Gatewood track-and-field recently wrapped up a successful regular season and is preparing for the region meet.
The boys’ team won its last home meet on April 3, while the Gatewood girls’ squad placed third overall. The Gators and Lady Gators are now both training during spring break before the region meet on April 17 at Augusta Prep.
Gatewood coach Jeff Ratliff is proud of his athletes for putting the time and effort in on spring break to stay in shape.
“They’ve put the time in,” Ratliff said. “We’ve been piecing together stuff Monday through Friday this year with our meets in the midde of the week and have been preparing hard this season for the region meet.”
The long-time head coach has seen his runners, throwers, and jumpers make significant strides. He said they’ve been committed to getting better and improving their personal bests as the season progresses this spring.
“What you’ve got in this sport, though, is that you have to have some talent.
And you also have to have some commitment,” Ratliff added. “If you can put those two things together, you usually can have a pretty good track team if you have the numbers. And fortunately, we have some numbers. That’s a good thing for us.”
For the boys’ team, athletes such as Blake Callaway, Jackson Lundy, Blake Daniel Kaden Keiser, Landon Moreno, Jackson Hewatt, and others have shined. The Gators are looking to repeat as region champs next week.
Their biggest competition is Brentwood Academy, Robert Toombs Christian, and Trinity Christian. They will need every single athlete to step up in case they want to repeat as region champions next week in Augusta.
“We’ve had a good regular season, but it is nothing more than ‘glorified practices’ for the region and state meet,” Ratliff said. “We need to come back from spring break focused and determined to have a great region meet.”
The girls are s looking to win their first region title since 2016. The Lady Gators have had athletes such as Natalie Sills, Carly Cannon, Lexi Moss, London Darden, Maddie Capps, and a few others perform well this year.
Their biggest competition in the region this year has been Brentwood and Edmund Burke Academy. They have faced both teams already this season but need to have a stellar day to bring home a first-place finish.
Ratliff acknowledged the rich history of the Gatewood girls’ program and wants to help it return to Eatonton with a region championship. Ratliff feels confident that he has the correct group to win the gold trophy.
“Gatewood’s girls won the state meet many times with a few different coaches,” he said. “We’ve always had good programs, but the biggest thing this year is that I have a nucleus of several girls who are all in on track.”
Gatewood will send two athletes to compete in each event at the region meet. In Augusta, the top four from each event will move on to the state meet, which will take place at Brookstone in Columbus from April 25-27.
Ratliff is ready to see his athletes shine on the biggest stage and for their hard work to pay off.
“Spring break doesn’t come at the best time during the season, but, a week off will help us,” Ratliff said. “I know my girls and guys will do some running to stay in shape, but hopefully it is a good week to heal up, too.”