Every athlete dreams of winning a championship. Tyler Smith’s dream has come true!
Tyler competed at the 2022 AA Track and Field State Championships, held Friday, May 20th at Lower Richland High School in Hopkins. Smith cleared an incredible height of 6 feet, 4 inches in the high jump to win the AA State Championship.
Smith, a stand-out football player for the Warhorses, seems to come through in the clutch and does not crumble under pressure. Anyone that has kept up with Smith throughout the track season knows how good a jumper he has been during the year, but Tyler has gotten better and better as the season progressed, and he saved the best for last.
Barnwell was also represented in the shot put and in the discus by Shontavia “CiCi” Tyler. She placed in the top 10 in both events, finishing fifth in the shot-put and ninth in the discus. She may not have won, but CiCi threw her personal best of 93 feet, 7 inches in the discus and improved upon her shot put best, throwing well over 30 feet.
Zaria Walker was another two-event representative for the Warhorses. Zaria competed in both the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes. Her times were both personal bests for Walker, running 13:06 in the 100-meter and 27:51 in the 200-meter.
“Overall, it was a great meet. Lower Richland did a phenomenal job of running the meet. I was most pleased with how our athletes competed. I always remind them that they are competing against themselves and only trying to be better than they were the day, week, or month before,” said Coach Rokeem Williams.
Both Walker and Tyler set new personal records in all of their respective events.
“It’s always good to see these athletes set new personal records and see their growth. It’s been a great season and I look forward to seeing how all of the athletes from this year come back and do even better next year!” said Williams.