Whale Branch girls secure dynasty with 3rd straight track title
By Justin Jarrett
LowcoSports.com
The finish line was a third consecutive SCHSL Class 1A Track and Field Championship, and the Whale Branch girls reached their goal at a dead sprint.
The Warriors piled up points in the sprints and relays and tacked on in the jumps to pull away from the pack with 124 points, further cementing a Palmetto State small-school track dynasty in Seabrook, while the Whale Branch boys surged late to snag second place behind champion Southside Christian.
The team of Natalia Aburto, Destiny Pryor, Larmore Pryor, and Talaijah Bartley got the Warriors off and running with gold in the 4×100 relay, and they continued to pile up points. Bartley won the 400 meters and 100-meter hurdles — her fourth straight gold in the latter with teammates Imani Blackwell in second and Grace Bing in fourth — while Destiny Pryor was runner-up in the long jump and won the 100-meter dash as part of a 1-3-5 finish for the Warriors along with Faith Eugene and Larmore Pryor. Larmore Pryor also placed third in the 200 meters, and Eugene was eighth in the 400.
The Whale Branch boys finished the night without an individual champion but still managed to scratch out a second-place finish, thanks to several athletes scoring in multiple events. Bradford Thompson led the way with runner-up finishes in the shot put and discus, while fellow football star Keith Chisholm was fourth in the triple jump and fifth in the 110-meter hurdles, in addition to anchoring the runner-up 4×100 relay team along with Shondell Terry, Jonathan Kelley, and Mason Griffin. Kelley also finished third in the 200, while Jesse Richardson placed in three events — fourth in the 1600, fifth in the 800, and seventh in the 3200 — and Laron Wright was sixth in the high jump and seventh in the long jump.
HS TRACK & FIELD
SCISA 1A CHAMPIONSHIP
GIRLS
Whale Branch (124 pts) wins state title
State Champions
4×100 (Natalia Aburto, Destiny Pryor, Larmore Pryor, Talaijah Bartley), 47.79
Talaijah Bartley, 100H, 14.55; 400m, 58.36
Destiny Pryor, 100m, 12.37
Larmore Pryor, LJ, 16-11.94
Runners-Up
Imani Blackwell, 100H, 15.88
Janiah Pryor, TJ, 33-7.15
Destiny Pryor, LJ, 16-4.85; 200m, 25.8
4×400 (Alayah Brown, Natalia Aburto, Faith Eugene, Talaijah Bartley), 4:07.76
3rd: Faith Eugene, 100m, 12.68; Larmore Pryor, 200m, 25.85
4th: Grace Bing, 100H, 16.08
5th: 4×800 (Ariehanna Wiltshire, Alani Crawford, Ayaunna Reid-Wright, Makeima Adams), 11:04.55; Larmore Pryor, 100m, 12.79; Alayah Brown, 400m, 1:01.74
7th: Natalia Aburto, 100m, 12.86
8th: Faith Eugene, 400m, 1:03.00; Ariehanna Wiltshire, 800m, 2:34.43; Grace Bing, 400H, 1:15.42
BOYS
Whale Branch (86 pts) finished second to champion Southside Christian (162)
Runners-Up
4×100 (Shondell Terry, Jonathan Kelley, Mason Griffin, Keith Chisholm), 43.29
Bradford Thompson, SP, 43-10.38; Discus, 139-11.92
3rd: Derrick Roberts, TJ, 42-4.66; Jonathan Kelley, 200m, 22.33
4th: Keith Chisholm, TJ, 42-4.27; Jayden Young, PV, 10-0.08; Greggory Gilbert, HJ, 6-2.8; Jesse Richardson, 1600m, 4:47.24; 4×800 (Jonas Foskey, Jayden Young, Wesley White, Zaire Polite), 8:59.22; 4×400 (Shondell Terry, Jayden Young, Wesley White, Mason Griffin), 3:32.48
5th: Jesse Richardson, 800m, 2:06.18; Keith Chisholm, 110H, 16.14
6th: Laron Wright, HJ, 5-10.87; Jonas Foskey, 800m, 2:07.02
7th: Jesse Richardson, 3200m, 10:45.95; Keith Chisholm, HJ, 5-10.87; Laron Wright, LJ, 20-3.7
