Cooper Douglas broke a school record in the javelin and finished second overall to highlight Republic’s performances at the Hillcrest Invitational Thursday. Douglas barely missed winning a gold medal for Republic with a toss of 48.41m. The winner, Kyle Eidson, threw 48.43m – beating Douglas by less than an inch.
Douglas’s toss surpassed the old Republic record of 48.29m set by Avery Moody on May 14, 2022.
Zion Allen also turned in two strong performances in individual events. He finished second in the high jump, clearing 1.90m. The winning jump of 1.95 meters by Peyton Ligon of Ozark was less than two inches higher than Allen’s.
Allen also finished fourth in the long jump with a leap of 6.44m.
Brady Purcell finished sixth in the 3200m run with a time of 10:02.47.
The 4x800m relay team was the only relay to medal for Republic. William Payne, Joey Mullins, Brady Purcell, and Aslan Ebisch finished sixth with a time of 8:34.12.