After last year’s disappointing performance in the region championship, the North Forsyth track and field team will look to rebound and display improvement at Apalachee High School on Thursday and Saturday. The Raiders will look to translate a season’s worth of work into their meet in the region title.

The region championship will offer much stiffer competition than last Saturday at Forsyth Central, where the Raiders only opponent was meet host Forsyth Central itself. Both the boys and girls teams took down Central, beating them by a combined score of 45 points.

A big surprise for the Raiders was in the 400 meter dash, when sophomore Thomas Durand shocked Santiago Walker-Farfan, who has been the top runner all year for North in the event, by narrowly winning the event by half a second. Durand had never run the 400 meter dash in his track and field career before Saturday.

Durand was asked about how he and the team will adjust to the tougher tests in the region championships this Thursday and Saturday.

He stressed the importance to “not overdo it this week in practice,” yet the team still needs to stay strong and in shape for meet day. He added that “everyone will go out there and give it 110 percent, we know how important this meet is for the rest of our year.”

Durand is the top seed in Thursday’s 1600 meter run, yet the race figures to be a tight one, with Conner Proffitt, Noah Peters, and fellow Raider Ian Vinson all within four seconds of Durand’s time. He will enter Saturday’s 800 meter run seeded second behind Proffitt.

Meanwhile, for the Raiders’ sprinters and short distance team – anything under 800 meters – there are no boys or girls seeded inside the top four. The top four in each track event will advance to sectionals. They will be looking to surprise their region foes and turn heads this meet.

As for the relay teams, the 4×800 meter boys set the school record with a time of 8:13 earlier this season. They have a great chance to come out of Saturday’s race with a great finish, and look primed to represent the Raiders in the state championship in May.

Senior Evan Beasley was on the record-setting 4×800 relay team, and was asked about his thoughts on North’s chances to qualify for the state championship this season.

“I think if coach [Parnell] enters the top four guys then yes, but I think even with our fifth or sixth guy in the relay we could still make it. It all depends on who is running for us and who coach enters.”

Beasley and the 4×800 team are currently seeded second only behind Gainesville, putting them in a solid position to advance to sectionals. The other three boys relay teams – the 4×100, 4×200, and 4×400 – are seeded sixth, third, and fifth, respectively. The Lady Raiders relay teams currently find themselves outside of the top four, they will need big days to advance out of the region championships.

The long-distance teams are looking great heading into meet day, as the Raiders own two of the top four seeds in the 1600 meter run, and three of the top four in the 3200 meter run. Durand and Beasley are also seeded second and fourth in the 800 meter run.

Freshman Adelyn Thomas has headlined the Lady Raiders distance team this year, she is seeded ninth in the 1600 meter run and sixth in the 800 meter run heading into the meet.

Switching gears to field events, both of the boys and girls throwers look primed to advance to sectionals. North’s boys hold three of the top four distances for the discus throw, while only one Raider is in the top four for the shot put. On the other hand for the Lady Raiders, they hold positions one through three in the discus throw and two of the top three spots in the shot put.

Lastly for jumpers, the Raider boys will need huge days to make it out of Apalachee, as they find themselves well behind the top four in each event. Lady Raider jumpers, however, hold two of the top four positions in the triple jump, and Anna Mason is seeded second place in the high jump.

Events on Thursday will begin at 1:00 p.m. with the 4×200 meter relay, while the 4×800 meter relay at 12:00 p.m. will kick off Saturday’s set of events. As aforementioned, the top four in each event will advance to sectionals, which will be held on May 4th at Lakewood Stadium.