Many of the participants in Wednesday’s Floyd County Invitational seemed to enter the event with the same mind-set: Rather than competing against the other runners, they were simply competing against themselves.

That philosophy appeared to work out well for Pepperell’s Marcus Jackson and Cassadee Ainsworth, who both earned first-place finishes in two different events during the six-team meet held at Pepperell.

Jackson, who blazed through the 400 meter with a time of 50.14, helped steer the host Dragons to the overall team title.

“My goal for today was just to go out and beat some of my old times and (continue) to get ready for state,” said Jackson. “We kind of used this meet as a landmark to see where we are.”

Pepperell won the event with 158 points, followed by Darlington (124) and Rome High (93).

On the girls’ side, Darlington sprinter Ebony Carter won two events to help the Lady Tigers claim the overall title with 169 points. Pepperell (133) finished second and Rome (95) was third.

But again, this particular meet wasn’t so much about team scores as it was individual performances.

And there were plenty of good ones.

Rome High’s Ben Shippey, for instance, made an impact by winning two events, taking the 1600 (4:48) and the 3200 (10:31).

For Pepperell, Ainsworth took first in both the 800 (2:31) and 1600 (5:36). For Darlington, Carter won the 100-meter dash (12.66) and the 200-meter (26.37).

Also, Armuchee’s Kelcey Akridge set a personal best while winning the girls’ 400-meter dash with a time of 1:03.71.

Akridge, like Jackson, said she was motivated more by her previous times than her desire to beat the rest of the field.

“I was just trying to go out and set a good time, and to be honest, I kind of surprised myself a little bit (by winning the event),” said Akridge, who posted a winning time of 1:03.71. “As a team, we feel like we’re getting better and better with each meet, and that’s our top goal.”

Other top performers during the meet included Darlington’s Lindsey Evans, Nora Cook, Carolyn Kipp, Mary Bailey Jones and Alexandra Dodd. Each of those four took first place in one event for the Lady Tigers.

Evans won the 3200-meter run (13:22), Jones won the 300-hurdles (54.44), Cook won the pole vault (7½ feet), Kipp won the long jump (16-01) and Dodd won the discus throw (105-01).

Also capturing first place in their respective girls’ events were: Model’s Charron Woodley, Rome High’s Summer Starr, Model’s Joy Hoskins, and Pepperell’s Kayra Edwards.

On the boys’ side, the first-place winners included: Rome’s Titus Daniel, Darlington’s Conner McWhorter, Pepperell’s Cory Ginn, Model’s Jamie Palmer, Model’s Taylor Kerce, Coosa’s Quentin Hight, Pepperell’s Rashan Smith, Pepperell’s Zach Maddix, Darlington’s Dylan Baker, and Pepperell’s Ball.

Many of the teams in Wednesday’s meet will return to Pepperell on Saturday for the Pepperell Relays.

Here’s a look at the results, including the top three finishers in each event:

GIRLS

TEAM SCORES: Darlington, 169; Pepperell, 133; Rome, 95.50; Model, 51; Coosa, 26.50; Armuchee, 12;

100 Meter Dash: Ebony Carter, (Darlington),12.66; Joy Hoskins, (Model), 13.51; Uniqea Finlen, (Rome), 13.85

200 Meter Dash: Eboy Carter, (Darlington), 26.37; C. Woodley, (Model), 27.56; Kendricia Tate, (Rome), 28.01;

400 Meter Dash: Kelcey Akridge, (Armuchee), 1:03.71; Kendricia Tate, (Rome), 1:05.68; Tiffany Perry, (Darlington), 1:06.40;

800 Meter Dash: Cass Ainworth, (Pepperell), 2:31.00; Nora Cook, (Darlington), 2:43.00; Mikayla Wilson, (Pepperell), 2:47.;

1600 Meter Run: Cass Ainsworth, (Pepperell) 5:36.00; Ansley Mcdurmond, (Darlington), 5:54.00; Lindsey Evans (Darlington), 5:58.00;

3200 Meter Run: Lindsey Evans, (Darlington), 13:22.00; Georgia Arenas, (Rome), 14:32.00; Megan Gains, (Rome), 14:36.00;

100 Meter Hurdles: C. Woodley, (Model), 16.93; Leanne Manning, (Coosa), 17.18; Jenni Cheeks, (Pepperell), 17.50;

300 Meter Hurdles: Mary Bailey Jones, (Darlington), 54.44; Mary Ellen Ryan, (Pepperell), 55.65; JaShayia Harris, (Rome), 56.12;

