Allatoona's Hines claims two state titles
May 12—Allatoona's Tahir Hines won two individual state championships and Whitefield Academy's Brenden Vanderpool added a third for Cobb County athletes Thursday as the Class AAAAAA and Class A Division I meets took place at Barron Stadium in Rome.
Hines, a junior, won the shot put with a personal record attempt of 57 feet, 1 inch, while he also won the discus with a throw of 168-4.
Hines' efforts, along with Tyler Cash's fifth-place finish in the pole vault (14-6), helped Allatoona to a total of 24 points, leaving it third in Class AAAAAA after Day 1.
Etowah led the boys standings with 33.5 points, followed by New Manchester (26). Lassiter (5) was 17th and Pope (3) 21st.
Lassiter's Ryan Grachen finished fourth in the pole vault (15-0) and Pope's 4x800-meter relay team (7:58.98) earned a fifth-place finish.
Vanderpool won the Class A Division I pole vault with a height of 14-6. His effort and the Wolfpack 4x800 relay team (sixth, 8:29.49), helped Whitefield to eighth place with 13 points.
Swainsboro led with 33 points, followed by Mount Pisgah Christian (24), while Athens Christian and Darlington were tied for third with 23.
In the Class AAAAAA girls meet, Gabby Key's third-place leap of 18-2 in the long jump and Julia Acker's fourth-place effort of 10-6 in the pole vault had Pope in 11th place with 11 points.
Alexander (32) led, with Marist (23) second and Douglas County (17) and North Atlanta (17) tied for third.
Mount Bethel Christian's Marai Bell was the county's best finisher in the Class A Division I meet. She finished third in the discus (107-5) and seventh in the shot put (33-7 1/2 ).
Whitefield's Keayden Bentley finished seventh in the high jump (4-10).
Oglethorpe County led the meet with 45 points, followed by Heard County (33) and Elbert County (23). Mount Bethel (8) was 12th and Whitefield (2) 21st.
The Kell boys (16) were fifth after the first day of the Class AAAAA meet in Columbus.
Dutchtown led with 33 points, one point ahead of Tucker. Chapel Hill (21) is third, followed by Greenbrier (18).
Marqavious Saboor finished fourth in the triple jump (44-9 1/4 ), Davion Hampton was fifth in the long jump (21-11 1/2 ), Jacob Salters was fifth in the high jump (6-4) and Josh Barker was sixth in the shot put (52-3 3/4 ).
