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Alan Peoples wasn’t the only one to enjoy a special Saturday.

 

Polk County senior Nathaniel Rhein shattered his school record in the 300-meter hurdles, lowering the mark by more than a second while winning the event at the J. Alan Peoples Invitational held on the newly-named Alan Peoples Track.

 

Rhein outdueled Owen’s Trevae Woodyard to win the race with a time of 40.57, lowering his previous school mark of 42.11. Rhein’s time is the fastest among all state 1A/2A athletes this spring, with Woodyard’s time of 40.66 the second-fastest.

 

Polk County’s Sophia Overholt had the day’s other individual win for Polk County, taking the long jump with a mark of 16-10 1/2.

 

And then there was Polk County’s boys 4×800-meter relay team, which ran a time of 8:31.23, the second-fastest in the state this spring behind Lincoln Charter, which won the race with a time of 8:21.02.

 

The Wolverine boys placed sixth in the team competition, which Swain County won in a dual with a Grimsley squad coach by Seth Peoples, former Polk County standout and son of Alan Peoples. Swain finished with 130 points, with Grimsley at 125 and Owen at 117. Polk County notched 57 points.

 

The Polk girls took fifth in a competition dominated by the top four teams, Grimsley, Swain, R-S Central and Northwest Cabarrus.

 

Owen’s boys posted the state’s top 1A/2A times for this spring in both the 4×100 and 4×400-meter relays while Swain’s girls notched the state’s best mark this spring in the 4×800-meter relay.