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BY JESSE SMITHEY
MURFREESBORO — It doesn’t happen often but it did Tuesday.
Two high school boys’ track & field programs from the 5Star Preps coverage map won state championships in the same season — let alone the same day.
But Alcoa won its second consecutive boys’ state championship and Greeneville won its first since 2014.
Catholic (2016-17) is the last area boys’ track team to repeat.
ALCOA WINS CLASS A
Alcoa senior Major Newman won the triple jump on Tuesday, May 24, 2022, in Murfreesboro, Tenn., with a jump of 44-2.5. (Photo by Charles Mays Media)
The Tornadoes win was a landslide, as they cleared second-place Pearl-Cohn by 20 points.
Football standouts Major Newman (2022) and Jordan Harris (2023) led the charge for Alcoa. Newman won the Class A state decathlon with relative ease last week in Brentwood, Tenn., and that garnered Alcoa 10 points. Teammate Zane Bonham finished third, giving Alcoa six more points.
Then Newman carried that level of performance into Murfreesboro.
The Army Football signee finished first in the triple jump (44-2.5) and second in the long jump (22-4).
Meanwhile, Harris laid claim to an individual win in the long jump (22-10.25) and third-place in the 200 (22.32).
Its 4 x 100 team was second by just .06. That squad featured: Newman, Harris, Bonham and Lester Whitted.
Alcoa’s 4 x 800 won by roughly six seconds. That foursome was: Robbie Soulier, Sam Bridges, Gage Cylc and Abdul Jaber.
Jaber was third in the 1600 at 1:07.57 and second in the 3200 (9:29.00)
MORE NOTABLE INDIVIDUAL WINNERS IN BOYS CLASS A
800: Sam Fulton (Gatlinburg-Pittman), 1:56.53.
Pole Vault: Bryson Church (West Greene), 12-6.
Shot put: Logan Wagner (South Greene), 50-0.75.
Discus: Logan Wagner (South Greene), 148-1.
GREENEVILLE WINS CLASS AA
Jaden Stevenson (right) edges out Greeneville teammate Mason Gudger in the 2022 Class AA boys 100-meter dash by .02. Stevenson won with a time of 10.69 seconds. (Photo by Charles Mays Media)
Greeneville edged Munford, 68-65, to claim its title.
Mason Gudger and Jaden Stevenson, who have been staples on Greeneville’s football team for years, delighted the crowd in the 100. Stevenson, who is signed to run track for Little Rock, edged Gudger by .02. Stevenson ran the 100 in 10.69 seconds. Gudger, a Georgetown football signee, clocked in at 10.71.
The two finished 1-2, again, in the 200-meter. Stevenson won at 21.54. Gudger wound up at 21.86.
Stevenson also won the 400 in 48.58 seconds and placed second in the long jump (22-2).
MORE NOTABLE INDIVIDUAL WINNERS IN BOYS CLASS AA
Shot put: Conner Johnson (Elizabethton), 51-11.25
300 hurdles: Treven McGhee (Cumberland County), 39.85
800: Dwayne Morris (Austin-East), 1:59.80.
GIRLS TRACK & FIELD FROM TUESDAY
Cadence Mancil of South Greene won the Class A pole vault (9-6) in a jump-off win.
Gatlinburg-Pittman won the Class A 4 x 800 relay at 10:26.52, a win by roughly 15 seconds. That team included: Tillie Trentham, Emma Hamilton, Stefani Johnson and Lily Stinnett.
Stefani Johnson of G-P win the girls 1600 in 5:36.87, clearing second place by some 10 seconds.
Tellico Plains freshman Darrah Wiseman won the 800 at 2:22.03 and the 3200 at 12:27.91 — a win by 24 seconds.
South-Doyle girls won Class AA 4 x 100 relay in 50.88 seconds. That team was: Lariah Cozart, Amani Martin, Abby Sharpe and Ka’Shauna Dye.
Maddox Mayfield of McMinn Central won the Class AA 400 in 58.89