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When Levi Sybert joined the Richmond Hill High School track and field program as an assistant coach in 2007, the Wildcats didn’t have enough boys and girls to run relays at the regional meet.

“We didn’t have hardly any to begin with,” Sybert recalled. “I don’t know if we had any more than 25 kids on the track and field team at that time (to start the season). By the time we finished the season, we had only five -- three girls, two boys.”

Times have changed dramatically at Richmond Hill, in its second year in Class 7A, the GHSA’s largest classification. The track and field teams have no problem attracting and keeping student-athletes, and now number 152 – 59 girls and 93 boys.

Relays are not an issue, judging by Richmond Hill’s performance at its home meet, the Game Changers Alley Invite on Feb. 23. The girls swept the 4x100, 4x200, 4x400 and 4x800 relays en route to the overall title among 10 teams with 197 points.

The boys collected two firsts, one second and a fourth place in relays on their way to 190.5 points to dominate an 11-team field.

“We have tons of boys that want to be sprinters,” said Sybert, the head coach of the boys and girls teams since the 2010 season.

About 90 boys and girls are sprinters, which Sybert categorizes as any race of 400 meters or shorter. His wife, coach Heather Sybert, is in charge of the sprinters, while Sybert designs the workouts, tracks data and manages the program.

He’s also the head coach of Richmond Hill’s cross country program, a perennial state power that feeds into the high quality and quantity of long-distance runners in the spring. Seniors Julia Wilson (signed with Georgia Southern), Memphis Rich (Appalachian State) and Levi and Heather’s son, Noah Sybert (Kennesaw State) head a talented group of 43 runners.

Throw in the throwers, jumpers and vaulters in the field events, and there are a lot of Wildcats for Levi Sybert and his five assistants to coach.

“You’re talking about 18 different specialty events,” said Sybert, who has the only program in the area to offer boys and girls steeplechase. “As a coach, you have to identify an athlete and what their strength would be and push them into the right area, get them trained up, paired with the right coach on staff. There’s a lot of logistics, a lot of thinking going on.”

The program has grown as the school population has increased, and success in competition plays a role, too, as winning is appealing. Shaquille Walker, who captured GHSA state titles in the 800 meters for Richmond Hill in 2010 and 2011, went on to break school records at Brigham Young University and qualify for the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials.

Many, many standouts have come through the program, all the way to present day, such as senior sprinter Jayla Lawrence, who has signed with Georgia Southern.

About more than winning

There will be more to come, but the programs aren’t only about who goes faster, farther or higher. Richmond Hill has a no-cut policy for the sport to be more inclusive, so unless a student doesn’t put in the expected effort or violates team or school rules and policies, he or she can be part of the track and field community regardless of ability.

Sybert said girls and boys team goals include winning the Region 1-7A meet and doing the best they can at state. The Wildcats dominated their region for years at Class 6A, but in 2023 the boys and girls each finished second to Lowndes High School.

But there’s more. The program also is about discovering one’s physical and mental capabilities.

“Our big goal is to really give high-quality coaching,” he said. “In track and field, if a kid is talented, they’re talented. We can multiply that talent. Sometimes, if the kid’s not that talented at all, we can just give them a great experience. That’s what it comes down to.”

“… they can still be part of something special.”

He noted the atmosphere for the home meet Feb. 23, when most members of the track team competed and there were 265 performances by his count just for Richmond Hill before an appreciative audience of Wildcats supporters.

While bigger numbers are better, 152 athletes are a lot to form a cohesive team bond. So Sybert and the coaches have split the squads into three groups: sprinters, distance runners and throwers.

“Not that we don’t want people getting along, but we’re trying to make the groups a little bit smaller, more intimate,” Sybert said. “A little more camaraderie, a little more community. At the end of the day, we all get on the same bus. It’s working out really well so far.”

Putting the team first

Sophomore Alexa Hamlin acknowledged that there are a lot of different personalities among the sprinters. She competes in the relays as well as sprints and the long jump.

“At the end of the day, we’re all fighting for a common goal and improving ourselves and doing what we can to not only better our times but better the people that we practice with,” Hamlin said. “We all have problems here and there, girls, guys (have) bad days. But I think when it comes to the track meet and supporting your team, all of that stuff is forgotten about and we’re as tight as we can ever be.”

Hamlin believes track and field is appealing because it’s easy to start and improve quickly. She said the program draws athletes from other sports, some with a lot of experience in track and field such as herself, and some with no athletic experience.

She gives a lot of credit to the coaching staff. In her second year on the squad, Hamlin said she’s just now starting to appreciate them.

“Coach Sybert really cares about his team so much,” Hamlin said. “Behind the scenes, you can tell he has so much passion for track in general and he puts so much time in, him and Coach Heather and the other coaches.”

All of the working out, she admitted, “gets irritating when you’re tired and all that stuff. But I feel like at the end, the results, they definitely push us to get somewhere that we might not even see ourselves being.”

Senior Jeremy Barnes, who competes in sprints and relays, said coaches and teammates help him with his technique and point out mistakes.

“They’re helping me be a better runner overall,” Barnes said. “It’s a good environment and good people to be around.

“My friends have been helping me with my running form and helping me progressively get faster, and I really appreciate them for it,” he said.

