Fifteen From DCHS Qualify for Sectionals Track and Field Meet
By EDDY GIFFORD
Sports Writer
Photo courtesy of Rusty Cooper – The Wolverine track teams had an outstanding region meet last week qualifying fifteen for the upcoming sectional meet. Looking for great things from the Wolverine boys and girls advancing to sectional.
The Dade County High School Wolverine track teams competed in the Region 7-DA1 track meet Monday, April 24 and Tuesday, April 25. The Wolverine boys’ team finished third in region while the girls finished sixth.
Coach Steve Green had this to say about the Wolverine track teams performance: “As a coach, I was incredibly proud of our team. In my 18 years of coaching track and field, I’ve never had a collective team of kids show up for region competition so admirably. Last year, our boys’ team lost to Pepperell by 72 points and finished fifth. This season, we cut it to 20 points and finished third.
“In conversations with alumni and other students, I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a team that’s had this strong of a season, especially since we are in a very difficult region that includes Darlington. The body of work is due to an excellent coaching staff and some dedicated kids and parents.
“I’ve loved this season, but we aren’t finished yet. Our goal now is to get as many of our 15 sectional qualifiers to the state meet as we can. I think we’ve shown that Dade track can be a successful sport in this county.”
Those 15 sectional qualifiers and their events are:
Boys: Ian Byrd – pole vault; Braylon Sullivan – long jump/triple jump; Waylon McDill – high jump/4×800; Daniel Goff – 4×800; Tanner Miller – 4×800; Rock Chaney – 4×800; Brody Cooper – 4×200/110 hurdles/300 hurdles/4×400; Solomon Doe – 4×200; Tristan Hendrix – 4×200; Jace Anderson – 4×200/110 hurdles/300 hurdles.
Girls: Kiera Hughes – 4×800; Emma Vandergriff – 4×800; Emma Stinnett – 4×800; Savannah Wolfe – pole vault/4×800; Raegan Page – pole vault.
The Wolverines broke six school records during the two-day meet. Those records were set by Braylon Sullivan – long jump (20’9-1/2”); Daniel Goff – 800M (2:07); Savannah Wolfe – 110H (19.84); Kiera Hughes, Emma Vandergriff, Savannah Wolfe, Emma Stinnett – 4×800 relay (14:11); and Brody Cooper, Jace Anderson, Solomon Doe, Tristan Hendrix – 4×200 relay (1:39.17) and the 4×400 Relay (3:47).
Some of the outstanding performances during the region meet were Raegan Page winning the region championship in the pole vault, Savannah Wolfe finishing third in the pole vault; the 4×100 relay team of Kiera Hughes, Kendyl Phillips, Savannah Wolfe and Madi Page taking fourth place; the 4×800 relay team of Kiera Hughes, Emma Vandergriff, Emma Stinnett, and Savannah Wolfe taking fourth place.
For the boys, Braylon Sullivan was region champion in the long jump; Brody Cooper took second in the 110 hurdles; Jace Anderson took second in the 300 hurdles; Waylon McDill was third in the high jump; Ian Byrd took second in both the pole vault and the discus; the relay team of Brody Cooper, Jace Anderson, Solomon Die and Tristan Hendrix took third in the 4×200; and Tanner Miller, Rock Chaney, Waylon McDill, and Daniel Goff took third in the 4×800 relay.
The boys’ team took third place in region behind Darlington and Pepperell.
It was an outstanding performance by both the boys and girl’s teams, and good luck to the 15 sectional qualifiers this week.