Stratford’s Thompson wins second high jump crown
The boys and girls track teams finished a stellar season at the Class A state meet at Berry College.
The girls, represented by Autumn Land, Drake Miscall, Faith Boyington, Anaya Thomas, Carolynn Dromsky, and Molly Garud all placed top eight in their events. Autumn finished eighth in pole vault, Drake was eighth in high jump, Molly was eighth in the 400, Faith eighth in the 100 and the triple jump and seventh in the long jump. The performance was topped off by the relay team of Anaya, Carolynn, Faith and Molly, setting a new school record and finishing seventh.
The boys finished 12th out of 40 teams at the meet, and junior McKinley Thompson won his second state title in the high jump.
Nathan Hunt finished third in high jump, Jourdain Irvin seventh in shot put and Tucker Massey seventh in pole vault.
McKinley Thompson began competing in the high jump as a sixth-grade middle school student and now has back-to-back individual titles. He was quick to thank his mother, Nathan Hunt, and Coach Walt Mays for helping him get where he is now.
McKinley jumped 6 feet, 6 inches in the high jump at state, breaking his previous personal best and creating a new one for the second year in a row at the state meet.
Coach Walt Mays had great praise for McKinley, not just this season but last season as well. He made it clear that McKinley is a hard worker and wanted to win that second state championship.
Coach Mays also explained how rare that the back-to-back state championships.
“That’s not something you see every day,” he said.
NAME: Knox Cleveland
STAFF POSITION: Minister of Fun
GRADE: Senior
SCHOOL ACTIVITIES: Soccer, Football, Key Club, Pep Club, Peer Mentor
HOBBIES/INTERESTS:...
Hayden Stone is a ninth-grader at Stratford and in his first year as a member of The Gazebo. He plays basketball and golf. In his spare time, he likes...
