The Bryan County High School boys and girls track teams flexed their muscle at the Region 3A meet at Southesast Bulloch last week.
The Lady Redskins won the Region 3A crown. The Redskins finished second in the boys competition. In all, 15 athletes qualified for the state meets -- six girls and nine boys -- which take place in May.
"Our girls team came into the season as one of the front runners," said coach Blake Nesmith. "We knew our boys would be good, but weren't quite sure just how good."
The girls "performed even better than expected and responded well to the pressure of one of the favorites, which I am extremely proud of," Nesmith said.
Leading the way for the Lady Redskins was Tiffany Howard, the region meet's high point scorer after earning titles in the 800, 1,600 and triple jump. She also ran on both the 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams, which clinched region titles as well.
And she wasn't the only standout for the Lady Redskins.
The Lady Redskin relay teams also fared well, with the 4x100 team of Bridget Bacon, Sierra Newman, Kimberly Williams and Tiffany Howard placing first with a school record time of 51.62 seconds. The 4x400 team of Bacon, Samantha Howard, Williams and Tiffany Howard finished first as well with a time of 4 minutes, 18.62 seconds.
Samantha Howard won the 400, Williams took the high jump and placed second in the 300 meter hurdles and Newman was runner up in the 100.
The boys second place finish came after an up and down season that left Nesmith uncertain just how successful they could be.
"They had a strong showing at the regions prelims. On finals day, they just wouldn't go away," he said. "They did better than expected in nearly every event and came within mere inches of winning the whole thing. I'm proud of their ability to step up their game in crunch time."
The boys state qualifiers include the schools 4x100 relay team of Joseph Jenkins, Alex Cruz, Winston Johnson and Willie Deloach, which set a school record of 43.56 seconds to place first. The 4x400 team of Trent Minis, Cruz, Johnson and Deloach also qualified for state after placing second and turning in a school record time of 3 minutes, 35.37 seconds.   
It doesn't stop there. Deloach won the region title in the long jump and was runner up in the triple jump. Cruz was runner up in the 200. Jermaine Byrd qualified for state in the high jump after placing second. Minis was runner up in the 800 and will go to state after finishing second to teammate Caleb Cannon, who won the title with a school record time of 2 minutes and 10.32 seconds.
"Overall, I'm very proud of our program," Nesmith said. "We set goals to build our program. Last year the goal was to be competitive at region; this year it was to win a team championship. We accomplished both of those, so now we are aiming for winning an individual state championship and/or finishing in the top 5 team-wise at state."
The girls meet is May 6-8 in Albany. The boys meet is May 13-15 in Jefferson.
Team results:
Boys: Jenkins County 131.5, BCHS 127, Claxton 113, Johnson County 43, Truetlen 53, Savannah Country Day 35, Metter 32, Cavalry Day 19, Portal 16, Savannah Christian 13, Wheeler County 8.5, Montgomery County 1.
Girls: BCHS 147.50, Jenkins County 120.5, Claxton 75, Calvary Day 48.5, Treutlen 48, Savannah Country Day 31, Wheeler County 27, Savannah Christian 27, Metter 24.5, Portal 18, Johnson County 16.
Individual results available at http://ga.milesplit.us/meets/70030/results/119581.