Gaffney's Denzelle Good punched his ticket to the state track meet on Saturday.

Good placed fifth in the shot put and second in the discus at Saturday's state qualifier at Spring Valley High School. The top eight finishers in each event advance to this Saturday's state meet in Columbia.

"Denzelle has had a great year and he stepped it up at the qualifier," Gaffney boys track coach James Davis said.

Good wasn't the only Gaffney High track team member to advance to the state meet.

Jordan Manning qualified sixth in the high jump, while Joe Craig finished eighth in the 200 meters. The 4x100 meter relay team of Timmy Foster, Dennis Dawkins, Cameron Smith and Craig, placed seventh.

Craig just missed qualifying in the 100 meters by a tenth of a second. The Indians' 4x800 team also was edged at the wire for a trip to the state meet.

"I'm pleased but a little disappointed," Davis said. "There is big-time competition there and you either step up or you don't."

The Gaffney girls track team failed to qualify anyone for the state meet, but head coach Kevin Hammett is still optimistic about the team's future.

"Despite being disappointed they used Saturday as a valuable learning experience," he said. "Four of the girls who made it to the qualifier are still in middle school. There are three 8th graders and one 7th grader on this team who were competing against the best in 4A competition. That gives us a lot to build on."

"The girls 4x100 relay team was two tenths of a second from going to the state championships," he

"We also would like to thank Bill Conley, Roger Logan, Jerrod Dawkins, Jimmy Brown, Charles Smith, Adam Ruppe and Tripp Patterson for all of their help during practice and at our meets," Hammett said.

" Without their assistance we would not have been as successful as we were this year," Hammett added.