Photo By Michael Alexander

ROSWELL—Twenty-three high schools, comprised of Class AAAA’s regions 3, 4, 7

and 8, competed during an April 28 sectional meet at Blessed Trinity High School’s

stadium. The top eight competitors in each of the 16 track and field events qualified for the upcoming state championship.

In addition to Blessed Trinity, Marist School and St. Pius X were the other two Catholic high schools participating in the meet.

One Blessed Trinity runner and one from St. Pius qualified for the girls 400-meter dash. Two Blessed Trinity runners, and one runner each from Marist and St. Pius, qualified for the girls 800-meter run. Two runners each from Blessed Trinity, Marist and St. Pius qualified for the girls 1,600-meter run, while two runners each from Marist and Blessed Trinity and one St. Pius runner qualified for the girls 3,200-meter run. Marist School’s Josie Wirtz finished first in the 1,600 and 3,200 finals, with times of 5:09.48 and 11:29.42, respectively.

Marist and St. Pius had qualifiers in the girls 100- and 300-meter hurdles. St. Pius’ Lily Porter will be running both events in the state meet.

The girls 4×100 relay team from Marist qualified for state, while the girls 4×400 relay teams from Marist and St. Pius qualified for the state meet. The Marist 4×400 relay team came in first with a time of 4:02.28. Marist School’s Anais Marenco, who finished third, and Tegan Siksta, who finished eighth, will represent their school in the girls pole vault.

In the girls long jump, Marist School’s Kylie Gagnon (17 feet, 2 inches) and St. Pius’

Julia Schlueter (16 feet, 6.5 inches.) finished fourth and eighth, respectively. After finishing third in the girls triple jump, Marist School’s Karen Kirunda will compete at state.

Blessed Trinity High School junior Jana Barden competes in the girls shot put during the multiple team meet at her Roswell school. Barden set a new school record earlier this year for the shot put at 37 feet, 9.75 inches, but during the April 28 meet she finished in third place with a throw of 35 feet, 9 inches. Photo By Michael Alexander

St. Pius’ Janae Profit finished second in the girls shot put with a throw of 37 feet, 1 inch. Blessed Trinity’s Jana Barden finished third with a throw of 35 feet, 9 inches. In the girls discus throw, Profit finished in first place with a throw of 132 feet, 3 inches. St. Pius’ Jason Jones qualified for the boys 100- and 200-meter dashes. His teammate Jared Williams was the first-place winner in the boys 400-meter dash.

Two runners from Marist and one runner from St. Pius qualified for the boys 800-meter run. Two runners each from Blessed Trinity and Marist and one runner from St. Pius qualified for the boys 1,600-meter run, while two runners each from Blessed Trinity, Marist and St. Pius qualified for the boys 3,200-meter run.

In the boys 110-meter hurdles, St. Pius’ Matthew Harris and Sam Schwaner finished in fourth and sixth place, respectively. Harris also had a second-place finish in the boys 300-meter hurdles and the boys long jump.

The boys 4×100 relay teams from St. Pius and Marist finished in first- and eighth-place, respectively.

Marist School’s Samuel Sherman and Luke Hale, St. Pius’ Sam Schwaner and Blessed Trinity’s Chris Schneider will represent their schools at state in the boys high jump.

After reaching a height of 11 feet 6 inches, Marist School’s Carter Daniels finished seventh in the boys pole vault.

In the boys discus throw, Marist School’s Ellis Pearson (146 feet, 9 inches), finished in third place, while St. Pius’ Tanner Duffin (183 feet, 9 inches) finished first. Duffin also came in first for the boys shot put with a throw of 58 feet, 2.5 inches.

The Class AAAA state track and field championship will take place at Berry College in Mount Berry, May 10-12.