FLOWERY BRANCH — "This meet means that you can't ever give up; you have to give all you've got for every event -- because you know the other guy is going to do the same."
Devonte Mize and his Gainesville High teammates put those sentiments into impressive action on Thursday in the Hall County Track and Field Championships at Flowery Branch High, as the Red Elephants stormed to the boys title and shared the girls crown.
That Gainesville did not sweep the team honors was down to a North Hall girls team that wanted success just as badly.
After trailing the Lady Red Elephants for much of the afternoon, the Lady Trojans charged in front of Gainesville in the 4x400 meter relay -- the final race of the meet -- to force a tie for first place, 138-138.
(NOTE: For a look at final team standings and top three finishes for each individual event simply scroll down. A photo gallery from the meet courtesy photographer Bobby Escoe is also available above.)
"This is an area thing, and you want to be able to say you're the best in the county," said North Hall sprint standout Olivia Bradley, who won the 100 meters and 300 hurdles and then anchored the 4x400, sprinting into a lead that forced Gainesville to settle for second place and ensured the split title. "Mentally I wanted to show that I was ready for the challenge and then pull away. It was like, 'you can try, but you're not going to catch me.' "
It appeared that no one would catch either Gainesville team after strong starts for each -- and certainly no other boys team came close to the Red Elephants, North Hall finishing second by 45 points -- 161-116; Riverside was third with 103 points.
The Red Elephants claimed six titles -- four involving Mize, who won the 110 and 300 meter hurdles, as well as aiding championship efforts for the 4x100 and 4x400 relay team. Mize also took second in the triple jump. In fact, Gainesville's boys recorded top three performances in 14 of 16 events. That included a record-setting outing for Hunter Mallard in the pole vault, as the senior cleared 16-feet-2 for a personal best, only narrowly missing a third attempt at 16-6.
"I've been chasing that (personal best) for four weeks," said Mallard, who broke the record of graduated Gainesville High great Paul Malquist -- now Mallard's coach -- and currently owns the top competition vault in the state this season. "It's exhilirating each time I clear a new height. And this was my first time using my longest pole in a meet. So this was pretty new territory. I just need more practice/reps and I'll get 16-6."
"Our boys team can be scary. We've got a lot of depth, and some guys that can really put up points," said Gainesville head coach Wayne Jones, who added that he was prepping for a photo finish in the girls portion of the meet. "I had calculated everything coming into that final race and knew that we needed five points to be safe, and I knew it was going to come down to the wire. That was a little hurtful, but it's all great -- for us, for the county. This has been a great night.
"Me and the entire coaching staff (at Gainesville) have worked so hard to get the program back to respectability, and I think we've done that."
There was respect aplenty across the range of performances on Thursday, including a number of impressive numbers for both North Hall teams. The Trojans nabbed five gold medals -- including two apiece for Mac Bennett (discus and shot put) and Tommy Johnston (800 and 1,600 meters).
"This meet is fun because of the sense of community; and there's always great distance runners here in Hall County," said Johnston, who is the latest in a long line of stellar Trojans distance runners. "It's such a close team, and we train hard and push each other hard and have fun."
The Lady Trojans also had their share of fun on Thursday, claiming six gold medals, including the two individual successes for Bradley. Gracie McBride also nabbed two crowns in winning the triple jump and 100 hurdles.
Their performances helped set up the photo finish with the Lady Red Elephants -- one that saw North Hall pull in front after Gainesville took an early lead in the peunultimate 4x400 competition.
Yet it was far from a two-team showdown, as Riverside, Flowery Branch, West Hall and Johnson also nabbed indivdual golds in the boys portion, while Flowery Branch, Chestatee, Johnson and East Hall also claimed crowns on the girls side.
The Lady Falcons' Erika Plummer defended her Hall County 1,600 meter title and also stormed her way to the 3,200 championship in dominant fashion. And the junior hopes that her performances will only set the stage for further success this season/
"I really want to win state -- in the 1,600 or 3,200," Plummer said. "I've done a lot of work with my coach conditioning, just working hard -- not that the other girls haven't, but I've put in the time and set some big goals."
It was a common sentiment for all that walked away as Hall County champions.
"We're going to push as hard as we can; you have to push your body to the limits to make (personal records)," said Mize, a junior that recently broke a school record in the 300 hurdles. "And we want to graduate with rings -- at least one. But this meet was great. I made some friends here today, and they pushed me, and that was great."
