Take State!

Stroud's Peyton Davis posing after winning her second 100M Dash State Championship

Oklahoma City- Athletes across the state competed in three OSSAA track meets within one week for classes 1A–4A. The Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association postponed regional track meets across the state on 4/27/24 (for 1A-4A) due to the severe weather outbreak and moved the regional track meets to the following Monday, while holding the two-day state track meet on May 3-4th. The OSSAA 1A-2A State Track & Field Championship was held at Western Heights High School (Oklahoma City, OK). Day one went according to schedule but with a little controversy, and day two of the state track meet was met with several lightening delays.

Day 1 (Friday, May 3rd): The Stroud Lady Tigers 4x200-meter relay team won the event for the second straight year, setting a new school record with a time of 1:46.42. The previous school record was set just a year ago during the Lady Tigers historic 2023 Class 2A State Team Championship, featuring the “Super Six,” in a time of 1:46.90. The 2024 Stroud Lady Tigers 4x200 meter relay team consisted of (fresh) Aubree Ackerman, (senior) Charley Coleman, (soph) Audrey Donaldson, and (soph) Peyton Davis. In the preliminaries of the girl’s 200-meter dash, Stroud’s Peyton Davis set a new state record in the event with a time of 24.87 seconds. According to the Oklahoma Track Coaches Association (ohstrack.com), the previous state record in the girls 200-meter dash was set in 2017 in a time of 24.92 seconds for class 2A. Andrew Clovis (Stroud) placed second in the pole vault event to become the 2024 State Runner-Up (class 2A), with a height of 13-00.00.

Stroud's 2024 State 4x200M Relay Championship Team (Top Left: Audrey Donaldson ,

Top Right: Charley Coleman, Low Left: Peyton Davis, Low Right: Aubree Ackerman)

The Controversy:  The class 2A girls 4x800 meter relay final was an event that grabbed your attention. After the third leg of the relay was exchanged with the anchors, Hooker (HS) had a lead over second-placed Okemah (HS). Both Hooker and Okemah separated themselves from the pack, with Hooker having a significant lead until the final 100 meters of the race for gold. Okemah was closing the gap, and suddenly the anchor from Hooker fell to the ground while dropping the baton, and Okemah crossed the finish line, with Hooker coming into second place. You could see the shock and celebration throughout the crowd of those attending the state track meet. As the race concluded, you could see OSSAA officials meeting on the infield. It was later learned that when the anchor leg from Okemah crossed the finish line, the baton fell out of the runner's hand, hitting the ground, resulting in a disqualification and Hooker (HS) winning the 4x800-meter relay state championship. Okemah was disqualified based on NFHS Rule 10-6 (the online version of the rule was not available during the writing of this article). However, according to the NFHS “2023 Track and Filed Pre-Meet Notes,” it states: “If the baton is dropped outside of the exchange zone or rolls outside of the exchange zone, the baton must be retrieved by the runner who dropped it.” MHolland Photo/Media learned an appeal had been filed by the disqualified team.

Davenport's Amarie Bobo received 4th Place in Class 1A Girls Shot Put

Day 2 (Saturday, May 4th): Field events opened day two of the state track meet, with (soph) Amarie Bobo from Davenport (HS) placing fourth in the shot put with a mark of 33-1 in the class 1A girls competition. Stroud’s Peyton Davis won the Class 2A 100-Meter Hurdles state championship with a time of 15.63 seconds. Immediately following the 100 hurdles, Davis won the 100-meter dash to claim back-to-back championships in a time of 12.29 seconds. To close out her state championship performance, Davis won the 200-meter dash in a time of 24.88 seconds to capture her first state title in the event. Stroud’s Bryce Collins (senior) won the boys 110-meter hurdles in a time of 15.04 seconds to capture his first state championship in the event, while (soph) Jacob Beck placed third in a time of 16.01 seconds.

Stroud's Class 2A State 110 Hurdles Champion Bryce Collins (Left), and 3rd place teammate Jacob Beck (Right)

The Stroud Lady Tiger Track team fielded seven athletes for the 2024 OSSAA 1A-2A State Track & Field Championship. This is the fourth straight year where the Lady Tigers have taken a team to state, with less than 10 athletes, and the following outcome:

2021- Class 2A State Runner-Up; 2022- 9th Place overall; 2023- Class 2A State Champions; and 2024- 4th Place overall. Coach Kelly Brown and her Lady Tigers have been something special to watch. Stay tuned!

Results of local athletes competing at the 2024 state high school track meet are below:

(Top Left): Stroud's Class 2A State Runner-up Pole Vaulter Andrew Clovis, (Top Right): Stroud's Class 2A State 200M Dash Champion Peyton Davis,

(Low Left): Stroud's 110 Hurdle State Champion Bryce Collins, (Low Right): Wellston's Savanah Gaylord

1A Girls:

Event	Name/School	Time/Distance	Place
400M Dash	Savanah Gaylord (fresh) Wellston HS	1:04.93	7th
800M Run	Savanah Gaylord (fresh) Wellston HS	2:33.35	7th
3200M Run	Emmah Hash (fresh) Wellston HS	14:21.26	13th
4x800M Relay	Wellston HS (Savanah Gaylord, Dacie Murray, Josie Murray, Ava Davenport)	10:39.61	7th
Shot Put	Amarie Bobo (soph) Davenport HS	33-01.00	4th

1A Boys:

Event	Name/School	Time/Distance	Place
3200M Run	Cooper Emmons (fresh) Davenport HS	11:13.87	13th

2A Girls:

Event	Name/School	Time/Distance	Place
100M Dash	Peyton Davis (soph) Stroud HS	12.29	1st
200M Dash	Peyton Davis (soph) Stroud HS	24.88	1st
400M Dash	Audrey Donaldson (soph) Stroud HS	1:03.50	8th
100M Hurdles	Peyton Davis (soph) Stroud HS	15.63	1st
	Aubree Ackerman (fresh) Stroud HS	17.24	7th
	Autumn Ingram (senior) Meeker HS	17.63	8th
300M Hurdles	Autumn Ingram (senior) Meeker HS	49.92	7th
800M Run	Jordyn Neeley (fresh) Stroud HS	2:28.20	7th
4x200M Relay	Stroud HS (Aubree Ackerman, Charley Coleman, Audrey Donaldson, Peyton Davis)	1:46.42	1st
4x400M Relay	Stroud HS (Aubree Ackerman, Charley Coleman, Jordyn Neeley, Audrey Donaldson)	4:27.83	12th
High Jump	Jordyn Neeley (fresh) Stroud HS	4-10.00	8th
Shot Put	Miyah Clark (fresh0 Stroud HS	30-03.00	11th

2A Boys:

Event	Name/School	Time/Distance	Place
110m Hurdles	Bryce Collins (senior) Stroud HS	15.04	1st
	Jacob Beck (soph) Stroud HS	16.01	3rd
3200M Run	Aiden Young (fresh) Stroud HS	11:46.45	16th
Pole Vault	Andrew Clovis (senior) Stroud HS	13-00.00	2nd
Long Jump	Aiden Collins (fresh) Stroud HS	19-05.50	14th
Discus	Kason Presley (junior) Stroud HS	121-01	9th
Shot Put	Kason Presley (junior) Stroud HS	40-06.00	14th

For a complete list of the 2024 OSSAA State Track & Field Championship for class 1A-2A, you can click on the link below:

https://ossaa.com/OSSAA