22 Teams on hand for first ever Gwinnett County Track and Field Media Day

The 2024-2025 Georgia High School Association track and field season is set to begin and on Sunday Gwinnett County hosted its first ever track and field media day as 22 teams from Georgia's largest school system came together to celebrate the the season beginning.

"I thought it was real exciting and I though it was a good opportunity for the kids to get the recognition and get the exposure that they deserve," Archer Tigers coach, Ethan Kasson said of Sunday's events that brought all the Gwinnett County teams together in a non-competitive atmosphere.

"Many of the ones here in attendance tonight were among not just the best track and field athletes in Gwinnett County, but in the state of Georgia and some cases, in the southeast and on a national level as well," Kasson added as he spoke of those on hand Sunday to represent their respective programs and the county, which produced 14 first individual winners as well as the Wesleyan Wolves girls team who finished first in Class 3A followed by Hebron Christian who finished in second place in girls 3A.

"Some of my focuses during the offseason were definitely building my confidence back up," Buford's Olivia Harris, who won the Girls 7A 400M last season, said as she spoke on her preparations for the season. "I was hurt last season so it kind of held me back a little bit, so I was just working on staying healthy, trusting my training and just continuing to put in work everyday," Harris added. The Lady Wolves would eventually place third last season.

"I always look forward to seeing the growth of a returning kid," Parkview coach, Matt Henson said as the Panther produced a boys 4x100M relay team which won the 7A championship last as as well as Cortez Smith, who took home the 7A boys shot put first place medal last season. "We like to see who emerges and right now we're pretty excited," Henson said.

"My areas I prepared for were mainly my mentality," Greater Atlanta Christian's Skylar Cunningham, who won the girls class 5A 100M championship last season, said adding she also looks to see her starts improve this season. GAC also produced a boys champion last year in Gabriel Daniels, who placed first in the 200M.

While many of the Gwinnett teams will race against one another throughout the season, the next time they all come together will be at the Gwinnett County meet in March, adding to the significance of the first ever media day.