Landmark Christian aims at seventh state title

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Posted 7:16AM on Saturday, May 11, 2002

JEFFERSON - Landmark Christian took an overwhelming lead Friday in Class A with a one-three finish in the 3200-meter run at the Georgia High School Association Boys State Track and Field Championships. Joe Thorne of Lakeside, DeKalb, turned in the top time of the day, winning the Class AAAAA 3200-meter run in 9:10.73, just six seconds off the state record. Thorne, who broke his wrist in April in a pickup basketball game, won the 1600 Thursday too. Blake Fertitta, runnerup to teammate Clark Rivers in this year's 1600 and last year's 3200, this time won the Class A championship, turning in a winning time of 9:52.76. Rivers was third behind Cristan Duvell of Wesleyan. Landmark amassed 58 points going into Saturday's final day, a giant lead over Pelham's 26 points. Landmark is seeking its record seventh straight state title. Washington-Wilkes remained ahead in AA with 32 points, ahead of East Laurens and Greater Atlanta Christian with 20 each. Class AAA is a wide-open race, with seven teams within five points of first. LaGrange leads with 24 points, followed by Lovett with 23, Franklin County and Winder-Barrow with 22, Carrollton with 21, Westminster with 20 and Westover with 19. Woodward Academy closed the gap on Cedar Shoals, which leads Class AAAA with 30 points. Woodward stands at 27.5, followed by Cedar Grove and Rome with 20 each. Lassiter leads in AAAAA with 31 points, followed by Bradwell Institute with 26 and Lakeside, DeKalb with 24. The 3200 was the only running final Friday. The rest of the day was spent qualifying for Saturday's finals. No state records were set during qualifying heats. Three field events not completed Thursday because of lightning were also finished early Friday. Tim Campbell of Bradwell Institute won the AAAAA long jump with a 23-.5 effort to put his team into first place. Gordon Lee's Greg Mays won the A high jump at 6-8, and John Scott Hartness of Franklin County won the AAA pole vault with a 14-foot effort. For the second straight day, the meet was interrupted by lightning, delaying the meet about an hour. After the completion of the field events, the overall best performances were as follows: shot put, Kurt Quarterman, Westover, 63-.75; discus, Jake Dunkleberger, Lovett, 174; pole vault, Josh Cheek, Oconee County, 14-1; triple jump, Jason Bell, Northside, 48-10.75; long jump, Richard Jones, Cedar Grove, 24-7.75; and high jump, Pierre Ingram, Stockbridge, and Gary Hines, Pebblebrook, both 6-10. Cartersville's Brett Womack, who fell down while leading the AA 1600 Thursday with about 100 yards to go, falling to third, stayed on his feet and won the 3200 in 9:48.12. Winder-Barrow's Ben Krichko won the AAA 3200 in 9:47.26. Class AAAA 1600 champion David Herron of Rome doubled in the 3200 in 9:30.13. Fastest individual qualifying times Friday were as follows: 100, Willie Green, Butler, 10.61; 110 high hurdles, Roy Chaney, Evans, 13.95; 200, Kenneth O'Neil, Benedictine, 21.70; 300 intermediate hurdles, Jonathan Walker, Southwest DeKalb, 37.20; 400, Reggie Witherspoon, Wheeler, 47.63; and 800, Damon Prince, Southwest DeKalb, 1:56.07.