State track meets begin Thursday for both states

State track and field meets will get underway on both sides of the river Thursday, with the girls meet being held in Georgia and both boys and girls in Alabama.

Both meets will have a host of local qualifiers competing.

Both the Smiths Station and Central girls and boys teams will be most represented. On the boys side, the Panthers will compete in 11 individual events and three relays and the Red Devils in nine individual and two relays. For the girls, both Smiths Station and Central will be involved in 10 individual events and three relays.

There are a number of contenders among the group, most notably Central’s Karon Delince, who is the defending champion in the 200-meter dash. He will try to defend that title, while also participating in the 100 and the long jump.

Meanwhile, Smiths Station, which is competing in a total of 14 events, will try to improve on a 16th-place finish at last year’s Class 7A meet, which was a touch below its normal showing. With so many opportunities in 14 events, many of which have more than one individual competing, the Panthers should have a chance for a better finish.

“We want to score points in every event and try to put as many medalists on the podium as we can,” coach Ron Peters said. “We are young and inexperienced, but they have worked hard, learned a lot about their strategies and have put themselves in a position to go out and do their best.”

In Georgia, girls teams in Classes 5A, 3A, A-public and A-private will all be represented at the meet.

In 5A, Columbus and Shaw are the most well-represented. The Blue Devils and Raiders will both compete in six individual events, and the Raiders will have two relay teams, as well. Northside will be in three individual events, and Harris County and Carver both in one.

In A-private, Brookstone will be in five individual events, all field events. Pacelli will compete in one. In A-public, Marion County is in three individual events.

In Class 3A, the Spencer girls continue to improve as a program for the third straight season. This year, the Lady Greenwave will compete in five individual events and two relays, and coach Janele Deloatch is hoping to see a number of personal bests result in a high finish.

“A perfect weekend would be a top-10 scoring for the team,” she said. “That would mean that every young lady would hit her personal best. That’s possible with the work that they’ve been putting in. They haven’t peaked yet.”

The GHSA girls meet will get started at 9:30 a.m. Thursday and last through Saturday. The AHSAA meets will begin at 9 a.m. Thursday and also last through Saturday.

This story was originally published May 4, 2016 at 3:52 PM with the headline "State track meets begin Thursday for both states."