there are a lot of indicators that are pointing toward bigger things ahead for Dougherty County’s high schools.

Contact sports editor Ron Seibel at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @ronseibel.