This spring proved quite a banner year for Bartow County girls' track and field teams. Out of the four local schools with track and field programs, at least three sent one representative to their respective Georgia High School Association state meets.
Overall, 13 girls from the county made their way to Albany, many of whom are on this year's Daily Tribune News' All-County Girls' Track and Field Team.
Two of those 13 girls came back to Bartow County state champions.
Here are those selections.
Athlete of the Year
Shamira Barrett, Adairsville senior
200 meters, 400 meters, long jump
Barrett may have been a bit nervous before her final appearance in the Georgia High School Association's Class AA meet earlier this month -- as her coach Curt Wallace said -- but it hardly showed. The senior overcame any nerves she may have had to complete an individual three-peat in the 200m. Barrett ran a 24.76-second race, a personal best, to become state champion yet again. She also finished second in both the 400m (56.33, personal best) and long jump -- losing both times to Early County's Antqunita Reed -- to narrowly miss out on a three-win day. Barrett also qualified for state with her 4-by-400m relay team.
The Lady Tigers finished seventh in the state meet with 26 points, Barrett accounting for each point. Her best long jump of the season came in the Region 7-AA meet with a distance of 18 feet, 1 inch. Adairsville may never see a female athlete the likes of Barrett again, something its coaches have acknowledged. The three-time state champion has the most individual titles in school history and the most state medals with 12. Barrett signed a track and field scholarship with Jacksonville State University in Alabama.
Rookie of the Year
Ashley Barrera, Woodland freshman
3,200 meters
Barrera's season epitomized what every long distance runner strives for as she steadily decreased her time before peaking with a fifth-place finish at the state meet. Her 11-minute, 38.9-second run was a personal- and school-best for the young runner, who also holds the school record in the 1,600m. Barrera, who accounted for four points at the state meet, had big wins in the 3,200m at the Region 7-AAAA meet, the Bartow County Championships and the Woodland Invitational.
Chayna Thompson, Woodland senior
100 meters, triple jump, 400-meter relay, 1,600-meter relay
Thompson qualified for the GHSA's Class AAAA meet in five events -- 100m, 4-by-100m relay, 4-by-400m relay, long jump and triple jump. She finished third in two of those events -- the long jump and triple jump -- and was on the school-record setting 4-by-4 team, which ran a 4:02.95 in preliminaries before placing seventh. She accounted for 12.5 of Woodland's 30 points at state; the Lady Wildcats placed fifth. Thompson holds four school records -- in the long jump (18 feet, 1/4 inch), triple jump (38-7), 4-by-1m (49.4) and 4-by-4m. She ran a 12.29 in the 100m at the Region 7-AAAA meet -- where she finished in second place -- and also had her personal-best triple jump at region, winning that title. Her career-best long jump came at state. Thompson recently signed a track and field scholarship to attend Iowa Central Community College.
Diana Wimpy, Woodland junior
Discus throw, shot put
Wimpy, who placed second a year ago in the discus, would not be denied a state championship this season. The Woodland thrower had a personal-best distance of 132-9 -- breaking her own school record -- to grab her first state championship. Wimpy was also recognized as the top thrower at state, regardless of classification. She received the top performance award. In the shot put, Wimpy finished with a distance of 36-10, good for seventh place in state. The Lady Wildcat junior accumulated 12 points for her team. Wimpy won the shot put and discus at the Region 7-AAAA meet at Woodland. She will look to become a consecutive state champion winner next year as a senior.
Lindsay Anderson, Cartersville junior
800m, 1,600m
Anderson, a nine-time Daily Tribune News' all-county selection (cross country, soccer, track), qualified for the Class AAA state meet with second-place finishes in the 800m (2:29.69) and 1,600m (5:43.12) at the Region 6-AAA meet. She was the only Lady Purple Hurricane athlete to go to the Class AA state meet. Anderson, who also made it to state as a member of the Cartersville girls' soccer team, will try to close out what has been a stellar athletic career by placing in state next spring.
Caroline Haupt, Cartersville sophomore
100-meter hurdles, 300-meter hurdles
Following two hurdling wins at the Bartow County Championships, Haupt seemed like a lock to represent the Lady Canes at the Class AA state meet in Albany earlier this month. However, an injury at the Region 6-AAA meet kept her from earning a state berth. Haupt's coach, Rusty Grimmett, also feels she would have been at state if not for an injury. Haupt's best time in the 100m hurdles this year -- a 15.76 in a home meet with Darlington -- would have been good for sixth place at the state meet. Haupt will have to shake off this season's disappointing end with two more years left to earn a state berth.
Tiana Bush, Woodland freshman
Tabitha Perkinson, Woodland senior
Ashleigh Woods, Woodland senior
400-meter relay
Bush, Perkinson and Woods -- as well as Thompson -- were on the 4-by-100m relay team that broke a Woodland school record at the Region 7-AAAA meet. The Lady Wildcats ran a 49.4 to qualify for state with a first-place finish. Woodland's 4-by-100m team also won its event at the Bartow County Championships.
Shantel McCallum, Woodland junior
Perkinson, Woodland senior
Woods, Woodland senior
1,600-meter relay
McCallum, Perkinson and Woods were three-fourths of a 4-by-400m relay team -- Thompson, the team anchor, is the other -- that ran a school-best 4:02.95 during prelims in the state meet at Albany. Woodland won its event at the region meet and at the Bartow County Championships. Perkinson and Woods are headed to college on track and field scholarships to Chattahoochee Technical College and Iowa Central, respectively. Woods also will run cross country next season.
Mackenzie Gutherie, Woodland senior
High jump
After winning the Bartow County Championships in March with a jump of 4-6, Gutherie followed that with a win a month later in the high jump at the Region 7-AAAA meet. She came in sixth place with a jump of 4-8, scoring two points for the Lady Wildcats.
Abby Kollhoff, Woodland freshman
Pole vault
Kollhoff won the Bartow County Championships in her debut season by clearing a height of 6-6. At the Region 7-AAAA meet, she finished tied for 10th.
Honorable mention: Adairsville -- Ansley Williams, Hannah Greeson, Michaela King; Cass -- Savannah, Jordan Drawver; Cartersville -- Samantha Conley, Sara Williams; Woodland -- April Morgan.
Team selections were made by The Daily Tribune News' sports staff, based on nominations from coaches and season-best times and distances.