Notebook: 3A girls state track

Camden senior Daisy Whitaker saved an otherwise dreary performance by Midlands athletes at the Class 3A state girls track meet last week at Lower Richland.

Whitaker’s gold-medal effort in the discus was the one winning effort by a local entry. The Bulldogs senior thrower placed fifth in the shot put. Her winning toss of 122 feet, 11 inches was the second best of her career, but she fell well below expectations in the shot put, closing at 34-10.5. Her personal record in the shout put (38-1.5) was established two weeks before the state finals at the Region 6-3A meet.

Whitaker is only the second Camden female individual gold medallist, following in the footsteps of April Lyens, who was the discus winner in 2002. The Bulldogs also have one relay win (in 2002) on the books.

Other local highlights were few and far between. Dreher’s run of nine straight Top 10 finishes came to an end. The Blue Devils finished in a tie for 11th place with 22 points, one behind No. 10 Crestwood. It also marked the first time in at least 16 years that no Midlands team cracked the 3A girls Top 10.

Dreher’s Christal Green (2nd in the 100 and 200 meters) and A.C. Flora’s Carey Roth (3rd in the high jump) and Alexis Jacobs (3rd in the discus) were the only other Midlands qualifiers to come home with medals.

This story was originally published May 21, 2010 at 4:01 PM with the headline "Notebook: 3A girls state track."