Howard's Turk, East Laurens' Canady, and Stratford's Thompson defend titles; Bleckley County still contending

          India Turk continues to indicate that the state will be hearing and seeing plenty from here for awhile.

          The sophomore from Howard defended her Class AAAA triple jump title on Friday with a leap of 40-1, passing last year's 39-6.

          Turk also took sixth in the long jump, which was won by Baldwin's Brittany Trawick by nearly a foot.

          Stratford's McKinley Thompson and Nathan Hunt were first and third in Class A boys private high jump. McKinley's 6-6 was two inches better than last year winning mark, and Hunt improved from fifth and 6-0 to 6-2.

          East Laurens' Ja'Mya Canaday was also able to defend her title in the Class AA triple jump.

          The girls 1,600 didn't have a Central Georgia winner, but five of the eight runners who scored were from the area, led by Bleckley County's Austin Perez, who was second.

          Bleckley County's girls remained in first place with 29.5 points, ahead of Berrien's 25. Four other Central Georgia teams are in the top 12: No. 6 East Laurens, and Northeast and Monticello, tied for 11th.

          Bleckley County's boys are second in Class AA, three points behind Banks County.

          Action begins Saturday in Rome at 11 a.m., 11:15 a.m. in Albany, and noon in Carrollton.

          The awards ceremony is scheduled for 4:20 p.m. in Rome, 4:10 in Albany, and 5 p.m. in Carrollton.

Team Standings (in top 10)

Class 6A

Boys

5. Houston County

Class 5A

Girls

4. Veterans

Class AA

Girls

2. Bleckley County

6. East Laurens

9. Washington County

Boys

2. Beckley County

Class A Public

Boys

7. Macon County

Friday's State Champions

Class 4A Girls

Triple Jump: India Turk, Howard, 40-1

High Jump: Mollie Speights, Baldwin, 5-7

Long Jump:  Brittany Trawick, Baldwin, 19-4

Class AA Girls

Triple jump: Ja'Maya Canady, East Laurens, 38-2.5

Class A Boys Private

High Jump: McKinley Thompson, Stratford, 6-6

Preliminaries, advancing

Class 6A

Houston County, boys 4x100

Khalil Polk, Houston County, boys 400

Class 5A

Shaianne Sipsey, Veterans, girls 400 and 200

Class 3A

Peach County, boys 4x100

Shaquille Wilson, Central, boys 200

Cameron Blake, Peach County, boys 300 hurdles

Class AA

Bleckley County, boys 4x100

Javoris Smith, Southwest, boys 100 and 200

Enrico Harden, Lamar County, boys 100

Enrico Harden, Putnam County, boys 100

Noah Howard, Southwest, boys 200

Jaylen Thigpen, Bleckley County, boys 800

Brodni Fletcher, Lamar County, boys 300 hurdles

Chavis Rouse, Northeast, boys 300 hurdles