Last weekend’s AHSAA Class 2A Section 2 track meet at Wallace State in Hanceville was a showcase for Piedmont athletes. The Piedmont boys finished first and the Bulldog girls were second. Qualifying for the Class 2A state track meet at Troy University Friday and Saturday were 15 boys and 16 girls.
At Troy last year, the Piedmont boys team finished fourth overall. Coach Fred Taylor said Cold Springs, Falkville and Lanett – the teams that finished ahead of Piedmont in 2007 – are all strong again this year.
“If we have kids run the races of their lives this weekend we could get one of those two trophies,” Taylor predicted. “The big blue one (for first place) would be great.”
Taylor said a top five finish would be a strong effort by the girls team. At Hanceville, Piedmont’s girls finished second to American Christian Academy from Tuscaloosa.
“ACA is just tough,” said Taylor. “It will pretty much be a battle for everybody else to finish second to them at state. That’s not being pessimistic; that’s being realistic.”
At Hanceville, the Bulldog boys piled up more than 200 team points and were first in five events. Junior Marquise Diamond won both the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes. Senior D’Eric Jackson won the triple jump.
At last year’s state meet in Troy, Diamond won the 200 dash, was second in the 100 finished third in the long jump.
Piedmont also got victories from its 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 relay teams. In the 4 x 100 win, Chris Griffie ran the first leg followed by Tay Holloway, D’Eric Jackson and Marquise Diamond. Quea Holloway opened the 4 x 400. Derrick Jackson had the second leg, Coulter Green the third and Taran Swain sealed the win.
In the 4 x 800 relay Piedmont finished second. Quea Holloway, Derrick Jackson, Justin Owens and Marcus Jackson made up the 4 x 800 team.
Four Piedmont athletes qualified in four events. In addition to his three sprints, Diamond qualified in the long jump – finishing third. D’Eric Jackson was second to Diamond in the 100 and second in the long jump. Griffie was third in the 110-meter hurdles and also qualified in the 300-meter hurdles and the high jump. Quea Holloway qualified in the 400-meter and 800-meter runs in addition to running legs on two relay teams.
Four more were three-time qualifiers. Owens was second in both the 1600-meter and 3200-meter races. Derrick Jackson finished second in the triple jump to his older brother D’Eric and qualified three times. Tay Holloway finished second in the 200-meter dash and fourth in the 100 dash. Marcus Jackson also qualified in the 1600 and 3200.
Kirk Pope qualified in the 110 and 300 hurdles and Taran Swain qualified in the 400-meter run in addition to his leg on the winning 4 x 400 relay team. Jacob Prince qualified in the 110 hurdles.
In other field events, Wesley Minton was third and Cory Sears fourth in the shot put. Minton also qualified in the discus. In his first season of track, sophomore Chase Childers was third in the javelin. Green also qualified in the triple jump in addition to his work in the 4 x 400 relay.
Senior Shalitha (KeKe) Swain won three times in the girls meet. Swain was first in the 100-meter dash and the shot put and ran the final leg on Piedmont’s victorious 4 x 100 relay team. She also finished second in the 200-meter dash.
Swain won the shot, was second in the 200dash and third in the 100 dash in last year’s state competition.
In the finals of the 4 x 100, senior Catherine Bates ran the opening leg. Seventh-grader Breanna Thompson ran the second leg and junior Taylor Ford the third. Bates replaced Jeleca Johnson who had run the first leg in the preliminaries before injuring an ankle. Her coach said Johnson would receive treatment for the injury yesterday and today before a final decision was made on her status.
Thompson finished second in the long jump, third in the 100 dash and third in the 200 to join Swain as a four-event qualifier for the girls.
Piedmont finished second in the girls 4 x 800 relay. Seventh-grader Tivis Green opened the race. Maggie Love, Lauryn McCord and Ellie New followed. Green was third in the 800-meter run and fourth in the 1600-meter run. McCord also qualified in the 300-meter hurdles and New qualified in the 3200-meter run.
The Bulldogs’ 4 x 400 relay – Marquia Diamond, Taylor Ford, Sarah Martin, Krista Smith – qualified.
In the field events, Alyson Nelson was fourth in the shot put. Heather Burton qualified in the shot and the discus. Paige Smith qualified in the discus. Bates also qualified in the high jump and Marquia Diamond in the long jump. Niesha Burroughs qualified in the triple jump.
