MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — The GMC Prep track and field teams traveled to Greensboro this week for the Area 4A-Public meet held at Greene County High School.

The girls finished tied for second place with Washington-Wilkes while the boys came in fifth. Both teams are sending a number of athletes to compete at sectionals at Claxton High School Saturday, April 29.

The area competition took place over two days with field events and preliminaries for running events on Monday before the finals Wednesday. The top four finishers in each event, with the exception of the 1600 and 3200-meter races, advance to sectionals where they will try to move on to state. The top four places in the one- and two-mile runs automatically qualify for state.

Coach Shawn Dennis said all the athletes performed “exceptionally well, with many athletes setting personal records in their events.”

The girls’ team is trying to defend its state title from 2016, and is sending athletes to compete across 11 events at either sectionals or state. Mary Elizabeth Jones and Taylor Scott held things down for the team on the field side. Jones placed first in the shot put and second in the discus while Scott got fourth in the high jump. Abigail Kirkland set a couple of personal bests at area running a 58.97 in the 400-meter and a 45.66 in the 300-meter low hurdles. Sophomore Cire Foston finished just a few seconds behind Kirkland in the 400-meter to take home second with a personal record of 1:02.13. Allie Kauzlarich and Alyssa Easley will advance to state as the two finished third and fourth, respectively. Easley moves on to compete at sectionals in the 800-meter as she finished fourth.

In the relays, the team of Lauryn Barber, Foston, Scott and Kirkland finished second and set a personal best in the 4×100 with a time of 51.20. Emma Holder joined those last three names for the 4×400 where the team took home first with a mark of 4:13.01.

On the boys’ side, cross country champions Hunter Kimball and Aaron Kirkland both did extremely well in the 1600- and 3200-meter runs. Kimball took first in both and set a personal record of 4:36 in the one-mile while Kirkland finished second in both, which was more than enough to earn the two a trip to state to compete in the two distance runs. Ethan Yopp posted a personal best time of 2:14.40 in the 800-meter in his fourth place finish. Will Caldwell was the lone wolf to advance in the field events as the senior threw the discus well enough to grab fourth place and a trip to sectionals. The 4×400 team of Forrest Hobbs, Chase Rauhut, Kimball and Caldwell set a personal record with a 3:38.17 and finished fourth.

The GHSA A-Public state championship meet will be held at Hugh Mills Stadium in Albany, May 11-13.