Prep roundup (5/1): Walker, Snider win state track championships

From staff reports

Paxton's Erin Walker successfully defended her discus state title, while South Walton's Tiffany Snider captured a state crown of her own in the shot put to highlight a strong showing by local athletes in Friday's Class A state track and field meet at Winter Park.

Walker won her second consecutive crown with a throw of 130 feet, 8 inches, topping her next closest competitor by 14 feet to help the Seahawks' girls team finish eighth as a team.

Snider, meanwhile, won the shot put event with a throw of 34 feet, 9.5 inches.

South Walton teammates Quinston Morris, who did not advance in the discus after committing a foul, finished fourth in the boys' shot put (48 feet, 3.5 inches) while Christopher Sanders placed fifth in the 110 hurdles (16.32) but did not qualify for the finals in both the 300 meter hurdles or the long jump. Brittany Crittenden placed fourth in the 400 with a time of 58.67 as well as earning an eighth-place finish in the 200.

Other top finishers included South Walton's Jessica Harrison, who finished fifth in the girls' high jump (5 feet, 2 inches), while Paxton's Katie Kinkey, who last year earned a third place finish at state, finished sixth on Friday.

South Walton's Jacob Leuze placed 10th in the 1600 while Lauren Morton earned top 10 finishes in the triple jump (eighth) and long jump (ninth) and Ian Towne placed 11th in the boys pole vault.

Rocky Bayou Christian's Holly Stanton finished 14th in the 800 but, according to the FHSAA's official results, was unable to finish the 1600.

Baker's girls' 4x800 relay team placed ninth while South Walton's girls 4x100 team failed to make it to the finals after placing 11th in the prelims.

South Walton's Samantha Vandiver and Baker's Bethany Chestnut didn't make it out of the prelims in the girls 300 hurdles. Baker's Devin Scott similarly did not advance to the finals of the boys 800 while teammate Cassidy Anderson could not make it out of the girls 200 prelims.

Softball

l Holmes County 1, South Walton 0: A pitcher's duel in the truest sense was decided when the game's lone run was allowed to cross home after officials ruled South Walton's Shelby Watson guilty of an illegal pitch in the bottom of the second inning.

Staked to a 1-0 lead, Holmes County's Mary Pippin limited the visiting Seahawks to just three hits and allowed a base runner to reach third just twice to take the Class 3A regional semifinal.

Watson struck out seven, walked one and allowed just two hits.

South Walton finished with a 20-7-1 record, won its second straight district title and earned a victory in the playoffs.

SW  000 000 0 - 0 3 2

HC  010 000 x - 1 2 1

WP: Pippin; LP: Shelby Watson

l Cottondale 7, Baker 6: Baker took a one-run lead into the bottom of the seventh but couldn't close it out as Cottondale pushed across two runs to edge the Gators in its Class 2A regional semifinal.

Christine Wells went 3-for-4 for Baker while Danielle Marelli drove in a pair of runs and Lauren Griffith went 1-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.

Baker trailed 3-1 and 5-2 before surging back to take the lead before Cottondale rallied in the seventh inning.

The Gators finished the season 15-11 and captured their third straight District 1-2A title along with winning in the first round of regional play.

Baker           100 011 3 - 6 10 4

Cottondale  300 020 2 - 7  6 3

WP: Krauser, LP: Lauren Griffith