The Marietta girls won the school’s first girls track and field state title in seven years over the weekend and the Buford boys snapped an even longer drought with their first state title since 1982. The Blue Devils tallied 70 points to beat out runner-up Buford (58) and Harrison (45) and were led to victory by a dominant performance in the 3200 meter race where Marietta took three of the top four finishes. Maddie Jones was able to top defending state champion Mary Nesmith’s (10:41.23) with a first-place 10:29.09 and Alyssa Trevino placed fourth behind Harrison’s Paige Comstock for more valuable points. On Friday, it was Nesmith who finished first in the 1600 with a 4:47.96—marking her third-straight state title in the event. Comstock finished runner-up and then Jones placed third and Trevino placed fifth—giving Marietta three of the top five finishes in the 1600.
“The distance girls were amazing, obviously, scoring a ton of points,” said head coach Nick Houstoulakis to the MDJ. …”I am incredibly proud of how they stepped up and took care of business. To do this in Class 6A in Georgia is incredible. We’ll have that championship banner forever and these girls will be able to celebrate this forever.
Marietta’s distance runners were not the only Cobb County athletes to have dominant performances. South Cobb’s Oluwatosin Awoleye won her third-straight 800 state title with a 2:07.83 finish, North Cobb’s Jasmine Robinson won her third-straight title in the 300 hurdles (41.88) and she won the 100 hurdles with a (13.75). In the 100 and 200, that went to Walton’s Sonto Igwilo—who swept the field with a 11.43 100 meter time and 23.70 200 finish.
For the Buford boys, it all came down to the final race which was the 1600 relay. The Wolves were aware that they needed to finish first or have Carrollton finish near the back of the pack if they were going to win the state title and delivering the crown was Alexander Knight, Jameer Cantrell, Kameron Bethea and Michael Turpin—who finished with a 3:16.46 and edge Carrollton’s 3:20.74 runner-up finish to give them the narrow 74-70 team victory.
“What we did on the track today was unreal,” head coach Fyrone Davis told the Gwinnett Daily Post. “It was the most exciting day that I’ve ever had in coaching in all of my years. This is the first one we’ve had on the boys side. I’m just really proud of our program. Entering the final relay, I was very confident that we could pull it out. Track is so finicky. You have to make sure you don’t jump the gun, nobody pulls a hamstring. I told my coaches to stay humble, because when you don’t, bad things happen. …I wanted to make sure we stayed poised. And that’s the thing about working at Buford. We’re so poised as a staff and as a community and that’s what it’s about. I think that’s why we prevailed.”
In addition to winning the team title, Buford completed the triple crown this year, also winning their region and the Gwinnett County championship. Moreover, Bethea, Turpin, Jordan Allen and Tyriq Green combined for a time of 39.81 in the 4×400 relay and that is the fastest time in state history.
AROUND THE CLASS BOYS: The Grayson Rams and Campbell boys will face off at McEachern High School this Thursday for the soccer state championship. Grayson is coming off a 4-1 win over Mill Creek in the semifinals, while Campbell advanced to the finals with a 3-1 road win over Duluth.
AROUND THE CLASS GIRLS: At 5 p.m. this Thursday, Walton and Buford will clash for the girls Class 6A soccer state championship at McEachern. Buford is coming off a 1-0 win over top-ranked West Forsyth in the semifinals and Walton is fresh off its 3-1 win over Lambert.
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