Alex Grady led Newton County to the first Georgia West Sectionals at McEachern High Saturday.

Grady won the Region 2-AAAAA championship in the two-mile run in 9:53 and was named the region runner-up in the mile 4:28.

"He should fare well in both events and move on to Jefferson in two weeks for the state championships," Newton coach Cortez Allen said.

Damon Gresham and Malik Franklin continued their strong seasons, and will also compete in the sectional championship.

Gresham threw the shot put 47'9 and the discus of 127'10, while Franklin had a long jump of 21'9 and triple jump of 25'6.

"As they continue to break personal records, we are looking forward to their best performances of the year Saturday to accompany Alex at the State Championships," Allen said.

Other Newton sectional competitors are Kameron Wallace, who had a pole vault of 9'6 at regional meet, Duronte Carter with a time of 39:96 in the 300 hurdles and Christian Scott, who ran a mile in 4:43.

The state championships will be May 10-12.