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BY JESSE SMITHEY
Athletes from the 5Star Preps coverage area competed Tuesday, May 23, 2023, in the TSSAA State Track & Field Meet at MTSU. (photos by Charles Mays Media).
CLASS A
MURFREESBORO — Tuesday’s storyline was to be about the Alcoa boys’ track & field team winning a third consecutive state championship.
Instead, the Lady Tornadoes stole the show.
They won their first-ever team track & field state title; the Alcoa boys finished third.
The Lady Ts notched 100 total teams points, some 31 points clear of second-place East Nashville.
Alcoa’s girls logged an event win in the 4 x 800 relay in 10:24.86, got a second-place finish in the 4 x 200 in 1:49.55 and another silver in the 4 x 100 relay in 50.77. Alcoa got more points with a third in the 4 x 400.
Alcoa freshman Kacey Holliday placed second in the girls 1600 with a mark of 5:30.23 and second again in the 800 (2:28.49).
But Holliday owned the 3200 and took gold — her 12:19 mark was 10 seconds clear of second place.
Charlotte Tymon took third in the 100 hurdles, doing so in 47.18 seconds. Her fifth-place finish last week in the pentathlon also contributed to Alcoa’s winning mark.
And Alcoa freshman Anna Kate Baumann had fourth-place finishes in the 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles that nabbed five points apiece for the Lady Tornadoes.
Alcoa’s Jordan Harris won the 100-meter dash during the Class A state track & field meet at MTSU on Tuesday, May 23, 2023. (Photo by Charles Mays Media).
Pearl-Cohn won the boys’ championship, as Alcoa wound up 19.5 points behind.
Still, senior Jordan Harris capped his championship-rich prep career at Alcoa with a few more pieces of gold hardware.
The football standout won the state long jump for the third year in a row, his winning mark this year coming in at 22-6. He finished second in the triple jump at 44-1.
Harris then won the 100 meter in 10.84 seconds with a wind-aid factor of 1.3. He took second in the 200 at 22.41 seconds.
All told, Harris finished his career at Alcoa with four state football championships, a basketball team championship, two team track titles and four individual state track championships.
South-Doyle’s girls won a 4 x 100 relay on Tuesday, May 23, 2023, at MTSU in Murfreesboro, Tenn. (Photo by Charles Mays Media)
CLASS AA STATE MEET
No team contenders here, though Greeneville’s boys finished third.
Here’s a look at area athletes and relay teams who finished third or better in an event.
GIRLS
South-Doyle’s girls relay team did work Tuesday. The Lady Cherokees won the 4 x 100 in 49.91 seconds and were second in the 4 x 200 (1:45.86).
South-Doyle sprinter Ka’Shauna Dyer was second in the 200 dash in 25.78 seconds.
Union County sophomore Callie Wetzel got into winning mode, taking gold in the 100 hurdles. Her winning time of 15.67 won by 0.01 seconds.
Wetzel won once more int he 300 hurdles. This time, her winning time (46.65) had much more separation.
McCary Beaty, a sophomore at McMinn Central, won first in the girls long jump with a 17-8.5 mark. Last week, she finished as state runner-up in the Class AA pentathlon.
Johanna Laney, a sophomore at Northview Academy, got third in the pole vault (8-6).
Laney’s teammate Savannah Bates, a junior, claimed second in the high jump at 5-0.
Elizabethton’s Kaiya Simmons (12.31) and McMinn Central’s Maddox Mayfield (12.42) were second and third, respectively, in the 100 meter.
Mayfield, though, won the state 400 meter, the junior doing so in 57.54 seconds.
Anderson County freshman Ava Moody stood out in the 3200 meter, claiming second place in 11:28.53. Cocke County senior Jenna Pittman was third.
BOYS
Area athletes took all three top spots in the boys’ long jump, starting with first-place Jayquan Price of Greeneville. The senior jumped 22 feet, 3 inches to claim his championship. Greeneville teammate and freshman Zayden Anderson was second at 21-11. Claiborne junior Tyrell Miles was third (21-1.5).
Price then claimed another gold medal on the day, winning the state triple jump in 44-4.25. Miles, of Claiborne, got silver with a mark of 43-6.75.
Union County’s Alden Wetzel had a day. He won the state 200-meter dash in a mark of 22.57 seconds. Then, he was second in the 400 meter at 49.50 seconds and third in the 100 meter at 11.18 seconds.
Elizabethton sophomore Landry Buckles dominated the discus competition, his winning throw of 167-08 was 10 feet clear of second place. Greeneville’s J.J. Durbin was third (148-11).
Elizabethton senior Teddy Orton won the 110 hurdles in 14.73 seconds and the 300 hurdles (40.53 seconds). He also, last week, placed third in the state decathlon.
Ethan Demeter, a junior at Northview Academy, was third (15.82) in the 110 hurdles and second in the pole vault at 13-0.
NVA teammate Hunter Kinsey was second in the high jump at 6-2.
Austin-East senior Camden Burse claimed second place in the shot put with a 50-0.25 heave.
South-Doyle’s boys relay team clocked in at third in the 4 x 800 in 8:16.64.