On Saturday, the WolfPack track & field teams competed in their second meet of the 2015 season, playing host for the Whitefield Invitational. Visiting teams included North Atlanta, Walker, St. Francis, Galloway, SACA, and Mt. Vernon Presbyterian. The WolfPack boys put on a dominating team performance, winning first place, with 250 points, well ahead of second place North Atlanta, with 128. The WolfPack girls finished in a solid third place with 90 points, behind North Atlanta (141) and Walker (118).
The girls started off strong with a first place finish in the 4x100 relay, with the team of junior Corey Johnson, sophomore Kaitlyn Johnson, freshman Laren VanArsdale, and junior Sydney Wingate, finishing in 53.09. Strong individual performances were also turned in by Sydney (second in the 300m hurdles and third in the 100m hurdles), sophomore KaMarie Jones (third in the shot put), Laren and Kaitlyn (fourth and fifth in the long jump, respectively), and Corey and sophomore Kate Taylor (third and fifth in the 400). Laren also delivered strong performances in the sprint events, with a third place finish in the 100m dash and a second place finish in the 200m. The girls capped off the day with an exciting second place finish in the 4x400 relay, with the team of Kate, Sydney, Corey, and Laren, in a time of 4:31.3.
The boys continue to show a balanced attack, from field events to sprints to middle distance. In the field events, sophomore Carson Brown and junior TJ Carter went 1-2 in the discus, and junior Jordan Greer and senior Norman Harris accomplished the same feat in the high jump. Whitefield’s boys also claimed four of the top eight spots in the long jump, with senior Brandon Morris leaping a distance of 20’1”, and senior Marcus Jones, junior Evan Johnson, and sophomore Coby Gregory all earning points. The trio of sophomore Isaiah Hart, Norman and senior Sky Dupree went 1-2-3 in the triple jump.
Whitefield’s deep bench in sprinting was demonstrated by two Whitefield 4x100 relay teams finishing in the top three. Jordan, junior Ajani Kerr, Brandon and sophomore Brian Pickens claimed the top spot in a time of 44.69. The sprint highlights continued all afternoon, with Brian and Evan going 1-2 in the 400m, Brandon and Norman going 1-3 in the 100m dash and the trio of Brian, Brandon, and Norman finishing 1-2-3 in the 200m. Brandon’s time of 11.12 in the 100m dash was a new PR.
Robby Keough continued his strong start in the middle distance events, winning both the 1600m and the 800m. His 1600 time of 4:18.71 eclipses his own previous season best as the top time in Georgia so far this season. Despite limited training time following swimming season, freshman Brooks Merkle nearly broke five minutes in this first track meet of his varsity career. The boys capped off their strong day with two 4x400 relay teams, finishing in first and fourth place. The winning performance of 3:35.5 was delivered by Brian, Jordan, Evan, and Robby.
Both teams will compete in a dual meet at Galloway this Wednesday, March 25. On Saturday, our boys and girls will face some of their stiffest competition of the entire season when they travel to Marietta High School for the Cobb County championships which will feature teams from all classes (A thru 6A) throughout Cobb County. The meet starts on Saturday, March 28 and wraps up on Monday evening, March 30. Go WolfPack!