Christian Shouse of Campbell County.
By Mike Blackerby
As expected, Campbell County senior Christian Shouse battled Brentwood’s Jett Kinder to the wire Friday at the state Division I Large School decathlon in Clarksville.
Kinder, a junior, repeated as state champion with 7,077 points, edging Shouse (6,914) by 163 points in the two-day, 10-event test of endurance at Austin-Peay.
The finish was almost a repeat of 2018 when Kinder took first with Shouse in second, 201 points behind.
A highlight of the competition came in the high jump where both Shouse and Kinder cleared 6-8 to earn 831 points apiece.
Kinder also piled up big points in the pole vault (15-0, 781 points) and long jump (22-11, 809 points).
Shouse’s other times, marks and point totals by event were:
· 100, 11.08 seconds (843 points)
· Pole vault, 12-6 (565 points)
· Discus, 132-07 (673 points)
· Triple Jump, 43-10 (623 points)
· 400, 51.95 (727 points)
· 110 hurdles, 15.39 (803 points)
· Long jump, 22-03 (762 points)
· Shot put, 42-09 (669 points)
· 1500, 5:26.21 (418 points)
Kinder and Shouse were well ahead of the pack as Deng Wek of Memphis Central took third with 5,948 points.
Locally, West’s Shea DeGraaf (5,804) was fifth, Morristown West’s Kristof Lotivio (5,660) eighth and West’s Sebastian Latoree (4,848) 10th.
CAK sweeps decathlon, pentathlon
Christian Academy athletes dominated in the Division II-A decathlon and pentathlon competitions at Franklin Road Academy.
Gabel Fulford of CAK racked up 5,795 points to squeeze past FRA’s Landry Mitchell (5,755) and claim the decathlon state title.
Josh Whitaker was fourth (5,144) and Luke Etherton sixth (5,128) for the Warriors.
In the pentathlon, CAK’s McKinley Blackburn won with 2,776 points to edge past Laura Beth Turner (2,730) of Chattanooga Christian.
Kai Lanier (2,702) of Webb was third while CAK teammates Ariya Rice (2,456) and Maya Weaver (2,161) were seventh and 14th, respectively.
Division I Small School decathlon
This one came down to the wire as Piper Carter of Tellico Plains edged Cole Scott of Grace Christian Academy in Franklin by one point to claim the state championship Friday.
Carter totaled 5,207 points to Scott’s 5,206.
Cannon Piller of Gatlinburg-Pittman was third with 5,099 points. His teammate, Burke Hardin, was fifth with 4,825 points.
Alcoa’s Landon Ford (4,329) was 10th.
Division I Large School pentathlon
West’s Caroline Lewis was hoping for a second-place effort Thursday, but the Lady Rebels’ senior had to settle for fourth in the one-day, five-event competition.
Lewis totaled 3,053 points to finish behind repeat-winner and Colorado signee Avery McMullen (3,671) of Centennial, Serena Lee (3,111) of Memphis Central and Aliyah Wilson (3,080) of Houston.
Anna Richardson of Heritage was sixth with 2,997 points.
Lewis’ top-scoring event came in the 800 meters where she ran 2:23.66, which was good for 774 points.
Her other times, marks and point totals included: 100 hurdles, 16.37 (670); long jump, 17-06.75 (657); high jump, 4-09.75 (588) and shot put, 24-05.5 (364).
Richardson’s best event was the 100 hurdles where she ran 15.50 for 777 points.
Division I Small School pentathlon
Jalena Curbeam of East Nashville took the title Thursday with 2,465 points.
Two local athletes also placed in the competition: Melia Baker of McMinn County was fifth (1,930) and Sydney McCarty of Gatlinburg-Pittman was ninth (1,790).