By By Adam Prestridge
The Escambia Academy boys’ track team is working on building a dynasty.
For the second consecutive season, the Cougars claimed the AISA Class 2A track state title Thursday at Ralph "Shug" Jordan Memorial Stadium in Selma.
EA scored 80 points to claim the 2A title and finished second to Faith Academy’s 139 points for the overall AISA title.
Alan Ash won individual state titles in the 1600-meter run with a time of 4:44.83 and the 3200-meter run with a time of 10:45.37. Both wins were personal bests for Ash.
Seth Lassiter placed second to his teammate in the 3200-meter run with a time of 11:57.15. He also placed fifth in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:17.05.
Michael Mitchell placed second in the triple jump with a distance of 40.06 feet. He also placed fifth in the long jump with a distance of 19.01 feet, just behind teammate Dustin Hall, the Cougars’ lone senior, who jumped 19.02 feet. Mitchell also claimed third in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 45.39 seconds and sixth in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 47.29 seconds.
Hall also finished sixth in the triple jump with a distance of 37.03 feet.
Jon Dean ran away with third place in the 400-meter dash with a personal best time of 54.74 seconds.
EA’s 4×200-meter, 4×400-meter and 4×800-meter relay teams each finished second with times of 1:37.42, 3:44.39 and 9:09.51 respectfully. The school’s 4×100-meter relay team placed third with a time of 46.58 seconds.
For the girls, Andrea Nall claimed the state title in the 800-meter run with a personal best time of 2:33.22. Nall also finished third in the 3200-meter run with a time of 14:20.90 and fifth in long jump with a distance of 15.00 feet.
The Lady Cougars finished eight overall with 18 points.