GMC Prep earns pair of titles in Jefferson
GMC Prep earns pair of titles in Jefferson Steven Cary
The Union-Recorder https://unionrecorder.com/localsports/x319979004/GMC-Prep-earns-pair-of-titles-in-Jefferson MILLEDGEVILLE 鈥� Georgia Military Prep School did not disappoint, as the boy鈥檚 track team earned first place honors in two events during the Georgia High School Association鈥檚 Class-A Public School Division State Championships hosted in Jefferson Thursday through Saturday. Qualifying seven individuals in seven different events for the state meet, GMC Prep finished eighth overall with 28 points out of 29 teams represented on the weekend. 鈥淚t鈥檚 best the feeling in the world to see your kids work hard all season and then see it all pay off,鈥� Shawn Dennis, head coach, said. 鈥淛ust seeing their faces and seeing their smiles when they were on the podium, you can鈥檛 help but be happy for them.鈥� Competing in the long jump and triple jump on Thursday, Taylor Payne earned the Bulldogs their first individual event title taking first place in the long with a leap of 21 feet 1 陆 inches. 鈥淭hursday, Taylor Payne long jumped in the final of the field events, and he won obviously. I had an idea that he鈥檇 one, but I was anxious while he jumped,鈥� Dennis said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e excited for him; I know he鈥檚 wanted this for four years now. When Payne won the long jump, it kind of set everything in motion for us to do well.鈥� Also placing well individually was GMC Prep鈥檚 Will Archer in the 1600 meter run, as he broke the previous school record with a time of 4:59.66 for fifth place in the 16-person field. 鈥淗e beat his own school record,鈥� Dennis said. 鈥淗e ran his best race of the year, or ever.鈥� Archer continued to help pace the Bulldogs on Saturday with another fifth place performance in the 800 meter run, finishing with a time of 2:13.39. While teams competed in unfavorable conditions on Saturday, GMC Prep athletes opted to overcome the rainy weather to win yet another title in the 4×400 meter relay, which included Quatavius Brisco, Markel Jones, Malik Bradley and Payne. 鈥淓veryone who competed there competed well under the conditions. It rained the entire time we were there and it slowed, but it never stopped,鈥� Dennis said. 鈥淚 pretty much told them, 鈥榯his is an all-weather track, so it shouldn鈥檛 affect us.鈥� All they had to do was get out of the blocks, but as soon as they walk up to the starting line they know its game time.鈥� After a strong showing in Jefferson for the boys, Dennis now shifts gears to the girl鈥檚 team who will send eight participants in seven events to the girl鈥檚 GHSA Class-A Public School State Championships in Albany beginning on Thursday and continuing through Saturday. 鈥淚 think the girls, as a team, have a really good shot at being one of the top three, four, or five teams, based on the teams that qualified for state,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 excited for this weekend, to see how we do.鈥�
