Alexander wins final event for historic state title | Douglasville Sentinel

The stage was set for a dramatic finish at the Georgia High School Association Class 5A Track and Field Championship Wednesday evening.

With Alexander High School clinging to a two-point lead heading into the meet’s final event, the math was simple.

All the Cougars had to do was win the 4×400 relay to clinch the program’s first boys state title.

However, they knew they were facing a challenge with three-time defending state-champion Langston Hughes also needing to win for a shot at least tying for the title.

Once the race began, Alexander made it clear they weren’t settling for a tie.

The relay time of Cayden Guidry, Justyn McKenzie, Richard Wilson, and Landyn Buchanan not only won the event, but set an all-time meet record.

When Buchanan crossed the finish line with the baton, the Cougars had smoked the track at UGA’s Spec Towns Track in Athens with a time of three minutes, 9.45 seconds.

It gave Alexander a final score of 82 points with Hughes finishing the event and meet second with 78 points.

“It felt like it was a movie,” Alexander coach Jimmy Sorrells said. “I was just watching it unfold as each of the runners were just laying it down. This was the best baton exchange that I’ve ever witnessed as a coach.”

Ironically, it was the only individual event that the Alexander participants had won during the meet.

Aside from a pair of second place finishes, the racked up enough points to position themselves for the win.

“I don’t want to say we nickel and dimed ourselves to the win, but we had enough of the guys to score in events,” Sorrells said. “This is what you can call a true championship. The whole meet was nerve-wrecking. It was just simple math going into the final event. We didn’t want to share the title.”

Alexander senior Tariq Ringer had a jump of 45 feet, 5.5 inches to win the triple jump while McKenzie went 47.09 in the 400-meters for second place. He went 1:57 for fourth in the 800.

“I told them throughout the meet that they were doing their job,” Sorrells said.

Lions freshman captures title

Lithia Springs High freshman Toyin Awoleye won the Class 5A 400-meters at the Georgia High School Association track and field championship. She turned in a time of 53.78 seconds for the win at the Spec Towns Track on the University of Georgia campus. The time was good enough to rank in the Top 50 in the country among high school runners. It was also Top 10 in the state.