LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. — The Newton Rams track and field teams competed at the two-day Archer Invitational on Friday, March 29 and Saturday, March 30.

In the end, multiple Rams came away with top placements in a variety of events.

Girls’ Top Placements

For the Newton girls, things were highlighted by Ohio State commit Amoi Hagans.

Hagans owned the girls 100-meter and 200-meter dashes, as the senior came away with first place in the prelim and the final for both races.

In the 100-meter, Hagans finished with a top time of 11.93. In the 200-meter, Hagans finished with a time of 24.14.

In the 100-meter dash, Jayla Kennedy claimed a fifth place finish with a time of 12:82.

In the 200-meter dash, Amerie Tolbert finished in fifth place with a time of 25.34.

Following the event, Newton track and field head coach Sierra Calhoun spoke about her team’s performance, but shined extra light on her sprinters.

“We are very strong on the sprint side, and we have a few of our mid-distance runners that have been performing really well,” Calhoun said. “I think it was a very strong showing, I am very proud of all of their work.”

Tolbert claimed the second place finish in the 400-meter dash with a time of 56.97. In the same event, Zaikirreya Smith earned 10th place with a time of 1:01.38.

Alaysha Holsey earned a second place finish in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:23.80. In the same race, Mariah Edwards earned 10th place with 2:34.61.

In the 100-meter hurdles, Kiara Bundrage earned sixth place with a time of 15.45. Bundrage went on to claim eighth place with a time of 1:08.45 in the 400-meter hurdles.

Newton’s girls relay team claimed a trio of top five finishes on the weekend.

The team’s top finish came with second place in the 4x400 relay. Newton earned fifth place in the 4x200 and the 4x800 relays.

Londyn Belcher earned a seventh place finish in the shot put with a distance of 34-5.

The Newton girls team finished in a tie with Archer in second place with a total score of 64.

Boys’ Top Placements 

The Newton boys’ track and field team brought home three first place finishes in the Archer Invitational.

Two of those placements came from the relay team. 

In the 4x100 and 4x400, the boys’ relay team earned the first place finish along with a second place finish in the 4x200 and a fourth place finish in the 4x800.

Newton’s other first place finish on the boys team came from Terence Scott.

Scott earned first place in the 400-meter dash with a time of 48.37. In the same race, Cole Strother took home second place with a time of 48.54.

Calhoun spoke about the battle between Scott and Strother in the 400-meter and how the pair have made eachother better.

“He [Scott] was very aggressive down the back-stretch,” Calhoun said. “He got out kind of passively in the beginning, but the way he finished the last 150 was remarkable. We finished first and second in the 400 with Terrance and Cole Strother. Both of those boys have been battling back-and-forth in the 400-meter so I am looking to see the same thing once we get into region.” 

In the 100-meter dash, Almar Clark finished in second place with a time of 10.85.

Clark also claimed second place in the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.82. Strother and Roman Brown ended the same race with placements of fifth and seventh, respectively.

Kingston Banks earned the sixth place finish in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.78.

In the triple jump, Maurice Harrell claimed ninth place with a distance of 42-4.5.

The Newton boys team claimed first place with a team score of 77.

What’s Next?

Following the Archer Invitational, the Rams will get 1.5 weeks off before competing in the Walnut Grove Region Tune-Up at Walnut Grove High School on Wednesday, April 10.

Following the event at Walnut Grove, Newton will compete in the Region 4-AAAAAAA meet at Grayson High School on Wednesday, April 17.