Both of Morgan County’s track and field teams recently competed in the Region 2-AA meet at Jackson High School, finishing in second place.
The two second-place finishes impressed head coach Kelan Fraise. He is eager to see what his athletes can accomplish at sectionals this week.
Morgan County is sending 21 boys and 19 girls to the Class 2A state sectional meet this week.
“The boys and girls did very well at the region meet,” Fraise said. “The whole staff is excited and proud.”
At the region meet, Pike County narrowly defeated Morgan County’s girls, scoring 189 points to claim the first-place trophy. The Lady Dogs finished with 181 points, falling just eight short of the Lady Pirates’ total.
However, the Morgan County girls had several top-tier performances.
They had several individual first-place finishes from Kymora Smith (long jump), Quinn Takacs (discus), Lila Catteron (100-meter hurdles), Javeria Gresham (100-meter dash), and Aziyah Robertson (200-meter dash).
Morgan County’s girls also had two relay teams bring home gold medals.
The 4x200-meter relay team of Nylaa Hodnett, Nariyah Burke, Gabrielle Massey, and Mary Faulkner secured first place. The 4x100-meter relay team of Gresham, Robertson, Smith, and Layla Veasley also finished first.
The Lady Dogs also had several individual athletes and relay teams that placed second.
Morgan County’s boys finished the region meet in second place with 141 points, trailing Jackson, which had 181.
The Dogs had one individual finish first, and it was Brody Jenkins (shot put). They also had only one relay team that placed first. The 4x200-meter relay team of Jamias White, Braxton Jones, Zeki Locus, and Dylan Smith finished in first place.
Several members of Morgan County’s boys team also finished in second place in their events.
Fraise has high expectations for his teams during this week’s sectional meet.
“We want to qualify as many as we can to state. We want everyone to make it to state,” he said. “From there, just go compete and be great. It’s nice to see boys and girls progressing as a unit. This is what it’s all about.”
Morgan County, from Region 2, will compete in the Class AA Sectional B meet alongside teams from Regions 3, 4, and 8 at East Jackson Comprehensive High School in Commerce later this week. Meanwhile, teams from Regions 1, 5, 6, and 7 will compete in the Class AA Sectional A meet, hosted by Miller Grove at Buck Godfrey Stadium in Decatur.
The Class 2A state track meet will take place at East Jackson from May 8-9.