Halls junior decathlete Brody Foster won the 2025 Class AAA Decathlete on Thursday, May 15, in Clarksville, Tenn.
BY JESSE SMITHEY
Leaving football behind to focus on another athletic venture is not an easy thing to do — especially in this part of the state.
But Brody Foster couldn’t ignore his results on the track. He knew they could cut a potential path to college.
Foster’s decision can’t be questioned.
Not after what he did this week.
The Halls High School junior not only won the TSSAA State Class AAA Decathlon, but he also dominated.
The 6-foot-2, 190-pound Foster accumulated 7,229 points across the 10 events, clearning second-place Chase McAvoy of Farragut by 967 points. Landon York of Campbell County finished sixth in the 12-man field.
“I put in work every day, even it’s not training. It’s the way that I eat. It’s the way that I sleep,” Foster said.
“I put in training on and off the track.”
Foster’s final total also now ranks him first nationally.
The 17-year-old won the triple jump, the long jump and the shot put and was second in the pole vault, discus, 400-meter and high jump.
His worst finishes came in the 100 (fifth) and 1500-meter (sixth).
The discus and 1500-meter were two events he really put concerted effort into this year.
“Those two events for me are kind of on the weaker side for me, at the moment,” said Foster. “So, I knew that I needed to focus in on them. I knew that if I could improve on them, it’d really help my total score.”
Foster’s freshman year, a coach at Halls encouraged him to give track & field a try. His sophomore year, Foster realized he could really excel in the sport and started taking it more seriously.
He wound up finishing fourth in the 2024 Class AAA state decathlon wit 6,104 points.
He dropped football after his sophomore year and really gave his all to track & field.
“I enjoyed football, too. But I knew that I could potentially pursue track at the next level,” Foster said. “So that was the decision-maker for me.”
Foster hopes his point total this week catches the eyes of college track coaches. Recruiting in track & field doesn’t mirror that of college football, where offers and attention come in early.
But if there’s a time for it to pop for Foster, it’s now.
“It starts late in the game with track. I’ve started to talk with coaches a bit,” he said. “I’ve been talking to some bigger some schools. But being heavily recruited hasn’t really started for me, at this point in time.
“Being the No. 1 decathlete in the country, that’s definitely going to help me get recruited more,” Foster added. “That’s going to speed up the process tremendously.”
IN OTHER RESULTS
- Darien Humphries, a senior at Greeneville, finished fourth in the Class AA Decathlon. Alcoa sophomore Jamir Dean was seventh and Gibbs junior Lee Wolosik eighth. Dean won the high jump event.
- Bryson Morrissette of Pigeon Forge was sixth in the Class A Decathlon while teammate Cris Fudger took ninth.
- William Blount senior Savannah Darnell and Knoxville West sophomore Elle Etheridge finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the Class AAA Pentathlon. Morristown East junior Ashley Salon was ninth.
- Camden Garland, a junior from Elizabethton, finished fourth in the Class AA Pentathlon.