Cambridge hosted the Track & Field regional meet last week on Wednesday April 18th and Friday April 20th, with athletes representing all 9 schools in Region 7 participating.
The Lady Bears showed they have a strong team with depth despite a few injuries, setting 7 school records, and ending the two day meet in an unprecedented three way tie for first to bring home a Region Championship! The girls earned four individual event region championship gold medals, two silver medals, and three bronze medals, as well as a silver medal in the 4x400m relay. The boys team also set two new school records, earning one championship gold medal, and two silver medals in their quest to qualify for sectionals.
The two day event started on Wednesday to high temperatures and strong winds. Field events kicked off the meet, with the girls competing in the triple jump and shot put, and the boys competing in the high jump, pole vault, long jump and discus. The first region champion for Cambridge was Turner Mignerey ('19) with an 11' clearance in the pole vault, earning a spot at the sectional meet on April 28. He was followed by Connor McDaniel ('19) who qualified for sectionals with a 5'10" high jump that was shy of a personal record, but good enough to secure fourth place. Connor also competed in the long jump, finishing in 13th place with a mark of 17'9.75". In the discus, Charlie Goodell ('20) had a 93'7.5" throw for 12th place, and Phillip Michael Collins ('21) earned the 6th place medal with a throw of 111'1", a new personal record. In the girls' triple jump, senior Kelechi Nwakanma finished her season with a 28'8" mark for 11th place in the region. Harmoni Brown ('19) and Annastacia Regnier ('19) represented Cambridge in the shot put, finishing in 9th and 15th place respectively. Harmoni's throw was marked at 28'2", while Annastracia's was at 25'2".
The majority of the races on Wednesday were preliminary events to narrow the field down to 8 runners for a final race on Friday. Qualifiers for the girls' team included Lexi Lay ('20) for the 400m dash; Delaney Goodell('19) in the 800m; Michaela Prevallet('20) and Taya Jackson('19) in both the 100m and 300m hurdle events; the 4x100m relay team of Taya Jackson('19), Kelechi Nwakanma ('18), Michaela Prevallet('20), and Lexi Lay('20); and the 4x400m relay team of Taya Jackson ('19), Lexi Lay('20), Kathryn Suplee('21), and Delaney Goodell('19). For the boys' team, the qualifiers for Friday's finals were Tanner LeeMaster('18) and Yahya Merchant('20) in the 800m, Spencer Gray ('20) in both the 110m and 300m hurdles, and the boys 4x400 'A' team made up of Tanner LeeMaster ('18), Jack McHale ('20), Hayden Gardella ('21), and Evan Bell('19).
Additionally, two distance events were completed on Wednesday with three athletes qualifying for sectionals. Ashley Sechrest ('20) earned a region champion title and gold medal in the 3200m with an elite silver standard qualifying time of 11:15, breaking her pervious school record by 11 seconds. In the same race, senior Chloe Phelps earned bronze setting a personal record in 11:58. Jack Filan ('19) earned a silver medal in the boys' 1600m race, finishing in 4:25 to move on to sectionals. Fellow junior Jack Donovan broke his personal record by nearly 7 seconds to finish in 4:34 for ninth place in his final race of the season.
The following runners did not qualify for the final races on Friday, but still put in great efforts for their last races this spring. Quiniche Peets ('19) finished in 10th place in the 100m dash and 15th in the 200m dash. Kelechi Nwakanma ('18) ran for 13th in the 100m dash, Kathryn Suplee('21) finished in 10th in the 400m while setting a personal record with her time of 1:02.53, and Julianna Finelli ('20) had a 10th place finish in the 800m. For the boys, Hayden Gardella ('21) and Christian Graham ('20) represented Cambridge in the 100m and 200m dash events Hayden finishing in 16th and 13th place, and Christian in 17th and 15th. Jack McHale ('20) and Evan Bell('19) competed in the 400m dash, and placed in 13th and 14th. Michael Hudson('20) earned 10th place in the 110m hurdles, setting a new personal record, followed a few races later by Caelan Jones ('21) with a new PR in the 300m hurdles and 9th place. Additionally, the 'B' relay team in the girls' 4x100m comprised of Isabella DeLuna ('19), Katherine Moore ('19), Kathryn Suplee ('21), and Quiniche Peets ('19) finished in 10th place to end their season; and the boys' 4x100 'A' team wrapped things up with an 11th place finish and included Evan Bell ('19), Ayoub Nuru ('20), Hayden Gardella ('21), and Christian Graham ('20), while the 'B' team of Andrew Pardo ('21), Gilad Yehudai ('20), Stratton Tripp ('21), and Jackson Dickman ('21) finished in 16th.
