Darlington School: Private Boarding School in Georgia 14873
Darlington School: Private Boarding School in Rome, GA
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Lady Tigers claim region

April 23, 2008 | 86 views

Landon Watters competes in the pole vault at a meet this month.

Written by Jeremy Stewart, Rome News-Tribune Sports Writer, published 4/23/08

The Darlington girls’ track and field team may not have been thinking about it as they accepted the Region 7-AA championship trophy Tuesday, but they were kicking off a farewell tour.

After catapulting to the top of the points standings during the running events of the region meet, the Lady Tigers built a sizeable lead that gave them and outgoing head coach Mitch Jordan the 7-AA title.

“A lot of people don’t know but I’m moving on from Darlington after six years,” Jordan said. “So, this is just special to me because the girls came out and competed and they just did an outstanding job. I can’t say enough great things.”

Jordan is leaving Darlington at the end of the school year to become the first head football coach at Mt. Paran Christian School in Kennesaw.

Next Monday, the Darlington boys will attempt to complete a sweep at Chris Hunter Stadium as they host the Region 7-AA boys championships.

But on Tuesday, the Lady Tigers worked hard to give Jordan a proper send-off. Darlington finished the two-day meet on their home track with a final score of 90. Pepperell was second with 67 and held on at the last minute to stay ahead of Temple, who finished with a 66.

“So many girls contributed and ran a lot of their best times,” Jordan said. “It’s been a great two days.”

Darlington had six individuals and their 400-meter relay team qualify for state. The top two finishers in the region advance to next weekend’s state meet in Albany.

Lucy Izard finished first in both the 1,600 meters and 3,200 meters in her first region track meet. Izard took the 1,600 on Monday with a time of five minutes, 42.39 seconds and the 3,200 on Tuesday in 12:44.66.

Lady Tiger sprinter Ebony Carter came in second in the both the 100 (12.76) and 200 (26.43).

Landon Watters cleared eight feet, six inches in the pole vault to give Darlington another first place finish. She was followed by Victoria Ross, who posted a height of 8-0, while Anna Swafford placed second in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 17.03.

Darlington’s 400-meter relay team was edged by Temple in the finals by .01 seconds to come in at 51.25 and take second.