East Paulding’s track and field coach said he is pleased with the performances of his runners, sprinters, jumpers and throwers at this point in the season as they prepare for the Paulding County Championships on Saturday.

“So far, we have exceeded expectations. I knew that the girls distance team and a few of our female hurdlers would be strong this year, but the boys’ success has been a surprise,” said head coach Alan Daws.

The girls’ team is currently being led by seniors Lilly Kidane, Jasmine Parham and Leah Sikorski. Kidane and Sikorski are returning state placers from 2012 and Parham is currently ranked No. 1 in Class 5A in the 300-meter hurdles.

For the boys, senior Connor Christian is a standout as he has been “very strong” in the shotput this season, winning every event thus far. Christian has had several throws exceeding 44 feet.

“These four athletes have the best shots at not only going to state, but placing at state,” Daws said.

Also doing well for the boys is the 4x100 team — Malik Bruce, Johnny Furby, Enoch Pile and Tae Rae. Their time of 44.00 at the Buccaneer Relays at Allatoona High School March 9 ranked them at third in the region.

The Raiders competed against Allatoona, Cambridge, Gainesville, Kell, North Cobb, Pebblebrook, South Paulding and Villa Rica in the event

“I was very pleased at how we did at the Buccaneer Relays. Our boys sprinting crew really surprised us by winning the 4x100 and taking second in the 4x200,” said Daws.

The girls distance medley relay, made up of Caroline Basch, Kidane, Parham and Sikorski, broke the school and county record in the event. Christian won the shotput as well.

While the team is performing well, Daws said his team is “very young” and still has some things to work on. But if they stay focused they can be “very good,” he said.

“One of the areas that we must continue to work on is discipline and continuing to work out what we have. We have a lot of new runners and we are still trying to balance out who is running in which event,” said Daws.