STAFF REPORT
The Cartersville and Woodland high school track and field teams didn’t have to go very far for their first meet of the year, as they participated in the seven-school Purple Hurricane Invitational Saturday at Weinman Stadium.
The Woodland girls eked out a team win, scoring 174 points to Rome’s 173, while the Woodland boys placed second to Rome.
As for Cartersville, the boys placed third while the girls placed fifth.
Woodland long distance runners competed the week before in the Marietta Distance Carnival, but this was the first full-team event for the Wildcats. Coming off a state championship in the fall, the Lady Wildcat cross country runners stole the show.
In the girls 3200, Woodland took the top three spots, led by McKenna Trapheagen’s 11:05 time, Tess Cochran placing second at 11:54 and Rylee Evans finishing third with a time of 11:58.
The Woodland girls repeated their 1-2-3 finish in the 1600 and 800. In the 1600, Carli Clymer took first with a time of 5:30, Cochran followed in at 5:41 and Baylee Evans came in close behind at 5:45. Trapheagen also won the 800 with a time of 2:24, with Clymer in second at 2:29 and Baylee Evans in third at 2:33.
The Woodland girls also combined to win the 4×400 relay with a time of 4:25.
Other notable performances by the Woodland girls included Grace Webb taking a break from her role on the soccer team to win the high jump with a height of 5 feet, 2 inches; Bella Carnes finishing second in the 400 with a time of 1:03; and Jasmine Hill taking second in the long jump with a distance of 15 feet, 4.5 inches.
Besides the Woodland distance runners, Cartersville and Woodland had strong showings in another event Bartow County is typically strong in, the pole vault. For the boys, Woodland’s Jimmy Davis won with a height of 12 feet, 6 inches. Cartersville’s Nick Bebko took second at 11 feet, 6 inches. Woodland’s Tommy Duke rounded out the top three with a height of 11 feet. All in all, Cartersville and Woodland took six of the top seven spots in the boys pole vault.
The top performer for Cartersville on the day was Jacksonville State commit London Shaw, who won the girls shot put with a distance of 37 feet, 7 inches, and placed second in the discus throw with a distance of 109 feet, 11 inches.
The top finish for the Cartersville boys in the track events was Bill Archer’s second-place result in the 1600 with a time of 4:58. Archer also placed second in the 800 with a time of 2:11.
For the Woodland boys, Markal Brown had himself a day. He won the long jump with a distance of 21 feet; won the 200 with a time of 23:29, followed closely by teammate Jaylen Ballard; and Brown also placed second in the 400 at 54.35, followed closely by teammate Zach Avery in third.
In the boys distance events, John Shropshire had the top finish, winning the 800 with a time of 2:07. Aaron Carlson also had a strong result for the Wildcats in the field events as he took second in the discuss throw with a distance of 114 feet, 5 inches.
Woodland will have another meet at McEachern today, while Cartersville has a meet at Rome on Saturday.