4x100 Meter Relay: Darlington, 52.19; Rome, 52.22; Pepperell, 53.29;

4x400 Meter Relay: Darlington, 4:23.19; Rome, 4:28.62; Pepperell, 4:43.08;

High Jump: Summer Starr, (Rome), 5-00; Jashyia Harris, (Rome), 4-06; Paige Fosha, (Pepperell), 4-06;

Pole Vault: Nora Cook, (Darlington), 7-06; Victoria Ross, (Darlington), 7-00; Katie Tullos, (Darlington), 7-00;

Long Jump: Carolyn Kipp, (Darlington), 16-05.50; Taylor Mathis, (Pepperell), 15-10.00; Kiara Parks, (Pepperell), 14-04.50;

Triple Jump: Joy Hoskins, (Model), 31-11.00; Emma Horne, (Pepperell), 30-05.00; Tiffany Perry, (Darlington), 29-07.50;

Shot Put: Kayra Edwards, (Pepperell), 36-05.50; Brooke McCoy, (Pepperell), 31-07.50; Alexandra Dodd, (Darlington), 31-07.00;

Discus Throw: Alexandra Dodd, (Darlington), 105-01; Hannah Graham, (Coosa), 103-01; Chelsea Overby, (Coosa), 90-05;

BOYS

TEAM SCORES: Pepperell, 158; Darlington,124; Rome, 93; Model, 72; Coosa; 36; Armuchee, 8.

100 Meter Dash: Titus Daniel, (Rome), 11.68; Toryan Dallas, (Rome), 11.71; L. Osborne, (Pepperell), 11.77;

200 Meter Dash: M. Jackson, (Pepperell), 23.18; Tylon Garrett, (Darlington), 23.57; Titus Daniel, (Rome), 24.12;

400 Meter Dash: M. Jackson, (Pepperell), 50.14; Josh Haywood, (Model), 52.18; AJ White, (Darlington), 52.20;

800 Meter Run: Conner McWhorter, (Darlington), 2:11.00; Dylan Graham, (Pepperell), 2:13.00; J. Worthy, (Pepperell), 2:16.00;

1600 Meter Run: Ben Shippey, (Rome), 4:48.00; Conner McWhorter, (Darlington), 4:50.00; Thomas Caldwell, (Rome), 5:00.00;

3200 Meter Run: Ben Shippey, (Rome), 10:31.00; Jesse Baker (Darlington), 11:05.00; Jeremy Atkins, (Model), 11:39.00;

110 Meter Hurdles: C. Ginn, (Pepperell), 15.19; Dylan Baker, (Darlington), 15.56; Cody Sheperd, (Coosa), 16.21;

300 Meter Hurdles: Dylan Baker, (Darlington), 39.99; David Bosarge, (Rome), 45.09; John Weeks, (Darlington), 46.19;

4x100 Meter Relay: Pepperell, 43.64; Rome, 44.74; Model, 45.09;

4x400 Meter Relay: Darlington, 3:32.68; Pepperell, 3:34.96; Model, 3:50.06;

High Jump: Jamie Palmer, (Model), 5-10; Josh Haywood, (Model), 5-08; Z. Tyree, (Pepperell), 5-08;

Pole Vault: T. Kerce, (Model), 9-00; Milton Hancock, (Darlington), 9-00; Marshall Rawson, (Darlington), 8.50;

Long Jump: Quentin Hight, (Coosa) 21-04; C. Ginn, (Pepperell), 20-10; R. Smith (Pepperell), 20-05.75;

Triple Jump: R. Smith, (Pepperell), 41-01.50; C. Freeman, (Pepperell), 39-10.50; Quentin Hight, (Coosa), 39-04;

Shot Put: D. Ball (Pepperell), 42-07; Alex Sentell, (Darlington), 41-10; J. Heath, (Pepperell), 41-00;

Discus Throw: Zach Maddix, (Pepperell), 122-01.50; Nick Mitchell, (Coosa), 119-08; Jason Vasser, (Armuchee), 109-09