After canceled meets due to weather, the Putnam County High School War Eagles track and field team was happy to finally get its season underway on March 7, with a meet in Greene County.
The boys’ 4x100 went to Putnam’s Alan Hill, DJ Bland, Sharrod White, and Jermaine Nelson with an unofficial 42.7-second run. Alyssa Pennington won the 1,600-meter and 3,200-meter runs and the Lady Eagles also scored victories in both the 4x100 and the 4x400 relays.
“Coach Jones and I are excited about the season. We are both new to Putnam and love the work ethics of these young men and women,” T&F head coach James Ignoffo said. “It matches well with our knowledge base of running. It allows us to focus on the technical side of the sport.”
Ignoffo added that the team has a lot of young runners but credited their middle-school experience for preparing them for the added challenges of high school competition.
“For the few seniors we have, we are already getting colleges looking at our runners,” Ignoffo said. “Jermaine (Nelson) just picked up his first (college) offer.”
On March 18, the War Eagles attended the Cedar Shoals Loch Johnson Invitational, which involved nine schools with more than 250 competitors competing.
Nelson had another strong showing, both as an individual and on the 4X100 relay team, finishing first in the 200-meter dash in 23:04, third in the 100-meter (11:29) and second with the relay team at 43:55, missing first place by just .05 seconds. The Putnam boys finished out the day with top-10 finishes recorded by DJ Bland in 200 meters (7th); Brandon Brown in 400 meters (9th); and the relay teams took sixth in 4X400 and eighth in 4X200.
In the field events, the Eagles had Bland finishing fourth in long jump, with Zacoree Wallace sixth in discus throwing.
Meanwhile, the Lady Eagles traveled to Athens with winning on their minds as well. Top-10 finishes and personal bests were accomplished on the track as Alexandria Morris was sixth and Baylen Yarbrough seventh in the 100-meter dash. Yarbrough also took fifth in the 200-meter, while freshman Alyssa Pennington placed fifth in the 1600-meter and second in the 3200-meter races. The Lady Eagles’ relay teams took fourth in 4X100 and sixth in 4X200, while Grant took 10th in discus and Halana Griffen was seventh in long jump.
Next for PCHS was a 13-team meet on March 23, at Jackson High School, which resulted in a fourth-place overall team finish.
Halana Griffin was first in the triple jump and fourth in the long jump, while on the boys’ side Bland placed second in the long jump and Keyni Crawford was second in the high jump. The War Eagles also had top-10 athletes on both sides in the discus and shot put.
When the War Eagles distance runners took the track, Pennington led the way with another first-place finish in the 3200-meter race and placed a strong third in the 1600-meter race. In the 4X100 relays, the Putnam boys placed second and the girls’ crew finished fourth. The 4X400 saw the boys take third place, while the Lady Eagles were first.
Hurdler Brayon Farley finished a strong fourth in 110-meter hurdles, while in the 100-meter sprint, Alan Hill was third with Jermaine Nelson right behind him in fourth place. For the girls’ 100, Alexandria Morris was fourth and Valencia Williams finished ninth. In the 200-meter race, Yarbrough and Bland both took fourth. In the 400 meters, Bernicia Harris was fourth and Brandon Brown placed fifth.
The Eagle will be back in action this Friday, joining eight other teams in Baldwin County.