The Jefferson High boys track and field team will have four members competing in seven separate events at the state tournament on May 13-15 after finishing third with 95 points in the 8-AA region track meet Tuesday at Memorial Stadium in Jefferson.
North Oconee High placed first in the region with 143 points, Oglethorpe County placed second (105), Riverside Military placed fourth (75) and East Jackson finished in fifth (72.50).
After winning the triple jump on the first day of the event, Jefferson’s Derrick Perkins placed first in the 110-meter hurdles and second in the 300 hurdles to secure a qualifying spot in three events.
Perkins will be joined by defending Class AA state champion Tyler Porter (pole vault), Sky Porter (pole vault) and Josh Kles (shot put, discuss) at state for Jefferson.
Riverside Military will send four athletes to the state competition.
Stephen Pluhar won the 400 meter dash, Marlin Veazie placed second in the 100, Zach Anderson placed second in the 110 hurdles and Yeong Seo Oh won the 300 hurdles Tuesday. Seo Oh was a state placer in 2009.
Oh also scored points for Riverside by finishing third in the 110 hurdles. Other Riverside scorers were Fernando Weiner and Jonathan Gallup in the 800, Pluhar in the 200 and the 4 x 400 relay team.
Rush Davenport of Dawson County placed second in the 400 to secure a spot in state. Davenport also scored points in the 200 for the Tigers, which finished in eighth place with 27 points. Jonathan Erickson scored points in the 3,200 meter, Tyler Thurmond in the 800 and Zach Wilkins in the 300 hurdles for Dawson County.
Other scorers for Jefferson included Tyler Porter fifth in the 110 hurdles, Michael Stephenson took seventh in the 800, the 4 x 100 relay team finished fourth and the 4 x 400 relay team earned third place.
Banks County placed seventh at the meet with 34 points. The Leopards received points from Jared Gregory in the 400, Marquaze Maddox in the 100, Ivan Diaz in the 800 and 3,200-meter, Jorge Diaz in the two-mile and the 4 x 400-meter relay team.
The nine state qualifiers from Region 8-AA will compete in the state tournament on May 13-15 at Jefferson Memorial Stadium.