Elberta’s Thrift wins shot put state championship with new personal, school record

Bayside Academy’s Dudley earns silver in high, long jump as Admirals finish seventh overall

BY COLE McNANNA
Sports Editor
cole@gulfcoastmedia.com
Posted 2/4/24

With a new personal record that also extended her own school record, Elberta senior Morgan Thrift won the Class 4A-5A shot put state championship with a distance of 36’ 4” for a …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Subscribe to continue reading. Already a subscriber? Sign in

Get the gift of local news. All subscriptions 50% off for a limited time!

You can cancel anytime.
 

Please log in to continue

Log in

Elberta’s Thrift wins shot put state championship with new personal, school record

Bayside Academy’s Dudley earns silver in high, long jump as Admirals finish seventh overall

Posted

With a new personal record that also extended her own school record, Elberta senior Morgan Thrift won the Class 4A-5A shot put state championship with a distance of 36’ 4” for a 5.5” advantage over second place Cesleigh Martin from Guntersville.

A Mississippi College commit, Thrift previously extended her school record a week ago at the Last Chance Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 27, with a distance of 35’ 9” to take the top spot on that podium as well. In the shot put finals last Saturday, Thrift’s gold medal helped the Warriors finish 15th overall in the team competition.

Dudley does it twice

Bayside Academy junior Madeline Dudley was a repeat visitor to the podium in the Class 6A championships where she took silver in the high jump and long jump.

With a best distance of 17’ 2.25” in the long jump, Dudley similarly extended her own personal and school records by an inch. In Saturday’s finals, it was good for second behind St. Paul’s Janie Ford’s 19’ 1.5”.

Dudley logged a 5’ 2” clearance in the high jump which left her in a tie for second place with Brianna Stephens. Although Fort Payne’s Aubrey Evans also recorded the same clearance, she leaped over the bar in fewer attempts to take the gold.

That height also matched Dudley’s personal record which sits second in the Admirals’ school record book according to athletic.net.

Bayside Academy’s 4x800-meter relay team similarly logged a school-record time (10:00.77) and earned a silver medal to help the Admirals finish seventh overall in the team competition.

Spanish Fort’s McGhee, Foley’s Roper also record podium finishes

Also on the Class 6A stage, Spanish Fort senior Winston McGhee took home a bronze medal in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:57.46 which narrowly set a new school record. McGhee originally took the mark with a 1:57.49 at the MLK Classic on Jan. 22, and used a new-best time on top of a fourth-place finish in the 1600-meter run to help the Toros finish 16th in the team competition.

At the Class 7A level, Foley senior Destiny Roper used a 60-meter dash time of 7.77 to earn bronze and came close to her own school record. Roper was the fastest sprinter across all classifications at the Last Chance Invitational on Jan. 27 when she crossed the finish line in 7.66. The Lions registered 15th overall in the team competition.

Elberta boys’ team finishes 10th overall

With six individual representatives, the Elberta Warriors finished 10th in the men’s team rankings with 16 points after the dust settled.

Junior Damien Cruz scored points in the 60-meter hurdles (8.94 for fifth) and high jump (5’ 4” for eighth) and sophomore Cody Godwin (12’ for fifth) and junior Elijah Gee (11’ for seventh) both scored points in the pole vault. Godwin extended his personal and school records and Gee matched his personal record.

Senior Trey Ridenour logged the highest finish with a 43’ 4” shot put for fourth place and five points toward the team score.

Below are full local results by team from the AHSAA State Indoor Track Championship finals on Feb. 2-3.

CLASS 7A

Daphne Trojans

Boys’ 4x200-meter relay
13. Daphne – 1:33.95

Boys’ 4x400-meter relay
13. Daphne – 3:40.08

Fairhope Pirates

Girls’ 4x800-meter relay

12. Fairhope – 11:08.14
Girls’ pole vault
6. Mackenzie Hartzog – 10’
Girls’ triple jump
13. Makayla Gardner – 32’ 4”
400-meter dash
12. Ben Klapp – 52.02
1600-meter run
9. Lane Watson – 4:32.35
3200-meter run
12. Lane Watson – 9:58.17
Boys’ pole vault
7. Ben Klapp – 13’
Boys’ shot put
6. Tucker Petrus – 47’ 4.25”
15. Patrick Harbin – 40’ 7.5”
Women team rankings
20. Fairhope – 20
Men team rankings
16. Fairhope – 5

Foley Lions

60-meter dash
3. Destiny Roper – 7.77
400-meter dash

12. Hope Collins – 1:01.29
60-meter hurdles
8. Hope Collins – 11.10
Girls’ 4x200-meter relay
7. Foley – 1:47.49
Shot put
6. Nyla Harrison – 32’ 6.25”
8. Vivian Jones – 32’ 4.25”
800-meter run
10. Peter Eckhoff – 2:02.53
12. John Spillers – 2:03.86
Women team rankings
15. Foley – 13

CLASS 6A

Bayside Academy Admirals

800-meter run
9. Catherine Doyle – 2:25.68
10. Avery Therrell – 2:28.58
1600-meter run

8. Annie Midyett – 5:19.09
Girls’ 4x200-meter relay
15. Bayside Academy – 1:53.13
Girls’ 4x400-meter relay
8. Bayside Academy – 4:20.77
Girls’ 4x800-meter relay
2. Bayside Academy – 10:00.77
High jump
2. Madeline Dudley – 5’ 2”
Long Jump
2. Madeline Dudley – 17’ 2.25”
Women team rankings
7. Bayside Academy – 25

Robertsdale Golden Bears

Girls’ 4x800-meter relay
12. Robertsdale – 11:05.14

Spanish Fort Toros

3200-meter run

5. Alexiana Hinote – 11:42.04
800-meter run
3. Winston McGhee – 1:57.46
1600-meter run
4. Winston McGhee – 4:25.85
Boys’ 4x400-meter relay
13. Spanish Fort – 3:43.57
Boys’ 4x800-meter relay
14. Spanish Fort – 9:00.71
Women team rankings
24. Spanish Fort – 4
Men team rankings
16. Spanish Fort – 11

CLASS 4A-5A

Elberta Warriors

Girls’ 60-meter hurdles
10. Savannah Thrift – 10.42
Girls’ high jump
7. Jo Rogers – 4’ 10”

Girls’ triple jump
10. Lainey Thomas – 30’ 8.5”
Girls’ shot put
1. Morgan Thrift – 36’ 4”
Boys’ 60-meter hurdles
5. Damien Cruz – 8.94
Boys’ high jump
8. Damien Cruz – 5’ 4”
10. Benjamin Woods – 5’ 4”
Boys’ pole vault
5. Cody Godwin – 12’
7. Elijah Gee – 11’
Boys’ long jump
11. Conner Frank – 18’ 10.75”
Boys’ triple jump
9. Charlie Woerner – 38’ 9”
11. Conner Frank – 38’ 6”
Boys’ shot put
4. Trey Ridenour – 43’ 4”
Women team rankings
15. Elberta – 12
Men team rankings
10. Elberta – 16

Gulf Shores Dolphins

High jump
10. Morgan McCartney – 4’ 6”
Triple jump
9. Morgan McCartney – 31’ 1.5”
Shot put
13. Abigail Chamblin – 28’ 9.25”
Long jump
15. Andrew Roman – 17’ 6.75”