(VIDEO) Track: North Hall girls, Branch boys take Hall County Championships

FLOWERY BRANCH — Depth was a key Friday night for both the North Hall girls and Flowery Branch boys track teams at the annual Hall County Championships at the Flowery Branch track.

The Falcons placed at least one competitor in each event in the top three as they won their first Hall County title since 2008, holding off North Hall 187-152.5. They had three multiple winners in Cortez Davis (100 and 200 meters), Kyle King (110 hurdles and triple jump), and Jake Shewbert (1,600 and 3,200).

The Lady Trojans won six of 15 events and finished second in six others to outpace Gainesville 167-145.5. North Hall had a pair of multiple winners in Trini Puente (long jump, 200 and 100 hurdles) and Olivia Bradley (100 and 300 hurdles).

North Hall girls coach Drew Rogers said his team played to its strengths in taking their first title since 2014.

“This is probably the deepest team we’ve ever had and we had a lot of girls place and score for us,” Rogers said. “It was a good day overall. Trini and Olivia were outstanding today -- just really proud of all of them.”

The North Hall girls trailed Gainesville after the first three events but Puente’s first-place leap of 16-10.25 to win the long jump vaulted the Lady Trojans into the lead for good. Puente’s best performances, however, came on the track where she set new personal best times in the 100-meter hurdles (14.83 seconds) and the 200 (25.79).

“It was a really good day today,” Puente said. “It was exciting cracking 26 seconds on the 200 and also getting below 15 in the hurdles. It felt great to be able to win those.”

For the Falcons, coach Jimmy Sorrells said it was a great meet for Hall County in general.

“It’s an honor to be able to host this event and then to showcase the talent in the county was good to see,” Sorrells said. “I thought this was a good tune-up for us as we get ready for spring break and then moving toward the region. We have a lot of depth at spots but we also still have some holes to fill. Overall, though, I thought it was a good day for us.”

Flowery Branch won eight of the 15 events and took second in eight more as they led from nearly start to finish. Yet North Hall’s Mac Bennett won the first of two events for himself taking a surprise victory in the discus to open the meet.

Bennett was the only multiple winner for North Hall and came into the meet ranked sixth in Class AAAA in the shot put. He added that to the discus victory again, besting the Falcons’ Sterling Sykes, who took second in both events.

“I’ve been working hard on the discus,” said Bennett, who heaved a personal best throw of 135-02, nearly 10 feet better than his previous best. He won the shot put with a toss of 46-3.25 feet.

“I still have some work to do (in discus) but it feels good to get two wins. I’m just trying to get ready for the region meet.”

The Falcons’ Ryan Broom soon after won the high jump to go with a second place showing by Sykes in the discus to grab the lead. They would not trail again.

Shewbert, the defending Class AAAAA 1,600 champion, opened the track events with a dominating run in the event with a 4:22.15 time that was less than a second off his personal best to hold off teammate Grant O’Callaghan by more than four seconds. Shewbert capped his day with an even more dominant performance winning the 3,200 in a time of 9:28.33, almost 10 seconds faster than second place O’Callaghan.

“It was a good day to run. It was little hotter than we’ve been used too but the wind kind of helped things,” Shewbert said. “I felt pretty good out there. I thought I had a chance at a (personal best) in the 1,600 but my real goal is to get below 4:15 in the 1,600.”

Another of Shewbert’s teammates, Erika Plummer, led the girls 1,600 from start-to-finish exploding for the lead on the start and posting a personal best 5:14.4 to beat North Hall’s Mattie Bohanan by 21 seconds.

“I was really surprised that I ran that fast,” Plummer said. “That was nine seconds off my best time. I definitely feel like I’m making progress.”

In the girls meet, Flowery Branch finished third with 124 points. Chestatee took fourth with 60.5, West Hall was fifth at 44, Johnson sixth with 38.5, and East Hall seventh with 15.5 points.

In the boys meet, Gainesville took third with 97.5 points. Johnson was fourth with 61 points, West Hall fifth with 52, Chestaee sixth with 40, and East Hall seventh with three points. Riverside Military Academy was slated to participate but with the meet pushed back one day because of rain in Thursday, many of the Eagles tracksters were already leaving town for their spring break and could not take part.

