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AHSAA Alabama State
Championships


Friday-Saturday, May 7-9, 2009 - Gulf Shores AL
DyeStat onsite with Arthur Mack

4A5A6A - Day 1: Big schools start with a big bang

Several records fall by the wayside in first day of 4A-5A-6A competition

By ARTHUR L. MACK

GULF SHORES, Friday May 8—There’s never a dull moment in a track meet—just ask those who saw the start of the 4A-5A-6A competition of the Alabama State High School Athletic Association Outdoor track and field championships.

This was a day that saw many strong performances—not to mention a few records set in the process.


6A: Mountain Brook’s Madeline Morgan continued her winning ways, cruising to victory in the 1,600 meter run in 5:02.74, ahead of eighth-grader Carmen Carlos of McGilll-Toolen (5:07.93) and Pelham’s Lauren Dalessio (5:15.32).

“I basically ran it to win it,” she said. “I just wanted to go out hard and see how it felt, but I don’t think it was as good as the last race I ran.”

Nevertheless, it was good enough, as Morgan, along with Maggie Carey, Annie Newton and Lucy Newton, ran on the victorious 4 X 800-meter relay team, which ran 9:35.50, ahead of McGill-Toolen (9:47.13) and Pelham (9:54.10). That was enough to give the Spartans a 54 to 29.50 lead over Hoover in the team standings after the first day.

Shades Valley’s Morganne Phillips continued her domination in the 400, winning with a state record 55.17, while Lee-Montgomery’s Renay Rausaw won the long jump with an impressive 19-3/4.

In 6A boys, Oak Mountain’s quartet of Shane Bragdon, Boyd Christenberry, Matthew Cooper and John Gayle, cruised to an impressive 7:53.72 in the 4 X 800, ahead of Hoover (7:56.72) and Auburn (8:06.84).

Hoover’s Patrick McGregor outkicked Auburn’s Patrick Gomez to win the 1,600 in 4:18.47, while teammates Antonio Gaylord and Ahmad Martin went 1-2 in the discus to take a 42-19 lead over Auburn in the team standings.

Opelika’s Quitaze Baker won the 400 in 48.06.  


5A: Spanish Fort’s boys took command of the meet early, getting a 1-2 finish from Brent Duke and Dalton Younge in the 400 (50.02/50.03), with teammate Garrett Schumacher finishing fourth (51.30).

The Toros also got a big win in the 4 X 800 meter relay, as Schumacher, Cole Jarman, Ben Redman and Brett Hanke hooked up to win in 8:18.54, and in the process take a 43-22 lead over valley after day one of the competition.

Scottsboro’s Tyler Hamlet broke his own state meet record in the javelin, winning the event with a toss of 194-4.

As for 5A girls, it was the same old story—St. Paul’s and Scottsboro were battling for the lead. St. Paul’s got a big win in the 1,600 from Margaret Harkness (5:16.96), but Scottsboro counter with wins by Shayne McCarver in the triple jump (38-9) and in the 4 X 800-meter relay. Still, St. Paul’s led Scottsboro 42-30.


4A: One of the most exciting happenings came in the boys’ javelin, where Childersburg’s Fabian Garrett broke the state meet record in the javelin, throwing 183-7. In fact, the second and third place finishers, Opp’s Gavin Frey (177-6 ½) and UMS-Wright’s Ty Johnson (174-3) broke the record as well.

Speaking of UMS-Wright, it took a 69.50 to 25 lead over Lincoln, thanks to Robert Willett winning the 400 in 50.41 and the 1600 in 4:35.40. The Bulldogs also won the 4 X 800 meter relay in 8:38.50.

In the girls’ competition, UMS-Wright started things off with a 1-2-3 finish in the 1,600 by Claire Kennedy (5:32.90), Kristen Lazarchick (5:39.23) and Kathryn Lazarchick (5:41.07). Moments later, those three, along with Lauren Cave, set a new state meet record in the 4 X 800 meter relay with a time of 10:05.07.

That was more than enough to give the Bulldogs a commanding 70.75 to 40.75 lead over Alabama Christian with five events scored.


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