Saluda finishes second in AA girls track and field state meet
Jabria Brunson wins high jump, places in two other events
Saluda – Having depth on a high school track and field team is a good thing. Having quality depth on a high school track and field team is a very good thing.
That’s what the Saluda High School girls track and field team possessed this year, and the Tigers rode it to a second-place finish in the AA state meet on May 16 at Spring Valley’s Harry Parone Stadium in Columbia.
“This year our depth was in how many amazing sprinters we had and their ability to run multiple events well,” said SHS head coach Sam Shealy, whose team finished with 61 points, second to Philip Simmons. “Not only were they able to run multiple events, they were able to compete also in jumping events successfully.
“We also took three throwers to state, which was an improvement over our previous seasons.”
Jabria Brunson led the way, placing in three events including winning the high jump with a jump or 1.55 meters. She was fourth in the triple jump (10.21) and seventh in the 100-meter hurdles in 16.45 seconds.
Ceddrrianna Springs was Saluda’s other event winner, claiming the 400 hurdles in 1 minute, 06.86 seconds. She also ran legs on the 4x100- and 4x400-meter relay teams, both of which finished second.
Joining Springs on the 4x100 team, which had a time 48.81, were Oz’lyn Springs, Zi’Uana Tolen and Londyn Monroe, while Tolen, Oz’lyn and Karlie Kelly made up the rest of the 4x4 team (4:11.18).
Oz’lyn Springs placed in two events, finishing second in the 200-meter dash (25.07) and fourth in the 100 (12.30).
Erin Black placed in two events, fifth in the pole vault (2.6m) and eighth in the javelin (27m).
McKinley Wilder picked up a point with an eighth-place finish in the discus (23.41m).
SHS BOYS TRACK FINISHES SIXTH
Tymar Cannon won the 400 hurdles to lead the Saluda boys track team to a sixth-place finish in the state meet.
Cannon won in a time of 55.54. He finished eighth in the 110 hurdles (15.34) and ran legs on the fourth-place 4x4 team (3:29.09) and the sixth-place 4x1 team (43.84).
Malachi Dennis and Darryl Hill both ran legs on the relay teams while Ceddion Springs was on the 4x4 team and Jamiylas Myers was on the 4x1 team.
Trequan Barnes placed in two events, finishing fourth in the high jump (1.9m) and sixth in the triple jump (13.29m). Sammuel Castro was third in the pole vault (3.5m), and Jahmeer Myers was fifth in the javelin (44.36m).
“We did not foresee our team performing as well s it did at state,” Shealy said. “I would attribute our boys’ success to athletes scoring in a variety of events – sprinting, throwing, jumping and vaulting.”
SHEAFFER, MILLER MARTIN SOFTBALL ALL-STATE
Saluda’s Jayme Sheaffer and Miller Martin were both selected to the AA All-State softball team and were joined on the All-Region 2-AA team by Ava Martin and Nyla Jordan.
Sheaffer had a .500 batting average in helping the Tigers to the Upper State championship and a 23.6-1 record. She had 12 doubles, three home runs, 29 runs batted in and 13 runs scored.
Miller Martin batted .366 and had 24 RBI. She was also the primary pitcher, tossing 134 innings and finishing with 235 strikeouts and a 1.04 earned run average.
Ava Martin batted just .230 but had four homers and 22 RBI. Jordan atted .356 with three doubles and 30 runs.
4 TIGER BASEBALL PLAYERS ALL-REGION
Saluda’s Josh Uhlar, Drew Arant, Sid Shaw and Cayden Rogers were selected to the All-Region 2-AA baseball team.
Uhlar had a 6-3 win-loss record with 47 strikeouts and a 2.98 ERA while batting .389 with 15 RBI, 21 runs and an on-base percentage of .524. Arant batted .328 with a homer, 11 RBI and 11 runs.
Shaw batted .400 with an OBP of 610 while hitting two homers with 27 RBI. He also had a .980 fielding percentage as catcher. Rogers had a 5-1 record and a 1.76 ERA.
