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By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

When the dust cleared and everyone had crossed the finish line, only two Class AA runners in the state were faster than Niakoe Burks.

Burks completed a memorable stay in the state track-and-field meet with a third-place finish in the 100-meter dash, and that came after she placed second in the long jump.

The performance at state put the wraps on a sensational school year for Burks, who helped lead the basketball team to the third round of the state tournament earlier this year.

At the state meet, Burks had the second-fastest 100-meter dash time during the qualifying race on Friday.

On Saturday, Burks and seven other runners returned to the track to vie for state supremacy.

In a close race, Burks posted a time of 12.71 seconds, leaving her just 1/10th of a second behind the winning time of Sanna Earles (12.61 seconds) of Dodge County, while Oglethorpe County’s Jayda Jones (12.62 seconds) was second.

Burks also had a stellar performance in the long jump, finishing second with a distance of 17 feet, 3.5 inches.

Zekylah Boyd of Heard County claimed first place with a jump of 17 feet, six inches.

Also for Callaway, the team of Omarianna Brown, Malaysia Parham, Markayla Moore and Burks finished 13th in the 400-meter relay.

Heard County, a rival of Callaway’s in Region 5-AA, won the state championship in the 400-meter relay.

Also for Callaway, Dillion Stephens was 15th in the discus with a throw of 112 feet, three inches.