by REID TUCKER
It may have happened a day later than planned, but South Walton’s boys’ and girls’ teams claimed the top spot at this year’s Walton County Track Championship.
The Seahawks swept the field, overcoming second-place Walton by a substantial 93-48 margin, with Freeport taking third place with 21 points. The meet was pushed back to Thursday, April 5, due to inclement weather after originally being set for the previous day, which meant Paxton’s track teams could not attend due to having previously scheduled a district meet that same day.
It was South Walton’s girls who did the majority of the heavy lifting in the Seahawks’ win at the event, with Brittany Crittenden winning the long jump, 100 hurdles and 200-meter dash. Other Lady Seahawks to take home wins were Alex Weiner in the 800 and 1600 dash, Aleeza Kempton in the triple jump and 400, Amy Broadt in the 300 hurdles, Jessica Harrison in the high jump, Alyssa Bump in the 3200-meter run, Savannah Porter in the 100, and Haley Anderson in girls’ pole vault. Veronica Alvarez, Cassidy Whitson, Bump and Weiner also won first in the the 4×800 relay, while Victoria Grimes, Alvarez, Broadt and Harrison won the 4×400.
The only events on the girls’ side not to be won by South Walton were the shot put, which was won by Walton’s Alexis Howard, and the discus, the title for which was claimed by Brianna Ross.
The Seahawk boys had a rougher go of it, though they still blew past the competition in most events. Elisha Gundrum won the 110 hurdles, 300 hurdles and triple jump, while the team also got first-place finishes from Trey LaNasa in the 1,600 and 3,200 and from Corey Short in the pole vaulting completion.
The Braves’ Terrell Campbell won the high jump for runner-up Walton, while his team mates Amos Williams and Tray Williams took home first-place honors in the 200 and 100 and long jump, respectively. The Bulldogs’s Calen Sefo repeated last years’ wins in shotput and discus, and Gabe Moore won the 400 for the Freeport.