HCMS dominates West Georgia Middle School Track Championships

The 2019 West Georgia Small Middle School Track and Field Champion Heard County Braves and Lady Braves with coaches after Friday night’s huge Championship wins

(Franklin, GA) — The Heard County Middle School track and field team dominated the field in both the boys and girls divisions to bring home first place trophies in the small school division of the West Georgia Middle School Athletic Conference finals held at HCMS on Friday, April 12.

The Braves boys team scored an awesome 227 points to claim a second straight title and easily bested second place Villa Rica who finished with 167 points. Bowdon Middle (67), Mt. Zion Middle (61), and Temple Middle (40) rounded out the top five.

The Lady Braves earned 186 points to outlast second place Temple Middle who finished strong with 141 points. Rounding out the top five girls’ teams were Villa Rica (116), Bowdon (62), and Mt. Zion (61).

Leading the way for the Braves at the finals were Gavin Barlow, Eli Lawson, and Dylan “Little Kountry” Stephens.

Barlow established a new HCMS school record in the 100 Meter Dash with a time off 11.91 to take first place in that event and he also shined at several other individual events including a first place finish in the 200M, and second place finishes in both the High Jump and Long Jump.

The team of Barlow, Aiden Nelms, Kamari Wood, and Antwan Carter also scored bronze in the 4×400 Relay. Barlow, Carter, Stephens, and L.J. Green took third in the meet’s other team event — the 4×100 Relay while the foursome of Stephens, Jeremiah Eubanks, Green, and Nicholas Barber claimed first place.

Eli Lawson was outstanding in the long distance running events claiming first place medals in both the 3200 and 1600 Meter Runs.

Stephens earned top four finishes in five different individual events on the day including first place in the Discus Throw, second place in the 100 meter Hurdles, third place in the 100M, and fourth place in both the High Jump and the 200 Meter Hurdles.

In addition to being part of the first place 4×100 Relay team L.J. Green had a strong day scoring a top finish in 800 Meter Run and a second place medal in the Triple Jump. Antwan Carter scored a gold medal in the 100 Meter Hurdles and a silver medal in the 400 Meter Run.

Nicholas Barber had a solid day as well finishing third in the 300 Meter Hurdles and fourth in the Triple Jump and the 400M.

Other top performers for the Braves were Brady Davis (2nd – Pole Vault), Waylon McCay (2nd – 3200M), Bailey Parker (3rd – Pole Vault), Logan Jordan (2nd – Shot Put), “RoRo” Edmondson (3rd – Shot Put), Kamari Wood (4th – 300 Meter Hurdles), Aiden Nelms (4th – Discus, 4th – 800M), and Tyler Brewer (2nd – 1600M).

The top individual pointers for the Lady Braves included Amaya Hammel, Chasity Kates, Natalie Schneider, and Navaeh Bridges.

Hammel scored strong finishes in several events including first place in the 100 Meter Hurdles, second place in the High Jump, third place in the 400 Meter Hurdles, and fourth place in the Long Jump.

In long distance running, Navaeh Bridges led the way with a top finish in the 1600 meter Run and second place in the 3200 Meter Run.

Kates earned second place in the 100M and 200M while bringing home third place in the 100 Meter Hurdles and 200 Meter Dash. Schneider tallied second place finishes in the Triple Jump and 300 Meter Hurdles while taking fourth in the 200M.

Gracie Bailey found gold in 300 Meter Hurdles while Jayden Boykin snagged the top finish in the Discus Throw.

In the relay events, the team of Taylor and Gracie Bailey, Hannah Wright and Caroline Phillips took third place in the 4×400 while the squad consisting of Kates, Schneider, Hammel, and Callie Phillips were second.

In the 4×100 it was Taylor Bailey, Schneider, Kates, and Caroline Phillips finishing fourth.

Rounding out the top individual performances were Kennedy Dixon (3rd – 1600M, 4th – 3200M), Taylor Bailey (3rd – Triple Jump), Callie Phillips (3rd – High Jump), Hannah Wright (3rd – Discus), Maddie Denney (3rd – Shot Put), Korrie Brewer (4th – Shot Put), and Caroline Phillips (4th – 100M).

“I’m just super-duper-duper proud of all the kids that competed tonight and even those kids that didn’t — they all played a part in this year,” said head middle track coach Trevor Spradlin. “The one word we came into this week with was ‘consistency.’ We knew we were consistent and we just had to run loose to be successful and the kids did just that very well.”

Assistant coaches for the HCMS track team included Zerick Green, Kelly Hadley, and Chris Tatum.

The Lady Braves have had an especially strong year for HCMS after already winning championships in softball, basketball, and now track and field.