By BAKER ELLIS / Sports Reporter

BIRMINGHAM- The Thompson High School track and field program sent 30 athletes to compete in the indoor track and field state championships held at the Birmingham Crossplex the weekend of Feb. 6. The Warriors saw a number of athletes score points for Thompson, and both the boys and girls teams finished the indoor season ranked in the top 10 in the state for 7A.

For the girls, Sarah Owen placed third overall in the shot put, and Constance McKnight finished seventh in the event as well, giving Thompson nine points total in the event off of the two athletes. Lauryn Dancy finished seventh in the 60-meter dash and Katelyn Bowles finished eighth in the 60-meter hurdles. The Lady Warriors also fared well in the relay events, finishing fourth in the 4×200-meter relay and sixth in the 4×800-meter relay. The members of the 4×200-meter team were Rebecca Harrell, Azariah Jackson, Bowles and Dancy. The members of the 4×800-meter team were Jesse Puckett, Gracei Keller, Shai Hunter and Kiera Miniex.

On the boys side of competition, the day was highlighted by Emmanuel Tait repeating as the 60-meter hurdles champion, fending off Trent Archie of Baker and Alex Evans of Auburn to win the event. Patrick Haywood finished fourth in the 60-meter dash as the only other individual point-scorer for the Warriors. The 800-meter relay team, the 1600-meter relay team and the 3200-meter relay team all placed for the boys team on the day, coming in seventh, eighth and sixth respectively. The members of the 4×200-meter team were Haywood, Tait, Myles Johnson and Sam Holmes. The 4×400-meter squad consisted of Johnson, Holmes, Jonathan McVay and Trennie Warren. The 4×800-meter team consisted of McVay, Andrew Jetzel, Conner Murphy and Jacob Talbert.

All athletes that placed in the top eight of their respective events were named to the All-State indoor track and field team.