ALBANY — Bulloch Academy senior Taylor Collins scored 21 points in three events in the GISA Class AAA state track and field championships at Hugh Mills Stadium Friday.
Collins was the state runner-up in the discus, tied for second place in the high jump and took third in the shot put to help the Lady Gators tally 53 points on the second day of the meet.
    Bulloch is in a second-place tie with Deerfield-Windsor of Macon. Longtime BA nemesis Trinity Christian School from Dublin leads with 66 points.
    “I had set my expectations pretty high coming in,” she said. “I did better than expected in two events and not as good in another. Overall, it was a good day. We did really well.”
    The senior who recently signed an athletic scholarship to play softball with Furman University tied at 4-10 with junior teammate Anna Newton in the high jump. Collins threw her personal best of 109-11 to take second in the discus and heaved the shot 33-4 1/2 feet to win third in the shot.
    Freshman Ashley Burke, who won the state championship in the 1600m run Thursday, turned in a truly gutsy performance to take second in the 800m run. After the first lap, she was a surprising sixth in the field of 16. On the gun lap, she made her move after the turn and moved up to third. On the final turn, she pulled into second and held off two challengers in the final 20 meters for second place. Burke’s time was 2:27.78.
    Classmate Pate Lomax was sixth in the long jump (15-3), junior Marianna Peebles took sixth in the pole vault (8-0) and sophomore Danielle Atkinson was eighth in the pole vault (7-0).
    Collins, the senior leader of the Lady Gators, feels that Bulloch has a good shot at the title.
    “Everyone on the team knows what is expected of them,” said Collins. “Each freshman wants to win the title as bad as any senior does. We have a lot of heart. It would be a great accomplishment to beat Trinity and win the state championship.”
    In the boys’ meet Friday, senior Jaylen Evans was the lone Gator to score any points, finishing second in the long jump with a leap of 20-3 1/4.
    The Gator guys are back in the pack with just eight points. Stratford Academy of Macon leads the meet with 80.5 points, Trinity Christian is second with 36 and Deerfield-Windsor of Macon is third with 32.5.
    But head coach Ronnie Hodges is counting on a big day today in the 10 running event finals.
    Both 4x400-meter relay teams qualified, turning in great times. The foursome of juniors Temba Twala, Forrest Spence, Bailey Smith and Harrison Averitt won their heat in dramatic fashion, posting a 3:34.10. The number two team of Evans, sophomores Matt Sheppard, Daniel Hendrix and freshman Aaron Best clocked a 3:37.30.
     In the other finals today, Spence is a favorite in the 110m hurdles (17.80) and the 300m hurdles (43.37). Averitt can win the title in the 400m dash(52.29). Evans will battle in the 100m dash (11.35). The 4x100m relay team of Averitt, Evans, Sheppard and Best (45.06) will try to pull down quality points.
    For the girls, Burke and classmate Heather Jacobs compete in the 3200m run at 9 a.m. Newton and classmate Mary Margaret Reeves will try to go one and two in the 400m dash. Newton clocked a 1:01.58 in qualifying while Reeves had a 1:03.66. The 4x100m relay team of Newton, Reeves, Collins and Lomax (53.08) will also try to score quality points. The 4x400m relay team of Collins, Lomax, Reeves and Newton qualified for today’s final with their best time (4:16.6) of the season.
    In the Class A meet, the girls of Westwood School of Camilla have a gigantic lead with 103.5 points while Randolph Southern (Shellman) is second with 49.5 and Thomas Jefferson (Louisville) is third with 48. The Thomas Jefferson boys are first with 104 points, Westwood is second (86) and Memorial Day School of Savannah is third (27).
    In the Class AA meet, the Gatewood girls of Eatonton are first with 86 points, followed by Brentwood School of Sandersville (60) and Heritage School of Newnan (34). The Brentwood boys are first (50), Central Fellowship of Macon is second (47) and Frederica Academy of St. Simons Island is third (35).
    There have been three state records set. Eli Sumner of Tiftarea set the Class AAA record in the pole vault (15-1), Ragan Madison of Randolph Southern threw the discus 112-06 for a new Class A state benchmark and Sarah Howard of Trinity Christian School tossed the shot  51-6 ¾ for a new mark to beat. Howard, who has signed an athletic scholarship with North Carolina, also equaled her 2011 record of 147-11 in the discus.