Three points.
The Bulloch Academy girls’ track team missed winning the GISA Region 4-AAA track and field championship by a mere three points Wednesday at Augusta Preparatory School in Martinez.
Trinity Christian School of Dublin netted 180 points to win the title while the Lady Gators tallied 177 to bring home the runner-up trophy in the six-team meet. The Trinity boys took home the region title, scoring 154 points. John Milledge Academy from Milledgeville was the region runner-up with 124 points. The Bulloch boys finished third, missing the runner-up trophy by just a single point (123).
"There were some things which were not in our control," said BA head coach Barbara Conner. "It started raining at the end of the first event (3200m run) in the morning and was rainy and cold the entire day. Conditions on some events were the worst I’ve seen them in several years."
The top four finishers in each event advance to next week’s GISA Class AAA state meet at Hugh Mills Stadium in Albany. The Lady Gators will have 20 entries and the Gator guys will have 14 entries.
While Conner saw opportunities where the BA girls could have scored those few extra points, she pointed out the fact that without the heart and desire of one young lady, the Lady Gators wouldn’t have even made a run at the title.
"Pate Lomax was sick for two days before the meet and didn’t ride the bus that morning," she said. "Her mother drove her to Augusta. If Pate hadn’t pushed herself to compete, we would not have even been in contention for first place."
Lomax took second in the long jump (14-6), missing first by one-quarter of an inch, ran a leg on the second-place 4x100-meter relay team and pulled points in the 1600m and 800m runs.
"For a freshman to show that kind of dedication to her team is awesome ," said Conner.
Ashley Burke, also a freshman, won the 3200m (12:28), the 1600m run (5:36), ran a leg on the second-place 4x400m relay team (3:40.29) and was fourth in the 800m.
"In the 1600m run, she is only eight seconds off the school record," said Conner.
The only other region champion was junior Anna Newton , who won the high jump (4-10). Newton also had second-place finishes in the 400m dash and ran legs on the second-place 4x100 and 4x400m relay teams.
Other top finishers were Taylor Collins (high jump, 2nd; 4x100, 2nd; 4x400, 2nd; shot put, 3rd, discus, 3rd), Marianna Peebles (pole vault, 2nd; long jump, 3rd), Danielle Atkinson (pole vault, 3rd; 4x400, 2nd), Heather Jacobs (3200m, 4th; 4x400, 4th, ), Haley Burke (triple jump, 3rd; 4x400, 4th), Page Spence (100m, 2nd; 4x400, 4th) and Mary Margaret Reeves (4x100, 2nd; 4x400, 2nd; 400m, 3rd; 100m, 4th).
Harrison Averitt and Forrest Spence notched first-place victories to lead the Gator guys.
"You could tell from the start that they were out to win region championships," said Conner.
Averitt, a junior, took the 400m (53.41) while Spence, a sophomore, won the 300m hurdles (43.87). Averitt ran legs on the second-place 4x400m and third-place 4x100 teams. Spence was on the second-place 4x4, team, took third in the 110m hurdles and ran a leg on the fourth-place 4x100 team.
Other top finishers were Jaylen Evans (100m dash, 2nd; long jump, 2nd; 4x4, 2nd; 4x1, 3rd), Daniel Hendrix (pole vault, 2nd; 4x1, 3rd; 4x4, 3rd), Matthew Collins (discus, 4th) and Bailey Smith (400m, 4th; 4x4, 2nd), Matt Sheppard (200m, 2nd; 4x1 3rd; 4x4, 3rd), Aaron Best (4x1, 3rd; 4x4, 3rd), Themba Twala (4x4, 3rd; 4x1, 4th).
