The Bulloch Academy boys and girls swept the region track meet which was held Saturday at the Georgia Southern University track. The girls won by 34 points over Pinewood with 209 total points while the boys won by 39 points over Westminster.
On the boys side, the Gators set a school record in the 4x800 relay team comprised of William Polk, A.K. Watkins, Henry Horton and Peyton Scarborough. Bulloch Academy had only five first place finishes, but piled up 19 total second and third places finishes which coach Ronnie Hodges feels was the key to their success.
“I feel like depth wins championships,” Hodges said. “We qualified for state in 15 out of 17 events and have 20 boys going to state. I thought it was going to be a little closer with Westminster as they had 10 first place finishers, but our group showed how much teamwork means and really impressed me.”
With 20 individuals heading to state Hodges feels the Gators have a real chance at brining home the state title.
“We haven’t had a chance to see all the times and distances throughout the state yet,” Hodges said. The big thing we have is consistency in all events and that can really pay off at state.”
For the Lady Gators the story was much the same. Coach Hannah Potter was pleased with the individual efforts and felt like after a fairly slow start in field events the team came through when the running events began.
“I think for the most part it was expected, but then once the meet starts, you never know what's going to happen,” Potter said. “In the field events didn’t do as well as expected, but then once the running started, we kind of showed like the competition that the team brings.”
Potter is ready for the state meet in two weeks and thinks her team has a great chance at bringing home the hardware.
“I feel hopeful as we have 14 girls going,” Potter said. “As I look back at the region championship, we have almost two that qualified in every event which is great because that's the most that you can have. We also had some fourth-place finishes which could potentially qualify for state depending on times state wide.”
The state GIAA meet will take place May 1-3 at Strong Rock High School in Atlanta.
