Track and Field Blog: Archer Invitational and Friday Night Lights at Starr’s Mill headline packed meet slate

ajc.com

Credit: @ATLtrackclub

Credit: @ATLtrackclub

On Friday and Saturday, Archer High School will host the 2024 Archer Invitational. The event will feature 36 total teams with eight out-of-state teams and 28 Georgia programs. The host Tigers will headline the field with Brookwood, Buford, Discovery, Grayson, Collins Hill, Lanier, Lithonia, Newton, Norcross, North Gwinnett, Parkview, Seckinger, Shiloh and South Gwinnett as major Gwinnett programs. The Archer Invitational will also showcase Cobb County’s Kell and Wheeler and powerhouses Veterans, Cambridge, Athens Academy, Sonoraville, Spalding and Salem. Last year, the Archer girls and Shiloh boys earned Team championships at the event with the Lady Tigers edging Marietta and Shiloh out-pacing North Atlanta and fifth-place Archer.

On Friday, Starr’s Mill will host a 22-team field with its Friday Night Lights and Starr’s Mill 2024 Meet. The Panthers will compete against Alexander, Carrrollton, Central-Carroll, Creekside, Decatur, Douglas County, Fayette County, Franklin (NC), Grace Christian Academy, Harris County, Johnson Ferry Christian Academy, McIntosh, Northside-Columbus, Parkview, Richmond Hill, Sprayberry, St. Anne-Pacelli, Stephenson, Trinity Dublin Christian, Valwood School and Whitewater. Last year, The Richmond Hill Girls and Carrollton boys took the top team scores. Starr’s Mill’s Tito Alofe won the High Jump with a National top 10 jump of 7-0, but has since graduated. Alofe is now a first-year standout for Harvard. He followed his strong performance last year to win the Georgia state champion in the high jump and triple jump with a second place finish in the long jump, earning the Georgia state point total MVP. This year will see a new champion. Carrollton earned the bulk of its points in the distance events and were led by Noah Martinson’s 9:20.18 finish. That was a personal record for Martinson—who is now a senior.

On Friday, Hillgrove will showcase more major programs in a 12-team field. The host Hawks will represent Cobb County with Kennesaw Mountain, North Cobb and Osborne. The rest of the field will consist of Chapel hill, East Coweta, East Paulding, Lithia Springs, North Paulding, South Paulding, Tucker and Unity Christian.

On Thursday and Friday, Morrow High School will host the Clayton County High School Championships. This field will include Charles Drew, Elite Scholar’s Academy, Forest Park, Jonesboro, Lovejoy, Morrow, Mt. Zion-Jonesboro, Mundy’s Mill, North Clayton, Riverdale and Utopian Academy for the Arts. Pope High School will host the East Cobb Challenge Thursday night with the host Greyhounds and neighboring Lassiter and Walton. The Gordon Lee Invitational is also set for Thursday night with the host Trojans leading an eight-team field with Cedartown, Chattooga, Dade County, LaFayette, Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe, Northwest Whitfield and Southeast Whitfield.

On Friday, Brunswick is excited about the 2nd Annual Big Play Slay Invitational. This year will include The Perfect Timing Group time and give live FAT results during the meet. Additioanlly, the Invitational is planning to have Championship Trophies for the winning teams as well as medals for first, second and third finishers. The participating schools will be host Brunswick, Appling County, Bradwell Institute, Brantley County, Camden County, Frederica Academy, Glynn Academy, Jenkins, Jeff Davis, Johnson-Savannah, Lowndes, Pierce County, South Effingham, Southeast Bulloch, Ware County, Wayne County.