Taylor sets a third record at state meet

By GEORGE HENRY - Associated Press Writer --

JEFFERSON, Ga. --

Christian Taylor continued his dominance of the Georgia boys state track and field meet on Friday.

D'Angelo Cherry only hopes his hamstring will allow him to do the same.

Taylor, who set all-classification marks in the triple jump and long jump the day before, ran the 400-meter dash preliminary in record time on Friday. The Sandy Creek standout had a time of 47.19 seconds, seven-hundredths of a second faster than the Class AAA mark that Lester Mickens set for Gordon in 1976.

Cherry set an all-classification mark in the 100, winning the preliminary in 10.41 seconds. A Mt. Zion-Jonesboro sprinter who will attempt to defend his title in the event on Saturday, was one-hundredth of a second faster than the previous record, which Douglass' Ahmad Carroll set eight years ago.

About two hours later, it appeared Cherry would speed past the field in the 200, too. Unfortunately, the Mississippi State signee jogged off the track after taking a sizable lead. A tight hamstring wouldn't let him the race, and Cherry spent the next several minutes getting massaged on a training table.

Cherry first showed signs of difficulty in the 100, slowing down for his final few steps. A few minutes later, however, he dismissed any suggestion that something was wrong.

"Just saving some for tomorrow," Cherry said. "I want to have a little extra something when I need it."

In the only final held on Friday, Chapel Hill's Taylor Hill ran the 3,200 meters in 9 minutes, 27.64 seconds to win the Class AAAA title.

Kirubel Erassa of Grayson was the winner in Class AAAAA after running the 3,200 in 9:30.53. Westminster's Tucker Hartley (9:47.52) won the AAA title, Wesleyan's Matt Gossett (10:09.55) won AA and Our Lady of Mercy's Matt Lethbridge (9:45.20) was the Class A winner.