He believes the Wildcats have a really good team, good enough if they stay away from injuries to win the state crown. He has had to deal with ankle and knee issues in years past and took a break from sports but reports he is healthy now.

“When I first started, I was really nervous because I didn’t know anybody and I didn’t know what to expect with track because I’d never done track,” said Barnes, who joined the team as a junior to stay in shape.

“I’m glad I did it because I’ve met a lot of good people, a lot of good teammates. I have really good coaches,” he said.

Levi Sybert said Barnes has the right attitude and work ethic to keep improving, such as making the travel squad and contributing to the team.

“He’s really fighting for it,” Sybert said. “He’s the epitome of what we’re trying to accomplish here. Not just performance-wise; I think he’s going to have good performances. But he’s a fun kid to be around, just brings a lot to the table besides performances.”

 

Recent Richmond Hill track and field results:

Feb. 7 at Savannah Country Day (sprinters and throwers only)

Girls top-3 performances:

Jasmine Wood – 3. 200 meters, 26.93; 3. long jump, 16-2.25;

Kinley Gibson – 1. 400, 1:00.16;

Kalyn Heileman – 2. 400, 1:02.72;

Alexa Hamlin – 3. 400, 1:03.11

Gabrielle Kerr – 1. 100 hurdles, 17.44;

Maleaha Pritchett – 1. 300 hurdles, 48.73;

Selah Moore, 3. 300 hurdles, 54.20;

Relays – 3. 4x100, 52.33; 1. 4x200, 1:43.57; 1. 4x400, 4:32.52.

Nyla McClain – 2. discus, 89-7; 3. shot put, 27-9;

Boys top-3 performances:

Kobe Mitchell – 1. 100, 11.14.

Billy Cunningham – 2. 100, 11.17; 3. long jump, 21-1. 

Jayden Taylor – 1. 400, 49.64.

Santonio Rio – 3. 400, 50.31.

Me’Lik Malloy-McLaughlin – 2. 800, 2:13.65.

Timothy Alston Jr. – 2. 110 hurdles, 16.05; 2. 300 hurdles, 41.73. 

Kendrick Joshua – 1. 300 hurdles, 39.80; 1. long jump, 21-10.5.

Relays – 1. 4x100, 43.64; 1. 4x200, 1:31.19; 1. 4x400, 3:38.28.

Demetri Hinton – 1. triple jump, 42-9.

Walter Pugh – 3. triple jump, 39-9.

Grant Eads – 3. discus, 125-2.

Feb. 9 at 10th annual Coach King Parkview Distance Kickoff (distance runners only)

Teams -- RHHS girls second of 17 team scores; boys third of 13.

Girls

4x800 relay team was third (10:26.45) and the 4x400 relay team was fourth (4:38.43). Adeline Althen was third in the 3,200 (12:06.32).

Boys

Santonio Rio was third in 800 (2:02.92), Memphis Rich was fourth in the 1,600 (4:22.10) and Noah Sybert was seventh (4:23.71). The 4x800 relay team was second (8:26.95).

Feb. 23 -- Game Changers Alley Invite at Richmond Hill

Teams -- RHHS girls first of 10 team scores; RHHS boys first of 11 team scores.

Girls top-3 performances:

Jayla Lawrence – 1. 100 meters, 12.35; 1. 200, 25.12.

Kinley Gibson – 2. 100, 12.41; 2. 200, 25.66; 1. 400, 58.74.

Alexa Hamlin – 3. 200, 26.82; 2. long jump, 16-0.

Kalyn Heileman – 3. 400, 1:01.93.

Somaria Courtney – 3. 800, 2:31.38.

Julia Anastasio – 1. 1,600, 5:28.86.

Julia Wilson – 3. 1,600, 5:35.94; 2. 3,200, 12:05.98.

Maleaha Pritchett – 1. 300 hurdles, 47.41.

Relays – 1. 4x100, 50.42; 1. 4x200, 1:43.99; 1. 4x400, 4:16.04; 1. 4x800, 10:02.35.

Jasmine Wood – 3. long jump, 15-6.

Isabella Brown – 2. pole vault, 8-6.

Nyla McClain – 1. discus, 91-7.

Boys top-3 performances:

Billy Cunningham – 2. 100, 11:01; 1. long jump 22-3.25.

Jayden Taylor – 1. 400, 49.00.

Santonio Rio – 3. 400, 50.20.

Noah Sybert – 1. 800, 2:01.23; 1. 1,600, 4:25.34.

Benjamin Hall – 2. 800, 2:02.31.

Memphis Rich – 3. 1,600, 4:28.04.

Elijah Fitts – 3. 3,200, 9:59.81.

Timothy Alston Jr. – 2. 110 hurdles, 15.45; 1. 300 hurdles, 40.57.

Lealond Hodges – 3. 2,000 steeplechase, 7:33.89.

Relays – 2. 4x200, 1:31.00; 1. 4x400, 3:29.68; 1. 4x800, 8:44.19.

Garret Mcdade – 1. pole vault, 12-6.

Braeden Parsons – 3. pole vault, 8-6.

 

 

PHOTO CREDIT: Team Photo CJ Howard/Ogeechee Media Group

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