After winning discus state title, the sky is the limit for Westside’s Anthony Horton

After throwing the discus three times at the GHSA Class 2A State Championships last week, Westside sophomore Anthony Horton hesitated.

It was looking like the sophomore, who had already finished in the Top 10 in discus last year at the state title event, would have to wait until his junior year to reach the podium.

“My first three throws weren’t very good, I was maybe fourth out of all the competitors,” Horton said Tuesday as he stood inside Westside’s gym, remembering his effort at the track meet at UGA’s track and field complex. 

So — before his fourth and final try, discus in hand — he paused and reflected.

“I said a little prayer before I went in the circle and said, ‘It’s all or nothing,’” Horton recalled.

That seemed to do the trick.

Horton’s last effort proceeded to fly through the air for a distance of 154 feet and 6 inches, giving him the state championship by more than 9 feet over the second-place finisher. He was the only Bibb County athlete to win a state championship in track and field this year and the first Westside athlete to do so in about eight years, one coach said.

Horton was wearing his GHSA Track and Field championship T-shirt at Westside on Tuesday. He smiled as he recounted his win, neatly recapping his fourth and final throw. 

His track coach, Westside football coach and former Weaver athletic director James Harris, was grinning as well.

“I’ll be honest, I wasn’t watching the last throw,” Harris said. “After the first three throws I thought, ‘Maybe it’s (me).’ So I looked away. … I heard cheers and that’s when I knew he had done well.”

After he learned what Horton did before his last try in the circle, Harris chuckled.

“Maybe the prayer helped, too,” he said.

A natural talent

Horton credited his coaches and his family for helping advance his track career. His older brother, Michael, was a big part of that — he also went to Westside and now plays offensive line for Mercer’s football team, but he was a track and field athlete first, inspiring Anthony.

“I started (track and field) in sixth grade. My older brother was pretty good, and my dad told me that I could be a state champion someday. I believed him,” Horton said. 

The sophomore said he improved “exponentially” during his second year as a track and field athlete at Westside. He also placed second in the shot-put, further evidence of his progress. 

Horton, who also plays football and basketball, learned a lot of lessons from coaches in addition to his parents.

“It’s really about hard work. Having to go out and grind for football helps me especially, having to work through hardships I may be facing in my training, but (knowing) it’s all gonna pay off,” Horton said. “Not every day of practice is gonna be a good day, that’s like any sport. Hard work will never not pay off.”

Harris has only been Horton’s main track and field coach for two years, but he was aware of Horton’s athleticism at Weaver as the AD there. Harris will also coach Horton in football next year and is excited to do so, noting that the sophomore is one of the hardest workers he’s ever seen.

“I’m sometimes just waiting for him to make a mistake,” Harris joked. “Probably the only thing he might make a mistake with is working too hard, staying late or practicing too much, and you can’t fault that. He just wants to be great.”

A multi-skilled star

Standing in the halls of Westside with Horton is not unlike being with a sort of celebrity.

While a few students say hello, it’s really the teachers and coaches who love to talk with Horton as they walk by, chatting him up while the star athlete gets his picture taken. They want to talk about his classes, his recent state trophy and just how he’s doing.

At one point, Horton returned to the gym after taking several photos. While he was gone, a few Westside staff members walked by and asked what the photo equipment was for. When they heard Horton’s name, their faces lit up as they lauded his incredible talent — not just his athletic prowess, but his skills in just about everything else.

One teacher praises his SAT score. Another mentions Horton’s eloquence in a video interview he did when as a freshman.

“He’s a sophomore (in high school), but when you listen to him talk it’s like he’s a sophomore in college,” Harris said of his professionalism.

That’s the other thing — as only a 10th grade student, Horton’s potential seems limitless. He conquered seniors by a wide margin to win his state championship last week and nearly did the same in the shot-put event. But it’s not something that crosses his mind.

“I really don’t want to sound cocky, but I can’t say I didn’t plan it. I just knew that was my goal at the beginning of the year and worked for it,” Horton said of his trophy. “I saw who was returning in Class 2A and I knew what I wanted. … It wasn’t my doing, though. All we can do is our part. I just trained and God made it happen.”

Horton is already thinking about next year. Harris says Horton was already asking him about another track meet, dubbed the “Meet of Champions,” after his discus win last week.

Oh, and there’s one other thing Horton and his coaches are thinking about — getting him fitted for a state championship ring.

“We definitely have to get him one of those,” Harris said. “I think he’ll get some more of them next year, too.”