The track team had their area meet on April 23, at Greater Atlanta Christian School. Last year, the boys varsity track team won the State Championship, so naturally the question is: How will the boys be able to pull off another Championship this year? Or better yet, how will they defend the State Championship? The boy’s team knows there will be a strong rivalry against other schools since they won last year. Even though track players run individually, the varsity boys strongly support their teammates by cheering them on in their events. At this year’s area meet, the boys proved that they are more than ready to defend their state title as they took home the gold for the area meet.
“We won the area through months of hard training and doing our best on the day, and we hope to carry that same energy into the state championship this year,” Junior runner Zach Kimani said.
The scoring is based on how well the athlete performs in their tailored event. The total score of all of the athletes is then added up to determine the team’s final score.
“Where you place is within the top eight of any race gives you points from one to ten. Therefore, you are just competing against the other teams as well against the other people,” senior Brock Ferguson said.
Ferguson runs cross country as well as track, and has a track scholarship to Augusta University this coming fall. Area meets push athletes to do well because it helps them for the next round. It was important for the boys to do well and continue to improve their times.
“The area track meet is a big deal because it decides who will qualify for sectionals,” sophomore runner Brooke Temple said.
Temple runs in more of the short distance events. Even though an area meet is not state, it leads the runners up to that moment. Each member of the track team has a special part in ensuring the team’s victory.
“The team part of the track is seen especially in the relays, where each member has to do their part to ensure the team’s victory,” Kimani said. “But even in individual events, you compete knowing that your team is counting for you because every person you beat adds to the tally of points for your team.”
Ferguson was able to do his part and help with the total team points for the overall score. It is important that even though these runners are competing individually they still run their best for their team since the score all adds up together.
“I made it to the sectionals in everything I participated in as well as getting two-second place metals in the mile and the two mile,” Ferguson said.
Here are some results from both the boys and girls team performances:
Seniors Emma Hunt and Will Land, junior Jayce Donaldson and sophomore Molly Ledbetter and Evie Shropshire each won two events.
Hunt and Ledbetter each were part of Darlington’s first-place girls 4×200- and 4×400-meter relays. They were joined in the 4×400 by Shropshire, who also won the 300-meter hurdles.
Also on the girls 4×200 was freshman Ivey Dunn and sophomore Callie Dempsey. Also on the girls 4×400 was junior Savannah Palmer.
Donaldson and Land were part of Darlington’s first-place boys 4×200 and 4×400. They were joined in the 4×200 by senior Sammy Kunczewski and sophomore Brooke Temple. Also on the 4×400 were junior Mac Walker and freshman Zaiden Simpson.
Senior Bo Brooks and junior Hayes Parsa were Darlington’s other two event winners at the area meet. Brooks won the boys shot put with a throw of 38 feet, 5½ inches that bested second place by more than an inch. Parsa won the boys 1,600 with a time of 4 minutes, 38.43 seconds, besting senior teammate Brock Ferguson by 0.28 seconds.
Seven Darlington athletes qualified for sectionals in four events, the most allowed: Dempsey (girls 100 dash, 200 dash, long jump, 4×200), Donaldson (boys 400, 4×100, 4×200, 4×400), Hunt (girls 400, 4×100, 4×200, 4×400), Ledbetter (girls 400, 4×100, 4×200, 4×400), Shropshire (girls 100 hurdles, 300 hurdles, 4×100, 4×400), Temple (boys 100 dash, 200 dash, 4×100, 4×200) and senior Olivia Wheat (girls 100 dash, 200 dash, pole vault, 4×100).