At the AHSAA Class 2A state track meet in Troy last weekend, Piedmont had two state champions. Senior Shalitha (KeKe) Swain established a meet record in the shot put with a throw of 39 feet, .75 inches.
Junior Marquise Diamond won the 200-meter dash in 22.47 seconds.
Their performances helped the Bulldogs to a tie for third with Cold Springs in the boys division and a fourth place finish on the girls side. Both teams scored 49 points.
Track coach Fred Taylor said Swain’s throw “completely demolished the old record by about four feet.” He said he considered Swain’s record-setting effort a fitting way for her to close her high school career.
“The girls overall, I was very proud of them, “ Taylor noted.
He could not say the same about the boys.
Piedmont was 17 points behind second place Bayside Academy’s 66-point total. The Bulldogs’ 4 x 100 relay team, with by far the best qualifying time entering the state meet, dropped the baton on the first exchange in the preliminaries and 10 points fell by the wayside.
Taylor said Piedmont could have earned 10 points in the 4 x 400 relay rather than six if each runner had improved his time by just one second.
“There were some individuals that we just wish would maximize their ability,” Taylor said.
“Second was ours that we gave away. That’s the frustrating part about it because they deserved it.”
Individually, Swain added fourth place finishes in both the 100 and 200 dashes. Seventh-grader Breanna Thompson was sixth in the 200. Tivis Green, another seventh-grader, was sixth in the 800-meter run and eighth in the 1600-meter run. Alyson Nelson was fifth in the shot put and Heather Burton sixth in the discus.
Piedmont’s girls earned points in all three relays. The 4 x 100 team of Catherine Bates, Thompson, Taylor Ford and Swain ended third. Ellie New, Lauryn McCord, Maggie Love and Green combined for a third place in the 4 x 800 relay. The 4 x 400 relay team – Sarah Martin, Bates, Krista Smith and Ford – ended sixth.
In addition to winning the 200, Diamond was second in the 100-meter dash and D’Eric Jackson finished fifth. Taran Smith was seventh in the 400.
Quea Holloway, Derrick Jackson, Coulter Green and Swain turned in a third place effort in the 4 x 400 relay. Holloway, Derrick Jackson, Marcus Jackson and Justin Owens ended sixth in 4 x 800 relay.
In the field events, Diamond was fourth in the long jump and D’Eric Jackson fourth in the triple jump. In their first years on the track team, Wesley Minton ended fourth in the discus and Chase Childers eighth in the javelin. Cory Sears was ninth and Minton 10th in the shot put, just short of earning points.
“Throwing was non-existent for us last year,” Taylor said. “When he first came out for track, I’d never have thought Wesley Minton would have been about four inches away from placing third in the discus.”
Among Calhoun County schools, Piedmont finished ahead of No. 5 White Plains (46 points), No. 13 Ohatchee (14) and No. 26 Pleasant Valley (1) among the girls. In the boys meet, Pleasant Valley and White Plains tied for ninth with 24 points each.