Friday afternoon saw qualifiers come back for their final events, and the completion of the field events. Erin Greene ('18) and Michaela Prevallet('20) ended in a tie for second with their 9'6" pole vault clearances, and Harmoni Brown ('19) smashed the school record in the discus with a throw of 97'2" - more than 12 feet farther than her personal record which had been inches shy of the previous school record set in 2015. Other competitors, who did not qualify for sectionals, included Caitlin Kittila ('18) in the high jump, Tyra McDowell ('19) placing 14th in the long jump, Cely Regnier ('21) placing 15th in the long jump, and Annastacia Regnier ('19) with a 13th place discus throw for the girls' team. On the boys side, Miguel Rodriguez ('19) had an 11th place finish in the triple jump, Charlie Goodell ('20) finished just out of the medals in 7th place but with a personal record of 39'7.25" in the shot put, and Andrew Chishom ('19) finished in 12th, also in the shotput.
For the distance races, Ashley Sechrest ('20) earned her second region champion gold medal in the 1600m, setting a school and stadium record in 5:13. She will be joined at sectionals by senior Lily Elston ('18), who finished in 3rd place with a time of 5:25. Jack Filan ('19) took home his second silver medal in the 3200m with a new school record time of 9:35. Distance teammate Chris Anderson ('18) ran for a personal record, finishing his last race of the season in 9:52 for 7th place.
The middle distance and sprinters who qualified on Wednesday, continued to excel on Friday afternoon. Delaney Goodell ('19) beat her own school record to earn the region champion title in the 800m in 2:2303, with a great surge in the last 200m. Michaela Prevallet ('20) secured the region champion title in the 100m hurdles, and set a new school record of 15.45 seconds, with Taya Jackson ('19) also qualifying for sectionals with a 4th place personal record time of 16.83s. Both girls also qualified to move on in the 300m hurdles, with Taya finishing in 2nd and setting a new school record of 45.27 seconds, and Michaela running in a personal record time of 46.62s.
The boys who had qualified for their final heats, did not manage to move on to sectionals, but still had great performances. Tanner LeeMaster ('18) and Yahya Merchant ('20) finished in 7th and 8th place in the 800m, with Yahya setting a personal record with his time of 2:04.30. Spencer Gray ('20) finished in 8th place in the 100m hurdles in a personal record time of 18.08, and set a new school record with his 7th place 300m hurdles finish time of 44.02s.
The relay events started and ended the day on Friday. The girls' 4x100m team, Taya Jackson('19), Kelechi Nwakanma ('18), Michaela Prevallet('20), and Lexi Lay('20), took home 5th place medals, but just out of qualification for the April 28 sectional meet. The boys 4x400 team finished in 7th. The girls' 4x400m relay was the most watched event of the meet, as the overall team results came down to the outcome of this race. Just before the gun went off to kick off this event, the team scores totaling all events before the 4x400 were announced. Only three points separated first, second and third place. Our 4x400m relay team of Taya Jackson('20), Lexi Lay('20), Kathryn Suplee('21), and Delaney Goodell('19) needed first or second place to secure the region championship, and they did just that with a silver medal finish in 4:03.5. With the help of the 4x400m winners Centennial and third place Alpharetta, the Lady Bears stopped a Pope solo victory, when they finished in fourth. Johns Creek had had two teams qualify for the Friday finals though, so while not finishing in a qualifying place for sectional, they still earned enough points to match both Cambridge and Pope's team scores for an unprecedented three way tie for the 6A Region 7 Girls' Champion title.
While the season is over for a portion of the team, a record number of athletes will be heading to the Track & Field sectionals at Lakewood Stadium on April 28. Eight girls competing in 12 individual events, and another two participating for the 4x400m relay, for a total of ten Lady Bears, along side three boys in four individual events. We congratulate the entire Track & Field team on a phenomenal season, for hosting a successful region meet, and wish the athletes continuing on to Lakewood the best of luck!
Go Bears!
