Liberty Track Teams Place Runner-Up At State Indoor Meet
BIRMINGHAM- The Liberty Lions Middle School track program is rising among the best programs in Alabama as both the boys and girls squad took home Gold Standard Middle School State Runner-Up Trophies at the recent AHSAA Middle School State Indoor Track Meet held in Birmingham.
“Since the doors have opened at James Clemens the track program has soared and the foundation of the team’s success always depends on the athletes at Liberty Middle School,” said Drew Bell head track coach at James Clemens, which the Lions run underneath on the program’s banner.
The Lions scored 83 points behind state champion Bumpus Middle School which tallied 103 points. Bob Jones scored three points to finish No. 14. In girls, the Lady Lions posted 62.50 points to fall just short of state winner Bumpus, which scored 98 points. Bob Jones finished No. 12 with seven points.
The star performance of the meet held at the Metro CrossPlex, belonged to Liberty’s Jazmin Grigsby who set a new state middle school record in the girls shot put with a toss of 35-feet, 10.5-inches. Her mark is ranked fifth in the country.
The Lions captured four individual state titles. Along with Grigsby’s record setting effort were additional state winning performances: Dylan Dryer, boys 800m- 2-minutes, 11.58-seconds, Ben Thomason, boys long jump- 19-02.75 and Lily Melton, girls high jump, 4-10.
Liberty was bolstered in team scoring by several additional medal winning efforts: Silver- Dylan Dryer, boys 1600m-4:49.93, Michael Ross, boys 60m hurdles- 9.29, Ashlyn Diehl, girls long jump- 15.05.50, girls 4×200 relay- 1:55.75, Lauren Adkins, Kayla Thompson, Hannah Adkins, Reynna Mayers. Bronze- John Luke Stovall, boys 1600m-4:56.06, John Luke Stovall, boys 800m-2:15.62, Chloe Morse, girls high jump-4-06, Ashlyn Diehl, pole vault-8-06 and Isaac Pollard, boys high jump-5-02.
Bob Jones earned a bronze medal in the girls 4×200 relay with a time of 1:58.30.
“We had great support from our varsity athletes, parents and volunteers, all of which helped the meet a tremendous success,” added Bell.
