The Gatewood Gators boys’ and girls’ track-and-field teams got off to a good start in the first week of the season and both looked to continue their success this past Wednesday as they hosted Brentwood, Trinity Christian, Briarwood, John Hancock and Twiggs Academy.
In the field portion of the events, Gatewood’s Evan Bennett finished second in the shot put with a throw of 43-2.25, while Noah Bennett placed sixth. In the discus, DeMarian Maddox threw 78-5 to also place sixth.
In the boys’ long jump, Jayden Daniel leaped 18-4 to place fourth, then went 35-5.5 in the boys’ triple jump for a third-place finish, while Lake Ferman jumped 33-10 to come in fourth.
The boys’ pole vault victory went to Gatewood’s Dakota Davis after he cleared an 8-6 jump, while Blake Callaway cleared 5-10 to take home first place in the high jump for the Gators.
In the boys’ 110-meter hurdles, Blake Callaway finished second with a time of 16.40, followed by a runner-up result in the boys’ 300-meter hurdles with a time of 43.35 seconds.
In the boys' 100-meter dash, Jackson Hewatt finished in 11.52 to finish second, with Johnson third at 12.03 seconds. The 400-meter dash saw the Gators’ Jackson Lundy finish in 54.94 to take home first place, while Kaden Keiser finished with a time of 56.31 to come in second, which gave Gatewood its first one-two finish for the day.
In the 1600-meter race, Jake Ferguson finished in 5.37 to come in third place as the lone Gator competing in the event. Meanwhile, Luke McNeil finished fourth in the 800-meter with a time of 2.26.26, while teammate John Van DePlanque was sixth.
Gatewood finished second in the boys’ 4x100 meter relay with a time of 45.16, and in the 4x400 meter relay Gatewood runners finished first in 3:47 and fourth in 4:12. The 4x800 meter relay saw Gatewood again finish first with a time of 9:49.
In the final toll, the Gatewood boys team placed second overall, trailing only event-winner Brentwood.
In the Gator girls’ field events, senior Madison Hevesy threw a 67-8 in the discus event to finish sixth, while Lexie Moss jumped 14-4 to place fourth in the girls’ long jump and London Darden jumped 14-3.5 to come in fifth. Hevesy later made it 31-0.5 to finish third in the girls’ triple jump place.
In the girls’ 100-meter hurdles, Anna Williamson finished third with a time of 17.19, then placed third again in the girls’ 300-meter hurdles, right behind Hevesy, who posted 52.10 to finish second.
The girls’ 100-meter dash saw Gatewood’s Natalie Sills finish with a time of 13.12 to come in second place while Presley Moss was fourth. For the girls’ 200-meter race, Hevesy ran 28.09 to place third while Sills ran 28.99 to place fourth. Moss improved to third in the girls’ 400-meter dash, followed by Ellie McMillan in fifth.
The girls’ 800-meter had Ansleigh Hillin finishing with a time of 3:01 in third, but she won the 1600-meter event with a time of 6:39.
In the girls’ 4x100, Gatewood’s Team 2 took second place with a time of 55.78 and Team 2 won the 4x400 meter race in 4:41.
The Gatewood track-and-field team will be back at it starting at 3:30 p.m. this Wednesday, March 22 (after newspaper deadline time), when they will host Trinity Christian, Augusta Prep, and George Walton from class 4A GIAA, and again at 3:30 p.m. on March 29, at the Gatewood campus in Eatonton.