The first round of the Region 8-AA boys track meet was held Saturday at Jefferson Memorial Stadium on the Bryan-Keen Track. Finals in all the field events were decided on Saturday. All running finals, with the exception of the 1,600-meter, were held Monday.

Prior to Monday’s events, of which results were not available as of press time, Dawson County stood in seventh place with 8.5 team points. North Oconee held a huge lead with 66.5 points followed in second place by Elbert County with 49.

The top two in each event will make it to state. The state meet will be held at Memorial Stadium in Jefferson, May 5-7.

Tiger senior Preston Lewis picked up a fourth place finish, and 5 points, in the discus for the Tigers. Lewis qualified for the finals with a preliminary throw of 119’10.”

In the finals he had an enormous throw of 131’2” for his fourth place slot. Nick Fulks of East Jackson won the event with a throw that measured 145’3.”

Teammate Tobie Lumpkin threw 97’9,” but didn’t qualify for the finals in the discus.

In the pole vault, two Tigers earned team points.

Art Brown vaulted 11’6” for sixth place and 2.5 points. Teammate Luke Parks came in eighth place with a vault of 11’0.”

Zach Wilkins and Levi Wilson competed in the long jump event. Wilkins had a leap of 17’11.75” and Tiger teammate Wilson had a jump of 16’10.”

Winning first place was Valdon Cooper of Elbert County who jumped 22’1.”

In the triple jump, Matt Kellar finished with a jump of 32’4.”

However, his jump was 15 feet short of eventual champion Raheem Cowan of Hart County, who had a distance of 47’1.75.”

Tigers Evan Kells and Preston Lewis competed in the shot put. Lewis threw 37’7.5” and Kells recorded a throw of 30’5.5,” but neither distance was good enough to get in the finals.

Nick Fulks of East Jackson took home the championship with a throw of 44”10.5.”

The only running final of the afternoon was in the 1,600-meters.

Tiger Jonathon Erickson crossed the finish line with a time of 5:03.48 for 10th place. Teammate Jake Hafermalz finished in 14th place with a time of 5:18.86.

Tripp Hurt of North Oconee took the first place ribbon with a time of 4:21.56. There were 20 runners in the event.

Dawson County had a chance in several events on Monday.

Running in the finals for Head Coach Arron Haynes’ team were: Rush Davenport in the 200 and 400-meters, Zach Wilkins in the 110 and 300 hurdles, and Jonathon Erickson and Andrew Hinton in the 3,200-meter race.

Davenport ran the third fastest time in the 400-meters with a time of 21.96 to qualify for the finals. His time was just short of Raheem Cowen of Hart County, 51.41, and K’Taro Cade of Elbert County, 51.66.

Levi Wilson also competed in the 400-meter and ran a respectable time of 56.84.

Davenport also qualified in the 200-meters with a time of 23.11. He finished second in his heat to get in the finals. Wilson also ran in the 200 and posted a time of 26.43.

In the 110-hurdles, Zach Wilkins had a good showing. Wilkins finished third in heat number three with a time of 17.13. It was just good enough to qualify.

Also running in the event was teammate Art Brown who crossed the finish line with a time of 18.52.

Wilkins also made it into the finals in the grueling 300-meter high hurdles. Wilkins came in third in his heat with an impressive time of 43.03.

Tiger teammate Spencer Wilkins also ran in the event with a time of 54.97.

Results of Monday afternoon’s finals were not available as of press time.