TN Middle School Track & Field State Preview

Tennessee Middle School State Championships Preview

The top seed in the boy's discus is 162 feet 8 inches and in the shot the best comes in at 54 feet and 9.5 inches.    Both of these throws are by 8^th grader Dylan Carter of Union Grove & Carpenters Middle School.  Nope, it's not a typo, it's the top seeds for the AA middle school state championships.  And guess what, this young athlete has thrown farther, so the state meet might just see a real clinic in the throws for its inaugural year!  There are actually several guys throwing over the 100 mark and a few over the 120.  Mt Juliet's Justin Greer has the third best discus seed of 122-05, with Chris Everhart of Greenville having the second best seed at 133-02.  That's some impressive throws for so young! 

The first TN Middle School state championships for Track & Field qualifies 16 for each of the divisions.  They have the "A" division and the "AA" division (small and big).  This state championship is just a validation to the interest that track and field is getting across the state.  If you count the TMSAA, TSSAA, USATF, AAU and Youth athletics clubs throughout the state, we are certainly seeing the sport grow in size and participation!  Now, take the fact that ACL surgeries, concussion impacts, and numerous other contact and agility injuries we see all too often in football, soccer, and basketball, the uptick of athletes giving track and field a spin isn't a big surprise at all.  This MS state championship is a great start in the state to give the sport its due, and I'm glad to see that finally coming around! 

So back to the athletes qualifying for this championship.  I won't go through all the events and divisions, but just wanted to preview a few that stood out to me.  The 200M dash in the A division boys has some pretty notable marks to check out.  Vaughn Coleman comes in with a swift 23.88 and surrounding him with 24.09 is Rogersville City's Connor Smith and Geeter's Terry Wilkins with a 24.07.  That race might just be a tough one to call.  In the AA division, there are a couple of guys in the 23's with Ridgeway's Jordan Walton (23.89) and right there just barely ahead of him is North Parkway's Kevin Davis with a 23.86.  Throw in a few more boys in the 24's and that fast race looks to be one you want to keep an eye on for sure. 

I'd like to go back to the shot put and discus for a minute... and so not to be outdone by the boys, the girls in the AA class have a few pretty impressive throwers too!  There are four girls qualifying with marks at 35' or better.  Oakland's Sydney Gibson is one of two girls qualifying in the 35's with a 35-1 and just ahead of her is Angeli Wright of Whitworth with a 35-7.  The two top qualifiers come in at 36-5 (Union Grove's Jasmine Ervin) and leading the way is Crestview's Andryenna Hood with a huge toss of 38-2.   And again, yes, this is middle school!   Andryenna is also the top seed in the discus with an 82-11 mark and Rhea's Hallie DeArman the second best seed with a mark in the 80's as well (81-3).  However, the best discuss seed comes out of the A division with Union City's Mariah Johnson having a long toss of 88-0 to lead the way.  The A division also has some long throws in there too with the 2^nd and third seeds coming in with 82-11 (Katie Biggs) and 81-08 (Madison Brady).  Madison also has the top seed in the shot with her 35-7 entry.  The throws are such a highly technical event, it's nice to see these young athletes learning it now so they'll bring even better marks as they get into the high school arena. 

It's always a toss-up when you take a look at the distance marks for middle school athletes.  We say now that a lot of kids have trouble keeping their attention space to anything more than a few seconds... so that doesn't fare well when you're asking athletes to take a few minutes and gut out a 1600.  Let alone train for the distance!  Low attention span, and asking someone to endure some pain for several minutes, several times a week well, not really a model combination.  However, nobody told these athletes that!  The top girl in the 1600 will be John Sevier's Sasha Neglia with her state leading 5:10.80 that she ran at the TMSAA south east sectional on May 7^th.  That may just mean the race will be for second if Sasha runs that well this Saturday.  In the AA class, the second through sixth seeds are all within ten seconds of each other and so that race looks to be a close one to pick.  Jalyn Jenkins (Mt Juliet) has a 5:33.72 seed time but has run 5:31 earlier in the season so she may be the favorite to chip away at Sasha.  But nipping at her heels is going to be a duo from Robinson (Kingsport) in Gracie Allen (5:39) and Emma Russum (5:40), and then Maryville's Andie Marie Jones (5:43.50) and Oakland Kayleigh McIntrye (5:43.83).  Those are some pretty close seed times and all these girls come in the top 25 of the state, so it sure is setting up for a legitimately fast race! 

