Chestatee relay girls break record again, advancing to State

 

JEFFERSON, GA - The GHSA 3A Sectional B Meet took place on May 2.  The day started cool and overcast, but the sun would come out in bursts throughout the afternoon to heat up the track and then go into hiding.  What was supposed to be a one-day meet turned into a two-day meet with GHSA moving the field events to Friday due to the threat of inclement weather in the morning of May 2.  All of the running events stayed as planned, starting at 2:30pm with the 800 relay.

Last week at the 3A-6 Regional Meet there were 6 relay teams looking to qualify in 4 spots.  Today, there were 16 teams looking to advance to the State Meet in one of 8 spots...all at the same time.  That's right, there was no multiple heats.  All sixteen relay teams ran the same race, on the same track, at the same time...and the Chestatee girls did not disappoint!  Freshman Bella McClenathen ran the lead leg, Junior Crystal Vaca ran the second leg, and Senior Kayleigh McBride ran the third leg.  When McBride handed the baton to Freshman anchor Emma Dobson, the team was currently in 10th place, just two spots out of qualifying range.  Dobson surged up with a personal best split of 2:17 to bring the Lady War Eagles up to 7th place and crossed the finish line at 10:25.95, breaking the school record the team previous set last week at Regionals by almost 5 seconds.  But the school record was the least on their mind as the girls 4x800 qualified for the State meet for the first time in school history!

After a three hour lapse between events, Emma Dobson ran the 800m individual race to finish 7th with a time of 2:27.32 and advancing her on to the State Meet at the University of Georgia.  But Dobson was not done. About 15 minutes later she started her run in the 3200m individual race.  Coach Wes told her that running 12 minutes would be good enough to qualify...and that is exactly what she ran.  Dobson crossed the finish line with a time of 12:00.66 and 6th place was good enough to advance her in a third event at the State meet.

Junior sprinter Elisa Beharry also qualified for the State meet in the 400m race and will join the Chestatee Distance girls at the University of Georgia Track Facility on May 14.

Meet Results: https://www.chestateexc.com/results/outdoor-track/5-2-sectional-b-3a
Photos: https://www.chestateexc.com/coverage/photos
Articles: https://www.chestateexc.com/coverage/articles-archive
Schedule: https://www.chestateexc.com/schedule/outdoor-track-2026

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