Just like their female track and field counterparts, the number of males qualifying for state declined in Bartow County in 2011 — going from 12 to seven.

However, while that number dropped, there was an increase in state placers, with two guys returning to the county with sixth-place finishes.

The track season also demonstrated Bartow’s depth in terms of hurdlers, with three of the seven qualifiers participating in either the 110- or 300-meter hurdles.

Four of those state qualifiers specialized in field events, further illustrating the county’s quality of talent away from the asphalt.

Below are the selections for the 2011 Daily Tribune News All-County Boys Track and Field Team, including The Daily Tribune News’ All-County Boys Track and Field co-Athletes of the Year — Deo Adams and Nathan Loe.

Long Jump

— Daryel Morris, Woodland: Morris, a senior, won the long jump at the Bartow County Championships with a distance of 18 feet, 3 3/4 inches. He entered the Region 7-AAAA meet as the No. 3 seed with a 20-2 and also finished third, jumping a 20-1 1/4 to narrowly miss out on state in his only season on the track and field team.

Shot Put

— Nathan Loe, Woodland: Following a state-less junior campaign, Loe qualified for the GHSA boys meet in Jefferson by winning a couple of events at the region meet, including the shot put where he threw a 50-8 1/2. The University of Illinois-bound thrower won the county shot put and also had season-best throw, and personal record, of 54-4 at Gordon Central’s Mohawk-Warrior Invitational, which he won.

4x400 Meter Relay

— Woodland: Josh Young, Derrick Hardin, Morris, Twan Terrell: The Wildcats won the county meet with a 3:35.90 and topped that time at region with a 3:28.76, a season-best and fourth-place earning time.

Discus

— Loe, Woodland: Loe snagged two region titles this year as he also brought home a discus championship with a throw of 155-8, a PR during the high school season. The county winner finished sixth at state with a toss of 154-6. Since the prep season ended, Loe has registered a new PR in the discus — a 159-11 — which came May 12 in a first-place showing at Southern Challenge No. 1.

4x100 Meter Relay

— Woodland: Young, Morris, Terrell, Hardin: A bad exchange on a handoff prevented the Wildcats, a No. 1 seed at region, from qualifying for state. Woodland ran a 43.85 in the finals to finish fourth. The Wildcats, who won the county meet, went into region with a season-best time of 43.10.

100 Meter Dash

— Hardin, Woodland: Hardin won the county meet in March and ran a season-best time of 11.19 in 2011. At the region meet, his time of 11.72 was good for fifth place. Hardin also placed second in the 200 at county.

200 Meter Dash

— Morris, Woodland: Morris won the 200 during his first county meet and ran a PR of 22.94 at the Army National Guard/Woodland Invitational a couple of days later. He finished fourth at region with a 23.37.



400 Meter Dash

— Deo Adams, Woodland: Dealing with a hamstring injury toward the end of the season hurt Adams’ chances for qualifying for state in this particular event. His PR of 50.60 came at the Mohawk-Warrior Invitational, but he ran a 59.26 for seventh at the region finals. Adams won the 400 at the Bartow County Championships.

800 Meter Run

— Cameron Leonard, Woodland: Leonard, who began the season running the 1,600 and 3,200, picked up this event later in the year and flourished. He entered the region meet with a seed time of 2:03.00, but bettered that with a 2:01.82 for third, just falling short of state.

1,600 Meter Run

— Leonard, Woodland: Leonard, The Daily Tribune News’ All-County Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year, demonstrated his long-distance prowess early in the track and field season, winning the 1,600 at county with a 4:44.00 and running a season-best 4:41.00 for third place at the Army National Guard/Woodland Invitational.

3,200 Meter Run

— Leonard, Woodland: The Wildcats’ senior runner took home a Bartow County Championship in the 3,200 — running a 10:17.00 — before winning the Army National Guard/Woodland Invitational with a time of 10:00.13.

110 Meter Intermediate Hurdles

— Loren Drayton, Cass: After a second-place finish at county — where he ran a 15.65 — Drayton, a transfer student from Effingham County, performed at his highest level with a 15.03-second winning time at region. Drayton, who also won the county high jump with a 6-0 leap, ran a 15.41 in the preliminaries of state, missing out on the finals with a sixth-place finish in his heat.

— Olajuwon Harris, Cartersville: Harris won the county meet amongst a stellar field as he finished the 110 hurdles with a time of 15.41. At the Region 7-AAA meet, the Purple Hurricane junior posted a PR of 15.28 to win region and qualify for state, where he ran a 15.57 in preliminaries to finish fifth. Harris also ran a PR at region in the 300 hurdles, winning the meet with a time of 40.58. He ran a 41.60 in the state prelims and placed sixth in his heat.

Triple Jump

— Adams, Woodland: Adams was victorious at the county meet with a jump of 40-11 1/2. Days later, he won the Army National Guard/Woodland Invitational with a 43-2 1/2. Adams jumped a distance of 42-5 to win region. He did not make it out of prelims at the state meet.

300 Meter Low Hurdles

— Adams, Woodland: At the county meet, Adams ran a winning time of 41.28, only to best that a couple of days later at the Army National Guard Invitational with his top time of the season — 39.64. Adams was runner-up at region, completing the 300 hurdles in 39.76. He improved upon his place from a year ago, finishing sixth at state with a time of 41.07.

High Jump

— Ricky Ranel, Woodland: Ranel’s jump of 5-10 earned him third place at the Bartow County Championships, a height that also qualified him for state after his second-place finish at region. During the state meet, Ranel jumped 6-0 but did not make it out of prelims. The senior’s best jump of the season — 6-4 — came at a season meet at Hiram.

— Brandon Thompson, Woodland: Thompson and Ranel were often side-by-side in most high jump competitions, as was the case at county where both athletes finished third with a jump of 5-10. Thompson was able to snatch the region crown from his teammate with a jump of 6-0. He jumped the same height at state and was not able to advance to the finals. Thompson’s best jump of the season was a 6-1, a personal record, at the Army National Guard/Woodland Invitational.

Pole Vault

— Ross Reeves, Woodland: Although he jumped just 11-0 at county to win the meet, Reeves added two more feet to his jump by region meet time, allowing him to place second. He jumped a 12-6 at the state meet in Jefferson and did not place.

Honorable mention — Adairsville: Steven Hawk, Christian Howell; Cartersville: Kendall Martinez; Cass: Austin Buffaloe, Albert Catron, Kelin Wells; Woodland: Scott Hoke, Logan Rempe, Robert Stahl.