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AMERICUS – The Sumter County High School track and field teams (SCHS) hosted the AME Quad 2 Meet on Wednesday, April 13 at Alton Shell Stadium. At that meet, both the Panthers and Lady Panthers, along with members of the Furlow Charter track and field teams turned in strong performances in preparation for the upcoming region meets.

In the team standings, the SCHS girls finished in first place with 209 points and the SCHS boys finished in second place with 167 points. The Furlow Charter girls finished in fifth place with 28 points and the FC boys finished in ninth place with 13.

“A lot of people got a lot of PRs (personal records) tonight,” SCHS Head Coach Shanika Dyson said. “Everybody did exceptionally well. We’re dealing with a lot of injuries right now with both boys and girls, but I’m looking for everybody to be healthy within the next week or two because we’ve got regions at the end of the month.” Dyson went on to say that she was particularly impressed with how the SCHS relay teams are performing of late compared to how they looked in the beginning of the season. “I’m really looking forward to see how we do in the relays and I’m looking forward to see how we do in the sprints,” Dyson said.

In girls’ action, SCHS sprinter Jakierra Pride finished second in the 200-Meter Dash in a time of 26.69 and finished in the 100-Meter Dash (12.57). Kamyra Waters finished second in the 400-Meter Dash for the Lady Panthers (1:14.97) and Karla Lizzarraga finished third in the Girls 800-Meter Run (3:24.00). In the Girls 100-Meter Hurdles, SCHS hurdler Jaiden Bridges won the event in a time of 20.72. and she finished in second place in the 300-Meter Hurdles (58.39). Bridges finished slightly behind her teammate, who won the 300-Meter Hurdles event in a time of 55.28.

The SCHS relay teams won all of the girls relay events: the 4×100 (51.66), 4×200 (1:59.09) and the 4×400-Meter Relay (5:37.00).

Furlow Charter (FC) had both male and female athletes competing in the distance events. In the Girls 3200-Meter Run, FC’s Maria Kilheffer won the event in a time of 14:23.00 and her teammate, Jacklyn Chen, finished second in a time of 17:04.00.

In boys’ action, SCHS sprinters Kenneth Pough and Lavaris Milledge finished in fourth and fifth place respectively in the Boys 110-Meter Hurdles. Pough crossed the finish line in a time of 11.12 and Milledge finished right behind him in a time of 11.56.

Mason Butts claimed the championship for the Panthers in the Boys 200-Meter Dash (22.63) and his teammate, Anthony Tyson, finished fifth in the event in a time of 23.40.

In the 400-Meter Dash, SCHS sprinter Justin Evans finished in third place in a time of 56.53 and his teammate, Latravis Angry, finished fourth in the 110-Meter Hurdles (17.18). In the Boys 4×100-Meter Relay, the Panthers were able to take second and third place and they took the same two spots in the 4×200-Meter Relay event. The Panthers also won both the 4×400-Meter Relay event (3:59.00) and the 4×800-Meter Relay (9:54.04).

In the Boys 300-Meter Hurdles, the Panthers took second and third place, as Kavon Lewis finished in second (44.37) and Tateilin Wright finished right behind him in a time of 45.77. Lavaris Milledge, who finished fourth in the 110-Meter Hurdles, finished in third place in the Boys Long Jump with a jump of 19-08.00. Milledge’s teammate, Caleb Josey-Durham, won the Boys Triple Jump as he jumped a distance of 42-09.50. Mason Butts, who finished in second place in the 200-Meter Dash, won the Boys High Jump event by jumping a height of 5-04.00.

The Panthers’ Dakaryn Hurley finished second in the Boys Shot Put (35-11.00).

In the boys’ distance events, SCHS runner Matthew Toms won the 800-Meter Run in a time of 2:24.00. Toms’ teammate, Javion Terry, finished in second place right behind him in a time of 2:26.00. “I thought for a moment that he (Terry) was going to beat me in a sprint-off, but somehow, I pulled it off,” Toms said. “Honestly, I feel proud. I feel like I could have done a little faster, but I didn’t, so yeah. I’m proud of myself.”

In the Boys 3200-Meter event, FC runner Edwin Gonzalez finished in second place in a time of 12:23.00. Gonzalez was about 11 seconds behind Brandon Fernandez of Marion County, who won the event in a time of 12:12.00. Gonzalez’s teammate, Edmund Chen, finished fourth in the event in a time of 15:53.00.

In this meet, there was what is called a “Throwers Relay”. This relay consisted of athletes who were not in any of the running events, but participated in the throwing events. The Panthers finished third in this event in a time of 1:01.00.