Cedar Grove, Dunwoody and Marist girls track teams win state titles
DeKalb County is continuing to bring home track and field state titles as Cedar Grove and Dunwoody girls, along with Marist, won a state championship at the 2013 GHSA State Track and Field Championship at Hugh Mills Stadium in Albany on May 11.
The wins by Cedar Grove and Dunwoody mark the seventh consecutive year (2007 to 2013) at least one DeKalb County School District team has brought home a girlsâ state track championship trophy and 12th overall since 2002.
The Cedar Grove Lady Saints got their third state title in school history with the help of twin sisters Christian and Kayla Pryor. They combined for four individual medals and two relay medals to lead the Lady Saints to the 2013 GHSA Class AAA State Track and Field Championship 89-78 over Blessed Trinity.
Kayla edged out Douglass High Schoolâs Amber Hughes by .07 of a second (43.07 to 43.14) to capture the gold in the 300-meter hurdles and put Cedar Grove up 74-70 with the 4×400-meter, relay remaining.
The sisters then teamed up with Latoya Harze and Nylah Littles to take on Blessed Trinity head-to-head in the 4×400-meter relay. The team ran a 3:56.70 to take the gold over Blessed Trinity (4:03.85) by seven seconds to seal the state track title.
Christianâs victories in the 400-meter dash (56.30) and 800-meter run (2:17.42), along with a second-place finish in the 4×100-meter relay teamâincluding the two Pryors, Harze and Shayla Toomerâput Cedar Grove in and out of first place throughout the day. Daimer Gordon helped put 13 points on the board for Cedar Grove during the field events as she finished second in the discus (114â-04â) and fourth in the shot put (35â-02.00â).
The Dunwoody Lady Wildcats won a second state title in school history with a 69.33-44 win over Kell High School in the Class AAAAA state track championship.
Junior Alex Cameron led Dunwoody to first place with gold medal victories in the 1600-meter and 3200-meter runs. It was the second consecutive year Cameron has won the 1600-meter run (AAAA in 2012).
Lauren Jackson helped the Lady Wildcats pull away as she won the 400-meter dash (55.09) and the 800-meter run (2:14.83) to match Cameron with two individual gold medals. The 4×400-meter relay team finished the meet with a time of 3:49.41 to take gold in the event and complete the 25.33 point victory over Kell.
Marist outscored defending state champions Redan 57.50-50 to win the GHSA Class AAAA state title. Marist girls joined the boysâ team in winning its first track and field state title in school history.
Morgan Ilseâs gold medal win in the 1600-meter (5:07.48) and 3200-meter (11:15.79) helped lead Marist to the state title finish. Bailey Weiland added to the victory with a first-place win in the high jump (5â-06.00â).
Redan scored 25 points in the last four events, led by a silver medal finish in the 4×400-meter relay (3:51.15), to finish second.
Crystal Gray was part of the 4×400-meter relay team, along with Tanzanieâ Brown, Miyah Golden and Shequilla McClain while bringing home a gold medal in the 400-meter dash (55.85) and bronze medal finish in the 200-meter dash (25.03) in leading the Lady Raidersâ rally attempt.
McClain put together a pair of fourth-place finishes in both 100- and 300-meter hurdles to put up 10 points for Redan down the stretch.
Draneisha Griffin also scored 10 points with her performance in the field events. Griffin took silver in the triple jump with a leap of 38â-04.50â and a seventh-place finish in the long jump.
