Bears boast strong arms, fast feet at state meet
By Anne Marie Kyzer Staff Writer

BCHS junior Cornelius Washington placed fifth at the state meet in the 100 meters.

Only four people ran faster at the state AAA track meet, but that still wasn't good enough for Cornelius Washington.

He wanted to win.

No matter that the 6'5", 230 pound Burke County High School junior football standout outsized most of his competitors in the 100 meters by about half a foot and 50 pounds- he was used to crossing that finish line first.

"His comment was that it makes him mad, because he knew that he could have won it," Coach Purvis Dukes said after the meet. Washington knows that he was capable of beating the 10.742 seconds that won the event, because the future Georgia Bulldog was clocked at 10.47 earlier this season.

He ran the event in 11.019 seconds at the state meet last week.

Coach Dukes just smiles at Washington's determination, knowing that fifth in the state is an outstanding performance already.

"He just wanted to win. That's Cornelius. He's competitive," Coach Dukes said.

Washington wasn't the only Bear to make Burke County proud at the state level.

Julius Patterson and Damien Batten both showed off strong arms at the meet to place among the best in the state.

Patterson's distance in the shot put measured 49'8.5" to earn him a sixth place standing.

Batten hurled the discus 144'1" to take sixth place in his event.

Coach Dukes, who took six athletes to the state meet, was pleased to see half of them place in their events.

"We had three place in the top eight," he said. "They all did a good job, and they had a good time."

Coach Dukes is already looking on to next year. While he'll bid goodbye to seniors Batten, Jonathan Cohen, Mitchell Davis, Dustin Golden and Patterson, he will welcome back most of the athletes who led the team to a third consecutive region championship.