Gilmer High will be represented in 11 events at Saturday’s sectional track meet.
The GHS Bobcats and Lady Cats earned their selectional spots at last week’s Region 7-3A meet in Cleveland.
A top four placement was needed to advance to sectionals, and seven GHS athletes accomplished the feat, which included a pair of region champions.
As a team, the Lady Cats finished third in the girls standings while the Bobcats were fifth on the boys side.
“Overall, we did the absolute best we could do given the number that we brought into region,” head coach Josh Snider said. “All of our kids rose to the occasion. Some people had their best day, some had a good day, but everyone gave their best effort.”
GHS region champions included Lady Cats Taylor McCormick and Reagan Boling.
McCormick was the top high jumper in attendance and cleared 5’ 4”. She won with two inches to spare over Maci Shelnut of White County.
Boling’s 400-meter time of 1:01.36 gave her the edge ahead of White County’s Lily Gearing in 1:01.52. Boling also placed second in the long jump (16’ 1/2”) and third in the 200 meters (27.36).
Lady Cat Naomi Coombs qualified in multiple events as well. She secured a runner-up finish in the 800 meters in 2:28.71 and placed fourth in the 1,600 at 5:49.11.
Emily Hancock marked the Cats’ fourth sectional qualifier. She garnered another spot near the top when she landed in second place in the 300-meter hurdles in 50.94, which was less than a second behind Gearing. Hancock topped out at 8’ for third in the pole vault.
The four aforementioned Lady Cats also made up the 4x400 relay team that crossed the finish line in 4:17.71 for second place.
Three Bobcats punched their ticket to sectionals. Will Kiker was a runner-up in the pole vault at 12’ 6”, and teammate Aspen Hataway took fourth with a mark of 10’. Bobcat Carson Hughes clocked in at 17.84 in the 110-meter hurdles for fourth place, and his season will continue Saturday.
GHS secured fifth place in five events at region and those athletes will serve as sectional alternates. They include Coombs, 400 meters (1:02.17); Hancock, 100 hurdles (18.24); Carson Purvis, 800 meters (2:04.40) and 1,600 meters (4:58.85) and Logan Ellis, discus (110’ 4”).
Also serving as sectional alternates are the 4x400 relay team of Michael Little, Andrew Mooney, Cole Ellis and Purvis who posted a time of 3:43.46. The 4x800 relay team finished fifth as well in 9:55.44 and included Damian Pratt, Zachary Bobak, John Nix and Dylan Byrd.
GHS athletes achieved 12 more placements that were not high enough to qualify for sectionals but did score team points.
Finishing sixth were John Keener, 1,600 meters (5:03.37) and Byrd, 3,200 (10:54.24). Seventh-place finishers included Cole Ellis, 100 meters (11.88) and Mooney, 400 meters (55.48).
Jocelyn Birko finished sixth in the shot put (29’ 2”) and eighth in the discus (87’ 7”), while McCormick placed seventh in the 300 hurdles (53.97) and eighth in the 100 hurdles (19.89).
Remaining eighth-place finishers included Sierra Ellis, 200 meters (28.88); Little, 800 meters (2:11.48); Byrd, 1,600 (5:04.46) and Luke Bryant, discus (102’ 9”).
Region point scorers in relays included the 4x800 team of Daniela Montes, Ashley Spagnola, Yesica Tercero and Amaila Perez in sixth place (9:55.44). The team of Kaitlyn Grice, Montes, Birko and Spagnola took seventh (57.36) in the 4x100.
The Bobcat 4x100 quartet of Little, Nix, Kiker and Cole Ellis clocked in at 46.87 for sixth.
White County captured the girls team title over Cherokee Bluff, 178-159, and the Lady Cats finished third with 89.5 points. White was the top boys team as well (169.5), North Hall was second (140.5) and Cherokee Bluff (102.5) rounded out the top three. The Bobcats finished fifth and topped out at 54 points.
Sectionals will be held Saturday at Lakewood Stadium beginning at 10:30 a.m. A top-eight placement is needed to qualify for state.
Snider noted that most sectional qualifiers are dealing with the bumps and bruises that come at this point of the season and discussed the week ahead.
“The plan is to have a little additional training early in the week so we can get down to the correct times in order to advance to state and place at state,” he said. “The latter part of the week will be about fine-tuning and keeping our legs fresh. Our biggest issue this week is battling the weather.”