By CHRIS STANLEY
cstanley@statesboroherald.com

    Day one of the GHSA track and field championships went in the books, and two local athletes went home with state titles from the field events.
    CJ Wright, Screven County’s all-state fullback and heavyweight wrestler, won the 2A shot put and discus titles by significant margins. Despite falling 11 feet short of his qualifying throw from sectionals, Wright’s toss of 158 feet five inches was still good enough to win the state title by over six feet.
    Wright would similarly fall short of his qualifying throw in the shot put, but his 50 foot seven inch throw would still win the title by over two feet. None of it should come as much of a surprise considering Wright’s athletic resume this season. Wright was the only boy from the surrounding counties or Bulloch County who would take home a title.
    However, from the girls side one of Statesboro’s own would bring home a state title. Iyana McKeever destroyed her qualifying jump by nine and a half inches to win the 5A state title with a leap of 18 feet ten inches — just edging out her second place competition Kim Harris of Buford by two inches.
    Wright and McKeever stand as the first two title winners from the area with two more days to go. More field events and prelims are set today with running finals commencing Saturday. The rest of the results for the meet for the area schools came as follows:

Class A
Jenkins County
    — Taylor Hearn: 10th 3200m run (14:49:16)
    — Brandon Badie: 14th 1600m run (5:25:01)

Class AA
Screven County
    — Armani Bunbury: 13th Triple Jump (41’5.5’’)
    — Tyquan Johnson: 8th High Jump (6’2’’)
    — Katelyn Alvarez: 6th 3200m run (13:05:86)

Metter
    — Girls 4x400m relay (Ebany Simmons, Jillian Ferrell, Tamesha LaShay Johnson, Stacie Smith): 13th - Did not qualify for finals (4:26:99)
    — Ebany Simmons: 15th 800m run - Did not qualify for finals (2:42:10)
    — Daeshaun Scott: 14th Long Jump (18’10.5’’)

Class AAA
Southeast Bulloch
    — Emma Britt - 9th 100m Hurdles - Did not qualify for finals (16.40)
    — Barhon Carter - 10th Pole Vault (11’6’’)
    — Brandon Hill - DQ Discus (Fouled out)
    — Jalen Scott - 14th Shot Put (42’’6.75’’)

Class AAAAA
Statesboro
    — James Badger - 14th High Jump (5’10’’)
    — Noah Caplinger - 11th 1600m run (4:36:45)
    — Dayona Henry - 3rd Triple Jump (39’00’’)
    — Chasity McDuffie - 15th Discus (79’00’’)
    — Clayton Snyder - NH Pole Vault (Didn’t clear opening height)