The 2024 GHSA Track and Field state championships are back for three days of historic action that will take place from May 9-11 at Hugh Mills Stadium (3A & 4A), East Jackson High School (A-DII & 2A), Carrollton (7A, 5A & Adapted) and Barron Stadium (A-DI & 6A). In Class 7A, Westlake is returning to state after sweeping the boys and girls state titles this past year for the first time since 2017. The boys were fueled by top finishes in the 4×100 relay, 400-meter dash and 4×100 relay and earned 60 points to top Walton and Buford—who each finished tied for second with 46 points. The Lady Lions topped 2018 state champion Marietta and won their seventh all-time state title in the process. Westlake’s 73.33 points narrowly topped Marietta’s 70 and Brookwood’s 62. In Class 6A, Hughes made history on the boys side by winning its first-ever state title and Woodward Academy captured the girls crown for its fourth all-time title and second since 2021. The War Eagles were fueled by top finishes in the 4×100 and 4×200 relay but will have to replace 2022-23 Gatorade Player of the Year and hurdle specialist Olivia Powell—who is now competing for Ohio State. Powell left Woodward Academy as a two-time Georgia Team State Champion and is No. 2 all-time in the 300 meter hurdles and No. 6 all-time in the 100 meter hurdles in state history. Powell won individual titles last year in the 100 and 300 hurdles and was also a state champion on Woodward’s 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams. This year, Madison Gardner, Taylor Gullatte, Sydney Glee and Chelsea Williams will anchor the 4×100 relay team for Woodward.
CLASH OF CHAMPIONS
Region rivals Greater Atlanta Christian and Cambridge headline the girls Class 5A field. Greater Atlanta Christian and Cambridge finished first and second place, respectively on the girls side last year. The Spartans finished with 61 points and Cambridge tallied 54.50 for the runner-up total. These two state championship hopefuls squared off in the Region 6-5A championships last month and finished in a tie for first place with 146 points each. On the boys side, Dutchtown is coming off a dominant 48-point win (99-51) over runner-up Tucker last year for its second all-time title. That margin was the widest among all boys classifications, but this year the Bulldogs will have new talent replacing Nasia Lee—who cruised to victories in both hurdle events last year as a senior.
The Southwest DeKalb boys face a challenging Class 4A field as they compete for a third-straight boys state title and the Westminster girls are also aiming for a three-peat this year. The Panthers narrowly defeated Starr’s Mill (77.50) and Westminster (72.50) with 81 points last year and have graduated twin brothers Xzavier and Isaiah Taylor. On the girls side, Westminster dominated last year with 124 points to eclipse Druid Hills (64) and Pace Academy (54) and return Grace Smith—who left last year’s championship meet with the most points out of any athlete in the state. Smith broke her own school-record in the long jump last week with a 20’1.75” and is among the top jumpers in the nation.
HISTORIC ACHIEVEMENTS
In Class 3A, the Sandy Creek girls won their first-ever state title and allowed the Patriots to sweep for the first-time in history as the boys picked up their fourth all-time championship and first since 2015 last year. Class 2A saw Athens Academy win its first-ever boys state title, while Landmark Christian captured its ninth state crown. The Mt. Pisgah boys took Class A-Division I for their first-ever championship and Athens Christian won its fourth all-time boys championship. Class A-Division II was swept by Montgomery County as the boys won a third all-time title and the Lady Eagles captured their first in program history.
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