Walton Girls Win State Track Title

The girls track and field team mounted a major comeback on Saturday to claim the Georgia High School Association Class AAAAA state championship in Albany.

Thanks to a strong performance in the sprints, the Lady Raiders edged out M.L. King High School of DeKalb County by a single point -- 48 to 47.

Walton was in ninth place heading into Saturday afternoon's sprint, hurdling and relay finals. 

But victories by Tayla Carter in the 100-meter dash (11.62) and Sydney Griffin in the 100-meter hurdles (13.93) helped boost Walton toward the team championship finish line in strong fashion. 

Carter was second in the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.15, and Walton's 400-meter relay team also finished second with a time of 46.68. 

As Walton coach Travis Gower said before the meet, his team's strength in a variety of events gave the Lady Raiders a solid chance in a competitive field. 

Walton's Alexa Womack was fifth in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 5:03.63. Katie Frey had been the favorite in the pole vault but finished ninth.

The girls finished 27th in the team standings, and had some high individual finishers. Adrian Martin was sixth in the 100 meters at 12.34. In the triple jump, Wheeler's Natalia Anderson finished 11th with a best of 34-8.50.