Emily Kurtz tied the Dawson county high school pole vaulting record on Tuesday, measuring eight feet against visiting schools North Hall High School and Johnson High School in Oakwood.

But after the meet, the sophomore vaulter and sprinter is confident that she still has room for improvement.

“It was a good day for a meet,” Kurtz said. “I did good, but I know I can do more though.”

Her record tying vault was enough to win at pole vault and contribute to the girl’s first place finish in the meet, with 76 points over North Hall’s 62 and Johnson’s 24. Kurtz also won the 100 meter race with a time of 13.29 seconds.

Olivia Martinez led the field events for the Tigers with seven points from her 3rd place finish in the shot put with 19 feet and 9.5 inches and 1st place finish in the discus with 66.5 feet.

Head coach Arron Haynes said that the Tigers team may be young, but the key to success is not to get discouraged.

“It’s easy [to get discouraged] when you’re young to see older runners that are better than you. Haynes said. “It’s a growing experience for us.”

On the men’s side of the meet, the Tigers earned 68 points, falling short against North Hall but beating out Johnson for a 2nd place finish.

Luke Hamby and Ethan Smith, both members of the winning 4x100 relay team, ran winning races in their heats. Hamby with a 4:59 in the 1600 meter and Smith with a time of 52.4 seconds in the 400 meter.

Smith and Hamby kept their swift feet alive for a 1st and 3rd place finish alongside teammate Wiley Dennis, rounding out Dawson County’s sweep in the 800 meter race.

“We’re young, our enthusiasm is great, our competition is great. We don’t have amazing times at the moment, but I’m getting a lot out of the kids.” Haynes said. “They’re running hard, I have nothing bad to say right now.”

Dawson County’s next track meet will be the Greater Atlanta Christian School Invitational at GACS in Norcross on Saturday, March 20.