POWDER SPRINGS - Once again, it was Marietta on top as the Blue Devils won the team title for the third consecutive year as the Region 5AAAAA boys track and field championships came to a close Wednesday at McEachern.

The region, yet again, came down to a battle between archrivals Marietta and McEachern. The Blue Devils emerged victorious with 152 points, with the Indians a close second at 142.

Marietta continued its strong performance in the field events with second- and third-place finishes in both the triple jump and shot put. The Blue Devils also were competitive with a formidable McEachern contingent in the running events.

"It was a good all-around performance," Marietta coach Nick Houstoulakis said. "We really came together as a team, We did well in field events, middle-distance (races), distance (races). We were strong all across the board."

Cherokee (85.6) was third, followed by Etowah (44), North Cobb (43.5), Woodstock (40), Harrison (39), East Paulding (33), Kennesaw Mountain (28) and South Cobb (14).

The top two finishers in each event qualified for the state meet next week in Jefferson.

Charles Francois led the way for Marietta with a win in the 100-meter dash. Francois won with a time of 10.71 seconds, edging McEachern's Demarius Matthews (10.98).

But for the most part, it was mostly McEachern dominating the running events, with the Indians winning six of the nine finals contested Wednesday.

Jaron Roberson led the McEachern surge with victories in the 400 dash and 300 hurdles.

Roberson won the 400 with a time of 48.69, finishing ahead of Cherokee's John Laws (49.75), and took the 300 hurdles with a time of 37.61, holding off McEachern teammate Cornelius Savage (37.71).

Savage was the one who came away with a region title in the 110 hurdles, winning with a time of 14.62. Marietta's Anthony Dunning (15.20) was second.

Mallory Richardson led a McEachern sweep of the two state meet berths in the 200 dash. Richardson won with a time of 21.95 to beat teammate Demarius Matthews (21.98).

McEachern also swept the two sprint relay races - the 400 and 1,600 - finishing ahead of runner-up Marietta in both races.

The Indians won the 400 relay with a time of 41.74, with Marietta finishing behind at 41.99, and took the 1,600 relay with a time of 3:20.33 to finish ahead of the Blue Devils' 3:22.51.

North Cobb's Alec Clifford clinched his second region title of the meet by winning the 800 in 1:57.25. Clifford, who won the 1,600 on Tuesday, finished ahead of Harrison's Nat Estes (1:58.50).

Kennesaw Mountain's Rashad Jenkins was the only other Cobb County winner of the day, claiming the triple jump with a jump of 43 feet, 5 inches. Marietta's Anthony Dunning (45-0) was the runner-up.

East Paulding's Caleb Whitener threw 60-3 to win the shot put and set a new region meet record. Whitener, who won the discus Tuesday, won by a convincing margin, nearly 10 feet ahead of Marietta's Jalen Fooster (50-4).

Etowah's Alex Merrall won the 3,200 run with a time of 9:41.86. McEachern's Nick Washizaki finished second (9:42.90), barely edging out Marietta's Andrew Nelson (9:42.94) for the second state meet berth.

Cherokee's Dillon Barone won the pole vault with a vault of 13-0, with Harrison's James Wenk (12-6) second.