Whitefield's Thornton Runs a Race for the Ages

Until this weekend, no one in the four-decade history of the Georgia Olympics had ever eclipsed the 1-minute, 50-second mark in the 800 meters.

And in running the best race of his life Saturday, Whitefield Academy junior Cameron Thornton can now say he has. But it only garnered him a second place finish in the Class A final in Jefferson as he was nipped by the narrowest of margins by Holy Innocents’ senior O’Neal Wanliss.

In the day’s most electrifying sprint, the two runners covered the final 80 meters of the race shoulder-to-shoulder with Thornton lunging across the finishing line and collapsing. 

Officials needed to look at photos of the finish to determine that Wanliss edged Thornton by five-thousandths of a second. Wanliss officially finished in a time of 1:49.618 while Thornton was clocked at 1:49.623.

In a nice gesture of sportsmanship, Wanliss, who also won the 400 meters and was voted as the meet’s top athlete, pulled Thornton up with him on the awards stand’s top step, where the two were recognized for having done what no Georgia high school runner in the state championships had ever done before.

Thornton, who on Thursday successfully defended his state championship in the 1,600 meters, was also able to share the winner’s stand with Wolfpack teammates on Saturday. The combination of Thornton, Murphy Alexander, R.J. Wills and Khalen Pinkett won the 1,600-meter relay in a time of 3:24.14.

With the Wolfpack’s Andrew Dunkleberger finishing third in the discus and John Alar finishing in a tie for eighth in the high jump, Whitefield finished fifth in the final Class A team standings behind winner Athens Academy, Mitchell County, Darlington and Our Lady of Mercy.

Campbell High School also utilized an outstanding relay performance to propel the Spartans to a top-10 team finish among Class AAAAA schools. Campbell finished seventh overall with 25 points, 32 points back of winner Peachtree Ridge High School.

In the 1,600-meter relay, Campbell’s quartet of Corey Ashbourne, Trey Fluellen, Tyshawn Smith and Alan Frye finished second.

Fluellen finished third in the 110-meter high hurdles and fourth in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles. Ashbourne placed seventh in 400 meters and Roderick Perkins tied for fourth in the high jump.

On the Class AA level, The Lovett School finished fourth with John Coletti of Vinings a part of the Lions’ 1,600-meter relay team that placed second.