2017 HALL COUNTY TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Results
Thursday, March 23
Flowery Branch High School
TEAM RESULTS
BOYS
1. Gainesville (GHS), 161
2. North Hall (NH), 116
3. Riverside Military Academy (RMA), 103
4. Flowery Branch (FB), 97
5. Johnson (JHS), 52
6. West Hall (WH), 42
7. Chestatee (CHS), 36
8. East Hall (EH), 15
GIRLS
1. Gainesville, 138
tie, North Hall, 138
3. Chestatee, 86
4. Johnson, 76
5. Flowery Branch, 75
6. West Hall, 68
7. East Hall, 32
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
Top Three Finishers
BOYS
Long jump
1. Isaac Teasley, RMA, 21-2
2. Austin Sinclair, WH, 19-7
3. Cameron Hunter, GHS, 19-2
Triple jump
1. Isaiah Del Campbell, JHS, 42-10.25
2. Devonte Mize, GHS, 40-10
3. Isaac Teasley, RMA, 38-11
High jump
1. Daniel Jackson, NH, 6-0*
2. Brannon Clark, FB, 6-0
3. Charles Dimnwaobi, RMA, 5-10
Shot put
1. Mac Bennett, NH, 48-3
2. Moises Cuevas, CHS, 44-2
3. Tyreke Watson, GHS, 41-11.75
Discus
1. Mac Bennett, NH, 148-4
2. Tyreke Watson, GHS, 127-0
3. Caleb Shoemaker, NH, 124-0
Pole vault
1. Hunter Mallard, GHS, 16-2
2. David Seid, NH, 12-6*
3. James Brubeck, RMA, 12-6
4x100 relay
1. GHS, 43.57
2. RMA, 43.96
3. FB, 43.98
4x400 relay
1. GHS, 3:31.50
2. RMA, 3:39.28
3. NH, 3:39.39
110 hurdles
1. Devonte Mize, GHS, 16.09
2. Isaiah Del Campbell, JHS, 16.40
3. Daniel Jackson, NH, 17.18
300 hurdles
1. Devonte Mize, GHS, 40.91
2. Cutter Sanford, NH, 41.76
3. Joshua Hibbert, FB, 43.61
100 meters
1. George Lira, WH, 11.53
2. Charles Dimnwaobi, RMA, 11.54
3. Cameron Sturdivant, GHS, 11.72
200 meters
1. Charles Dimnwaobi, RMA, 22.60
2. George Lira, WH, 22.95
3. Cameron Sturdivant, GHS, 23.18
400 meters
1. Tyler Jackson, FB, 51.57
2. Manuel Remes, GHS, 51.80
3. Isaac Teasley, RMA, 53.25
800 meters
1. Tommy Johnston, NH, 2:01
2. Isaac Hernandez, JHS, 2:03
3. Micah Moss, GHS, 2:07
1,600 meters
1. Tommy Johnston, NH, 4:29
2. Isaac Hernandez, JHS, 4:31
3. Ethan Hargrove, FB, 4:37
3,200 meters
1. Alex Sosa, GHS, 10:05
2. Ethan Hargrove, FB, 10:15
3. Miguel Lopez, GHS, 10:19
GIRLS
Long jump
1. Aniyah Norman, JHS, 16-8.75
2. Megan Dew, CHS, 16-1.5
3. Janelly Lara, EH, 14-9.25
Triple jump
1. Gracie McBride, NH, 33-9.5
2. Carina Brown, WH, 32-6.25
3. Ashley Thomas, JHS, 31-9.75
High jump
1. Shyla Anderson, EH, 5-4
2. Tija Blackwell, GHS, 5-2
3. Ashley Thomas, JHS, 5-0
Shot put
1. Syndey Payne, GHS, 33-3.5
2. Rebecca Bowen, NH, 31-6.5
3. Ashiya White, WH, 31-6
Discus
1. Ansleigh Ferguson, NH, 95-3
2. Ashiya White, WH, 85-1
3. Sydney Payne, GHS, 81-7
Pole vault
1. Faith Moss, GHS, 9-1
2. Carly Buffington, GHS, 8-0*
3. Bailey Haff, Chestatee, 8-0
4X100 relay
1. GHS, 51.98
2. WH, 52.06
3. NH, 52.21
4x400 relay
1. NH, 4:16
2. GHS, 4:21
3. CHS, 4:37
100 hurdles
1. Gracie McBride, NH, 16.07
2. Jada Harrison, GHS, 16.33
3. Lindsay Bornhorst, CHS, 17.92
300 hurdles
1. Olivia Bradley, NH, 45.40
2. Gracie McBride, NH, 47.51
3. Jada Harrison, GHS, 48.63
100 meters
1. Olivia Bradley, NH, 13.22
2. Aaliyah James, WH, 13.26
3. Aniyah Norman, JHS, 13.42
200 meters
1. Cheyanne Holiday, GHS, 27.97
2. Aaliyah James, WH, 27.98
3. Ashley Thomas, JHS, 28.18
400 meters
1. Sadie Houston, JHS, 1:04.11
2. Hannah Grainger, FB, 1:05.12
3. Byanka Caravas, GHS, 1:05.57
800 meters
1. Megan Dew, CHS, 2:29.76
2. Hennebry Waters, NH, 2:32.22
3. Mariah Millsap, FB, 2:32.47
1,600 meters
1. Erika Plummer, FB, 5:20
2. Lindsay Grater, CHS, 5:23
3. Shannon Hoolahan, FB, 5:30
3,200 meters
1. Erika Plummer, FB, 11:32
2. Shannon Hoolahan, FB, 11:56
3. Morgan Mize, NH, 12:56
*-Finish determined by scratches
