Pope High School has recognized its track and field athletes who achieved top honors at the 2025 GHSA Track & Field State Championships. The school held a ceremony to present state championship rings to individual event winners and members of the 5A Girls State Champion team, led by coach Jerad Johnson.
“In 18 years of doing this,” Johnson said, “I cannot remember a more enjoyable group to be around. This team held each other to high standards. They were motivated, competitive, disciplined and, more importantly, all-around good people who were fun to be around.”
The recognition highlighted the achievements from last May at Barron Stadium in Rome, Georgia. Pope athletes secured five event wins: four individual titles—Aislynn Dunn in the girls 800-meter run, Josie Hutchinson in the girls 3200-meter run, Lauren Woodall in the girls 100-meter hurdles, and Dermot Maloney in the boys 3200-meter run—and a first-place finish by the girls’ 4×800-meter relay team consisting of Dunn, Hutchinson, Phoebe Throckmorton, and Ahna Hicks.
“We had some studs who made a lot of noise in 2024,” Johnson recalled when thinking about how he knew something big was possible a year earlier. “The combined effort of our veterans’ composure and the confidence and excitement of the younger girls was the perfect recipe. Despite any nerves the coaches tried to hide, the girls were confident in their own abilities and their teammates.”
This championship marks Pope’s first Girls Track State Championship since 1996. The team also recorded one second-place finish, three third-place finishes, and six additional top-five placements. Their collective performance resulted in a total of 96 points—22 points ahead of Woodward Academy.
Coach Johnson congratulated both individual and team winners on their accomplishments.
