TRACK: Tigers set multiple school records at state championships

From left, Ethan Smith, Sam Hulsey, Wiley Dennis and Luke Hamby celebrate their second-place finish in the 4x800 meter relay at the GHSA 3A State Championship in Albany, Georgia. They set the new school record at 7:58.51. Photo submitted by Arron Haynes.

B-TRACK 1.jpeg — From left, Ethan Smith, Sam Hulsey, Wiley Dennis and Luke Hamby celebrate their second-place finish in the 4x800 meter relay at the GHSA 3A State Championship in Albany, Georgia. They set the new school record at 7:58.51. Photo submitted by Arron Haynes.

Three Dawson County High School records were either broken or tied at the GHSA 3A Track and Field State Championships held in Albany, Georgia, from May 13 to 15.

The Dawson County boys 4x800 meter relay team has been shattering its own times all season but got their fastest time of 7:58.51 when it mattered the most during the championship race. The time was good enough for the relay team, seniors Wiley Dennis, Luke Hamby, Sam Hulsey and junior Ethan Smith, to finish second in the state.

B-TRACK 2.jpg — Sam Hulsey finished fifth and Luke Hamby finished sixth in the 3200-meter race at the GHSA 3A State Championship. Hulsey ran a 9:47.73 and Hamby ran a 9:51.03. Photo submitted by Arron Haynes.

The girls 4x400 team also set the school record with a time of 4:12.81. Lauren Kurtz, Emily Kurtz, Katie Gloeckner and Anna LeCave finished fifth in the state. None of the four runners are seniors.

Emily Kurtz also tied her own school record in pole vaulting with a height of 8 feet 6 inches. She finished the state meet in eighth place.

Smith missed breaking a school record in the 800-meter, set by current University of South Carolina track runner Colin Kilgore. Smith ran a 1:56.99, just 15 hundredths of a second from Kilgore’s record. Smith finished in fourth place at the state tournament.

Hamby and Hulsey both made it to the state finals in the 1600-meter run and the 3200-meter run. The duo ran close together all day but Hamby had the upper hand in the 1600 meter and Hulsey beat him in the 3200-meter race.

Hamby ran the 1600 meter with a time of 4:33.05, finishing ninth in the state while Hulsey ran the 1600 meter with a time of 4:33.94, finishing right behind in 10th. Hulsey ran the 3200 meter with a time of 9:47.73, finishing fifth in the state and Hamby stayed glued to Hulsey, running the 3200 meter with a time of 9:51.03, finishing sixth in the state.

Dennis, Hamby, Hulsey and Smith all ran in the 4x400 meter race as well, finishing eighth in the state championship with a time of 3:34.8. The foursome ran three seconds longer than they ran in the preliminary qualifier. Dennis also finished 16th in the state in high jump.

The girls 4x800 team finished 10th in the state. Gloeckner, LeCave, Jules Phillips and Elizabeth Knight ran a 10:55.11.

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