The Heritage track team started their season at home against Calhoun. Our Girls’ Track team dominated over the opponents, winning by 70-plus points over the second place team. The Boys’ team lost a close one to Calhoun by one losing point (88-87). The Southeast Invitational meet ended up no worse than the first one. The Heritage Girls’ Track & Field team finished in 1st while the boys battled their way to a 3rd place finish among the 11 teams at the meet. The Generals showed up and showed out at the third meet of the season, the Creekview Invitational. “The third meet was canceled due to rain, but the day it was moved forward to, it rained even more, so the track meet was really wet and chilly,” said Coach Gibson. Despite this, the girls finished 2nd out of 11 and the boys finished 6th out of 14. At the Mohawk Invitational a week later, the Girls team finished 3rd out of 13, and the Boys team finished 6th. Facing off against 13 teams at the Dalton Rotary, the Girls team finished 2nd and the Boys team finished 5th.
On April 22nd and 23rd, the Generals traveled to the Region Track Meet. The Girls team finished 2nd, and the Boys team finished 4th. Several athletes placed first at this meet, including Avah Morrison in both Discus and Shot Put, Caroline Hamilton in Pole Vault (setting a new school record of 9”), and Evie Robison in 800m run. Hyrum Smartt also placed 3rd in High Jump with a personal record (PR) of 6’0” and placed 2nd in 800m run with a PR—and new school record—of 2:02.88! Two weeks later, the Generals competed at the State Sectional, which Coach Gibson said was “brutally tough” and “by far . . . the toughest meet we have been in all season.” The following athletes qualified for the State meet: Avah Morrison (Shot Put & Discus), Kaylin Schubert (Discus), Caroline Hamilton (Pole Vault), Evie Robison (1600m), Rhett Mcdonald (Shot Put & Discus), Caden Walling (Discus), & Hyrum Smartt (High Jump).
The Track team finished out the season at the State Track Meet. On the first day of State, Morrison finished 3rd and Schubert finished 16th in Girls Discus. In Boys Discus, McDonald finished 3rd (with a school record throw of 161’ 8”) and Walling finished 8th. On the second and the last day, Morrison placed 5th in Shot Put while Caroline Hamilton placed 9th in Pole Vault. Evie Robison finished the Girls 1600m in 8th place with a PR run of 5:14.86! Hyrum Smartt finished 8th in Boys 800m!
The team and individual athletes showed great improvement throughout the season. One of the most improved on the Boys team, according to Coach Gibson, was junior Travis Faulkner. This season, he set the school record in the 110 hurdles and improved as a Relay player. Seniors Aaliyah Rodgers and Avah Morrison also showed outstanding results. “Aaliyah has been someone that has super consistency, even her freshman year, and she is a senior this year,” said Gibson. “She has been a pillar of our program.” As for senior Avah Morrison, she showed the best results on the team this season. “Avah Morrison has obviously been a State Champion discus thrower and our Shot Put record holder,” said Gibson, “but at the same time, her consistent high level of performance has been awesome.” All in all, it was a successful season for our Track team and our many Track athletes.