2016 HALL COUNTY TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS
Friday, Flowery Branch High

GIRLS

Team finish:

1. North Hall, 159
2. Gainesville, 135.5
3. Flowery Branch, 124
4. Chestatee, 60.5
5. West Hall, 44
6. Johnson, 38.5
7. East Hall, 15.5

Individual events (top 3):

Discus:

1. Rebecca Bowen, North Hall, 107-05
2. Kristine Hunter, West Hall, 89-03
3. Tori Hamby, North Hall, 88-03

Shot put:

1. Kristine Hunter, West Hall, 32-07
2. Rebecca Bowen, North Hall, 30-07.25
3. Megan Kelling, West Hall, 29-07

High jump:

1. Taniyah Worth, Flowery Branch, 5-02
2. Kayla Kelly, Gainesville, 5-00
3. Queen Scott, Flowery Branch, 4-10

Long jump:

1. Trini Puente, North Hall, 16-10.25
2. Ashley Woodroffe, Flowery Branch, 16-02
3. Aniyah Norman, Johnson, 15-10.75

Triple jump:

1. Kayla Kelly, Gainesville, 34-04.5
2. Ashley Grant, Flowery Branch, 33-04.75
3. Nalay Jones, Gainesville, 32-05.5

Pole vault:

1. Faith Moss, Gainesville, 8-08
2. Mary Seid, North Hall, 8-06
3. Brooklyn Wilson, North Hall, 7-06

1,600-meter:

1. Erika Plummer, Flowery Branch, 5:14.40
2. Mattie Bohanan, North Hall
3. Mariah Millsap, Flowery Branch

4x100 relay:

1. Gainesville, 49.85
2. North Hall
3. Flowery Branch

400-meter:

1. Heather Moore, Flowery Branch, 1:03.15
2. Nalay Jones, Gainesville
3. Sha’lese Green, Gainesville

100-meter:

1. Olivia Bradley, North Hall, 12.60
2. Ashley Woodroffe, Flowery Branch
3. Tinisha Watson, Gainesville

100-hurdles:

1. Trini Puente, North Hall, 14.83
2. Jada Harrison, Gainesville
3. Gracie McBride, North Hall

800-meter:

1. Megan Dew, Chestatee, 2:27.83
2. Mattie Bohanan, North Hall
3. Erika Plummer, Flowery Branch

200-meter:

1. Trini Puente, North Hall, 25.79
2. Ashley Woodroffe, Flowery Branch
3. Tinisha Watson, Gainesville

300-hurdles:

1. Olivia Bradley, North Hall, 47.10
2. Megan Dew, Chestatee
3. Jada Harrison, Gainesville

3,200-meter:

1. Lindsey Grater, Chestatee, 12:03.45
2. Shannon Hoolahan, Flowery Branch
3. Hailey Pierson, Flowery Branch

BOYS
Team finish:

1. Flowery Branch, 177
2. North Hall, 147.50
3. Gainesville, 97.50
4. Johnson, 61
5. West Hall, 52
6. Chestatee, 40
7. East Hall, 3

Individual events (top 3):

Discus:

1. Mac Bennett, North Hall, 135-02
2. Sterling Sykes, 128-06
3. Jimmy Loggins, North Hall, 110-01

Shot put:

1. Mac Bennett, North Hall, 46-03.25
2. Sterling Sykes, 43-05
3. Jenry Villalobos, Johnson, 42-09.50

High jump:

1. Ryan Broome, Flowery Branch, 6-00
2. Traverian Lott, Johnson, 6-00
3. Bryson Lewis, West Hall, 5-06

Long jump:

1. Messiah Dorsey, Gainesville, 20-07
2. Michael Dozier, North Hall, 19-09
3. Daniel Kritzinger, Flowery Branch, 19-08

Triple jump:

1. Kyle King, Flowery Branch, 42-01
2. Nick Anderson, Gainesville, 40-06
3. Isaiah Del Campbell, Johnson, 40-05

Pole vault:

1. David Seid, North Hall, 12-00
2. Carson Ricketts, North Hall, 11-06
3. Tyler Lorenz, Flowery Branch, 11-06

1,600-meter:

1. Jake Shewbert, Flowery Branch, 4:22.15
2. Grant O’Callaghan, Flowery Branch
3. Tommy Johnston, North Hall

4x100 relay:

1. West Hall, 42.84
2. Flowery Branch
3. Gainesville

400-meter:

1. Manuel Remes, Gainesville, 51.72
2. Tyler Jackson, Flowery Branch
3. Daniel Kritzinger, Flowery Branch

100-meter:

1. Cortez Davis, Flowery Branch, 10.69
2. Michael Dozier, North Hall
3. Darius Blair-Coleman, West Hall

110-hurdles:

1. Kyle King, Flowery Branch, 15.10
2. Ryan Broome, Flowery Branch
3. Cutter Sanford, North Hall

800-meter:

1. Tommy Johnston, North Hall, 02:01.30
2. Shawn Olmstead, Flowery Branch
3. Issac Hernandez, Johnson

200-meter:

1. Cortez Davis, Flowery Branch, 22.4
2. Michael Dozier, North Hall
3. Patrick Hudson, Werst Hall

300-hurdles:

1. Cutter sanford, North Hall, 41.91
2. Logan Idol, Chestatee
3. Ryan Broome, Flowery Branch

3,200-meter:

1. Jake Shewbert, Flowery Branch, 9:28.33
2. Grant O’Callaghan, Flowery Branch
3. Corson Teasley, North Hall