Bay boys, Rutherford girls win county titles

PANAMA CITY - Through the first 16 scored events of Thursday's Bay County high school track meet, Bay's goal of upending Mosley's seven-year run as boys county champion was a distant thought.

Rutherford held a nine-point lead over Bay with four events left, and a double-win for the Rams' boys and girls teams was inching closer.

Until the Tornadoes' heralded 400-meter runners took the blocks.

Jordon Byas won the 400 in 49.05 seconds, breaking his county record of 49.44 from 2006, and Terrance Lowder was second to propel Bay in front of Rutherford.
Then the Tornadoes ran away with the county title.

"I already had it, but I didn't break it like I wanted to," Byas said. "I didn't eat right. I didn't come prepared. We've been trying to win the county ever since I was a freshman. It feels good to win my senior year."

The Tornadoes won the title with 111 points, Rutherford was second with 90 and Mosley third with 77. Arnold had 34 and Bozeman 19.

"We've been coming close the last four years," Bay coach Aaron Byas said. "The kids are happy about it. It sets the tone heading into districts."

For the fourth straight year, Rutherford's girl runners helped claim the county championship.

After winning the long jump with a distance of 17 feet, 5 inches, Adrianna Hill won the 100- and 200-meter dashes. Fellow Lady Ram Allyson Wyllie won the 800- and 3,200-meter races, leaving the 400 and 1,600 as the only non-hurdle races Rutherford didn't win.

"The kids did good," Rutherford girls coach Anthony Collier said. "It was scary. I didn't expect to win it by that big of a margin."

Rutherford won with 107 points. Mosley was second with 97, Arnold third with 72, Bay fourth with 42 and Bozeman finished with 29.

Bay's boys and Rutherford's girls struggled in the field events, but kicked it up a notch in the running portion of the meet.

Mosley's girls picked up wherever Rutherford didn't. Candice Hilton won the 100- and 300-meter hurdles and Chelsey Williams claimed the mile in 5:58:37.

Senior Brittney Montgomery set two of the four county records at the meet. Her winning time of 59.27 in the 400 earned her one and she was part of the 4-by-400 relay that set a county record in 4:05.02. It defeated second-place Rutherford for the second time in three races.

Rutherford's 4x800-relay team set a county mark in 10:19.26.

"I'm excited, I guess," Montgomery said. "I've been doing the 400 for three years and it's the first time doing the open and I set the record."

For the first time in meet history, the event was timed electronically. Meet organizers explained that 0.24 seconds was to be added to the hand-timed county records to account for the margin of human error.

Other notable winners Thursday were Bay's Gabriel Holguin, who won the boys 800- and 1600-meter races, and Rutherford's Shawn Miles, who won the long jump (20 feet, 11 inches) and the triple jump (40 feet, 6 inches). Girls state weightlifting champion Kasey Franks won the shot put with a distance of 31 feet, 3 inches.

"It helped validate what I've tried to teach the kids," Coach Byas said. "Every point counts. Every place counts."

Note: The boys 200 was not scored because of a camera malfunction in a photo finish.