The boys bring in some speed in the 1600 as well.  The AA class posts two sub 5 minute middle schoolers with Oakland's Cooper Johnson leading the way in 4:56.77 seed time which is the #2 mark in the state.  The #3 runner in the state, Tyler Stewart, has a 4:57.88 and you can be sure both these guys are going to be neck and neck in all four laps Saturday!   But I would also keep an eye on Eli Cramer (Christiana, 5:01.48), Colonial's Joshua Orlando (5:03.15) and another top Oakland athlete in Ransom Lester (5:05.79).  And then I'd be curious to see if any of the top seeds for the A division can bring their marks closer to the 5 flat mark.  Rogersville City's Samuel Kirkpatrick comes in at 5:05.06, Fairview's Logan Parson with a 5:06.28 and third seed in that class is Jacksboro's Riley Faulkner in 5:07.44.  Those times really do set up for an exciting race to look forward too.

As you approach the sixty second barrier for the female athlete in the 400M dash, as Amelia Simpson (Barretts Chapel) is doing, you have to believe there is some pretty awesome talent there.  Amelia comes in with the fastest 400 time and she also comes in with the fastest 100 hurdle time for the meet (16.50).  This Arlington resident is one heck of an athlete and is likely to bring her 400 time down at this meet with the talent surrounding her on the oval.  The two next best seeds are Bellevue's Jaylyn Rodgers (1:03.25) and her teammate, Sanura Branigan (1:03.48).  My guess is the two Bellevue girls are going to work together to chase down Amelia and if I were to guess, is likely to produce some pretty speedy performances Saturday!  Looking forward to watching that for sure!   For this event, it does look like the Class A group has the edge with the fastest.  But looking at the top times in the AA girls, the top nine girls are all within just about a second apart.  Natalie Bates has the top seed with 1:03.02 (John Sevier) and the ninth seed is Mac Woods (Robinson) with a 1:04.65.  Those are the kinds of races you like to watch... all the way around the track and potentially finishing in a photo finish - you've got to love that! 

The boy's side has some powerful runners with several of the top seeds coming into this meet with top ten state performances.  Devonte Baines (Hickory Ridge) has a 54.19 that gets him into the 3^rd best in the state.  Phillik Steward's (LaVergne) time of 54.44 is the fourth fastest in the state.  Justin Henderson of White Station holds the seventh fastest time... so are you getting the picture... the top middle school runners in the state will be on the track and you know it's going to be fun! 

Some of the top 4x400 teams in the state are listed for this event and as always, could bring a very exciting finish to a day of track and field for these middle school athletes.  The top time in the state was put in by Sherwood Middle who leads off with their 3:49.17.  That's the only sub 3:50, but right there next to Sherwood will be the teams from LaVergne (3:50.69) and Liberty Bell Middle (3:53.77).  That's some impressive seed times for sure.  The A class may just be dominated by the John P Freeman team who comes in with a very fast 3:51.81.  That's a few seconds faster than the second and third seeds, who are Bellevue (3:57.39) and Kipp Memphis (3:58.15).  Cummings Middle has a closer time in there too with their 3:58.87 seed, so they could be challenging for the top of the podium as well. 

The girls 4x400 boasts some top ten teams from the state with the A class having Bellevue middle coming in with a seed of 4:28.04.  Right near them will be Jefferson (Oak Ridge) with 4:31.10.  So those two look to be the top guns for the A class at this inaugural running!  The AA brings in one of the best teams in the state, Hickory Ridge, with a time of 4:23.96.   They are going to have their hands full though with Liberty Bell (4:27.15), Maryville (4:30.42) and Cordova Middle (4:31.01) coming into this meet with some very strong times! 

So... this Saturday (May 21^st) if you're out by the Austin Peay University campus, stop by the track and come watch some of these very young and talented athletes.  You won't be disappointed with the talent you're going to see! 

Here is the schedule:  

See you on the Track,

Coach Ted