Competing as one team combined of middle school student-athletes from South Marshall Middle and North Marshall Middle, the track team’s success led them to the KTCCCA Middle School State Championships in Louisville last Saturday.
At the state meet, the team is required to split into the school they attend, either South Marshall or North Marshall, and due to questions brought forward as to whether some athletes had been placed with the correct school, an inquiry took place which found a few had been placed under the wrong school, which led to disqualifications of the all the relay teams and an individual who won a state title.
Marshall County Superintendent Trent Lovett said he has apologized to those teams whose athletes weren’t able to celebrate their achievements due to some wrong decisions and errors made by adults. He was asked by organizers of the meet to verify which schools the students attended.
“I’m very proud of our kids and how they performed and competed at the state meet”, Lovett said. “It was a lot of fun to watch them compete, they have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of and none of this was their fault.”
Middle school track coach Richard Dowdy, immediately resigned his position as coach when the discrepancies were discovered.