On Saturday, May 7th, the LaFayette High School Boys Track and Field Team made history in capturing the AHSAA Class 2A State Track and Field Championship at Oliver Woodard Stadium in the city of Cullman. The team celebrated its second ever Boys Track and Field State Title captured at LHS with the last one being in 2013. It was a joyous bus ride back to Chambers County with the team entering the city of LaFayette with police escort for their return as Champions to LHS. The Bulldogs thrilling run to the title on Saturday broke a nine-year drought for the boy’s team since their last state Track and Field championship in 2013. It was a remarkable performance for the shorthanded super seven members of the LHS boys track team!
The final scoring on Saturday saw the Bulldogs capture a team high 71.5 points to second place finisher Cold Springs High School that had 64.5 points and third place finisher Westminster School at Oak Mountain that finished with 59. The two day competition began on Friday with the Bulldogs finishing the day towards the back of the pack in only 6th place with just 8 points earned. Those 8 points were won with senior, Antavious Woody earning the silver medal for his second place finish in the shot put event.
Saturday would see the drama increase for the LaFayette Squad as they moved to third place with just a few events to go in the day. Coach Corey Thornton and his staff were waiting on potential points to come in for the Bulldogs in both the Javelin and High Jump events. Fortunately, senior Vinay Singh captured the gold medal winning first place in the high jump with a mark of 6’0 clearing the bar. Fellow Bulldog, Joshua Combs also earned 3 1/2 points for his fourth place finish. It then came down to the Javelin, where senior, Antavious Woody shocked the field with a personal best throw of 160 feet and 7 inches earning the silver medal for his efforts. Woody’s second place finish gave the Bulldogs their final margin of 71.5 points.
However, the drama only build with the Bulldogs forced to sit and watch the finals of the 4 x 400 relay event with none of the team qualifying for the final heat from the preliminaries. Cold Springs High School could leap in the standings over the Bulldogs with either a first or second place finish in the 4 x 400 relay. Oddly, this left the LaFayette squad pulling for their rivals from Lanett HS to place in this final event. Sand Rock H.S. won the 4 x 400 and Lanett placed second securing the state title for the LaFayette Bulldogs Track team.
Head Coach Corey Thornton was proud of this team along with his assistant coaches Michael Pattillo and Derric Baker in bringing this title back to LaFayette High School. The coaches were also pleased with the efforts of the Lady Bulldogs Track team that finished in third place overall in their quest for a state title. The Lady Bulldogs 4 x 100 Relay team captured the gold medal in their event with a time of 50.72. A’niyah James also won a gold medal with her 5’2 high jump performance and Alshaquala Williams won a gold medal in the shot put with a throw of 32 feet, 4 inches.
