Intermittent rain dampened the Mill Creek track surface and lowered temperatures at Saturday's Gwinnett County Track and Field Championships. But it did not douse the significance of the occasion.

Field-event champions were crowned, and each of them oozed with pride and an earned sense of accomplishment.

The Peachtree Ridge girls emerged from the middle of the pack to earn 42.16 points going into Monday's final day of the two-day meet. Grayson led the way in the boys event with 34 points.

Long-jumpers Erika Waters and Raven Parrish pulled Peachtree Ridge ahead. Waters won the event with a jump of 16 feet, 5 inches — nearly 3 inches better than Parrish, who was second.

The team's overall placing in the field events held up well. So it did for Parkview and Grayson, too.

Grayson, in fact, had one athlete provide 20 points. Junior Mubarak Nabil won the county discus title with a throw of 144 feet, 9 inches. A few hours later, he took the shot put title, too, with a toss of 52 feet, 3 inches.

In the pole vault, Kara Dobbs captured the championship for Grayson at 10 feet. Her teammate, Joanna Fazio, was third, and the Rams were in the mix.

Nicole Dimercurio of North Gwinnett started the varsity part of the day by claiming the girls 1,600-meter run in 5:13.44. Collins Hill had the team lead at that point because Nicky Akande and Allyson McGinty finished second and third, respectively.

Another standout was Norcross' Tiffany Clarke. She won the girls triple jump crown with an effort of 36 feet, 9 1/2 inches — slightly more than inch farther than second-place finisher Naria Williams of Parkview.

A little while later, she finished second in the shot put behind county champion Eve Machovec of Dacula. Machovec, meanwhile, earned the discus throw title, at 139 feet, 5 inches.

Collins Hill picked up another champion in Steve Cash, who took the long jump with a leap of 21 feet, 11 1/2 inches. Berkmar's lone titlist was Hasheem Halim, who won the triple jump (48 feet, 3 inches).

Senior Paul Neidhardt of Brookwood took the county title in the pole vault (14 feet). Parkview's Marcelis Lynch won the boys 1,600 meters, in 4:22.71.

Among the qualifying events, the Broncos' Kenny Miles shone. He led off the Brookwood 400 relay team that finished first and he easily won his heat in the 100 meters. So did teammate Eric Griffin.