Two sets of twins led the DeKalb County School District (DCSD) to a 46-medal performance at the Georgia High School Association (GHSA) State Championships in Track and Field held May 11-13.
Druid Hills High School Twin Sisters Federico Sana and unique Frederick and twin brothers from Southwest DeKalb High School Isaiah Taylor and xzaviah taylor combined for 13 of DCSD’s 46 total medals. DCSD athletes also set six new state records as four DCSD teams placed in the top five of their rankings, including Southwest DeKalb, who won their second straight state championship.
The Taylor twins are the sons of former Southwest DeKalb state champion and Olympic champion. By Angelo Taylor.
“They ran in two meets their freshman year before COVID caused the cancellation of the rest of the season,” the Southwest DeKalb track coach said. bob mullen. “They were running the same times as the varsity players at the beginning of the season, and I think they would have done it that year.”
The Taylor twins have combined for nine individual medals and five gold medal relay teams. Isaiah Taylor has five individual medals (three gold, two silver), while his brother has one silver and three bronze. The pair have been part of three consecutive gold medal-winning teams in the 4 × 400 meter relay, including the team that set this 2023 record (3:10.55) along with Alexander and Xavier Turner. The team broke the 36-year-old record of 3:13.21 set in 1987 by another Southwest DeKalb team consisting of rodney hooks, kelly carter, hason grahamand eddie miller.
“Most people haven’t seen their work ethic and the effort they put into improving themselves,” Mullen said. “They get up early in the morning and run and work out and run on the weekends and have been a huge influence and a part of these back-to-back state championships.”
In 2022, the pair combined for six gold medals as Southwest DeKalb won the DeKalb County Track and Field Championships for the first time since 2018 as a precursor to winning the 2022 Class 5A state championship. The brothers combined for three medals singles and ran on three gold medal relay teams, including the 4 × 100 (Isaiah Taylor), 4 × 200 (Xzaviah Taylor), and 4 × 400 (both).
The twins also helped to two big comeback wins at the DeKalb County and Class 4A State Championships in 2023.
Isaiah Taylor swept the hurdle events in state with a state record time of 35.94 in the 300 hurdles, which is the best time in the US this year. Xzaviah Taylor took silver in the 300m hurdles, bronze in the 400m on foot and was part of the record time of 1:25:13 in 4×200. The pair also helped the state record time of 3:10.55 in the 4 × 400 relay.
Both brothers have signed to run track at North Carolina A&T University next season.
The Frederick twins raise the bar at Druid Hills
The Twin Stars of Druid Hills High School Junior Track Federico Sana and unique Frederick they are raising the bar for the Lady Red Devils track program and dragging their teammates down with them, according to their coach.
“Sanaa and Sole have been instrumental in the Druid Hills track program for the past three years,” said the Druid Hills track coach. Enriqueta Jorge. “They work hard and never make excuses and their presence creates a positive atmosphere in practice and in games.”
The pair helped lead the Lady Red Devils to their first DeKalb County Track and Field Championships title in 2023, after finishing fourth in a row in 2021 and 2022.
The twins were part of the victorious 4 × 400 meter relay that decided the 2023 Napoleon Cobb DeKalb County Track and Field Championships title, while Sanaa Frederick was named Roslyn Wallace’s Best Female Performer.
“Their teammates are buoyed and motivated to break records and fly higher as they see the twins achieve greatness,” said George. “Every day they find out how to improve their performances. They are humble but also the hardest on themselves because they seek to please”.
The 200-meter running battle between the sisters at the Class 4A Girls’ Track State Championship also went to the finish. Sole Frederick defeated her sister by 0.01 of a second in the prelims, setting a new state record of 23.52. Her time of 23.53 surpassed the previous state record of 23.64 set by Chamblee’s. Maria Ana Erigha 20 years ago.
Sanaa Frederick returned on May 12 to break her sister’s record by running 23.39 to set the new record in the event, as she won gold by just 0.02 of a second.
Victory in the 200-meter dash gave Sanaa Frederick a sweep of the 100-meter and 200-meter events for the second year in a row, and he even set a record in the 100 of 11.41 to break the mark of 11.50 in 36 years.
The pair teamed up with teammates. Jadyn Bolden and miya cartan for another state record by winning the 4 × 100 meter relay with a time of 45.74 to break the mark of 45.91 set in 2015 by Baldwin. The same four also won gold in the 4×400 relay (3:49.85).
Sanaa Frederick now has four individual state gold medals (two in the 100-meter dash and two in the 200-meter dash) along with one bronze medal (100-meter dash) and one silver medal (200-meter dash) as of 2021 Sole’s state medal collection stands at two with silver and bronze as of 2023.
The twins also have a gold in the 2002 4×100 relay along with a silver in the 4×400 the same year and a bronze in the 4×100 in 2021.
The couple have received scholarship offers from Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, LSU and other universities as they head toward their senior year at Druid Hills.
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