KNOXVILLE — Volunteer’s Kasey Brown, Roman Borghetti-Metz and Jacie Begley each defended their regional titles at the Division 1 — Class AA East Section Championships on Saturday at the University of Tennessee’s Tom Black Track to qualify for a return trip to the state track meet.
Volunteer’s Aliah Laster added her name to the list of sectional champions with a school record pole vault of 11-0. Cherokee freshman Leah Mowell joined the elite group with a win in shot put (37-10.5) and added a second-place finish (120-0) in discus to boot.
Volunteer’s Jackson Clonce finished as the sectional runner-up in discus with a throw of 157-6 to secure his second straight state tournament appearance.
The top two finishers in each event from the state’s three sections automatically qualify for the TSSAA Class AA Track & Field Championships on Tuesday, May 21, at Middle Tennessee State University’s Dean Hayes Stadium in Murfreesboro. Two at-large bids (the next best marks from all the sections combined) complete the field of eight competitors for the state meet.
“Overall, we really had a good day on both the girls and boys side. The meet was chaotic, seeing multiple athletes who were projected to win either scratch, fall or no height in field events or races. Our athletes took full advantage and seemed not to get swept up in the moment,” said Volunteer coach Sam Barton. “All of our projected winners and qualifiers did their jobs, as well as other surprises that were able to sneak into the state meet.”
In the team rankings, the Greeneville boys won their third straight sectional championship with 100.50 points. Signal Mountain was second (84) and Volunteer third (74). Cherokee (29.50) finished at No. 10 in the 27-team field.
Signal Mountain (170.5) ran away with the girls’ sectional title, with Tennessee High (64) second and Crockett (54) third. Volunteer finished sixth (39.50) and Cherokee 11th (26) in the 28-team field.
“Obviously, we were led by the dominating performances of Aliah Laster, Jacie Begley, Roman Borghetti-Metz and Kasey Brown with their wins. All of those athletes continue to impress by winning and continuing to break their own school records meet after meet,” Barton said. “All of them have the great ability to perhaps bring multiple state championships home — if they have a good day and perform to their abilities.”
AUTOMATIC QUALIFIERS
Begley, a senior LMU commit, won the girls 800 with a time of 2:18.07. Borghetti-Metz, a junior, collected the boys 800 title with a season’s best time of 1:54.90. Both Begley and Borghetti-Metz will be gunning for the state titles that eluded them a year ago. Each of them finished second in the 800 races at the state meet last year.
Brown, a senior who has committed to D-1 Charleston Southern, threw the shot put 56-6.5 on Saturday to win the section and a return trip to the state meet.
Laster, a junior, will be making her third straight state appearance in the pole vault. She finished third as a freshman and second last year with a vault of 10-6. Laster just missed the state title, losing on a tiebreaker to champion Fairyn Meares who hit the same 10-6 mark in fewer attempts.
Mowell, a freshman, won a TMSAA state championship in shot put as an eighth grader and would love to add a high school title to her collection. She’ll have two chances, having qualified in shot put and discus.
Prior to Saturday’s sectional, Volunteer’s Grant Winegar had already qualified for the state decathlon by finishing as the runner-up in the East section event. It is Winegar’s third straight state decathlon appearance.
The top two from each section of the state, plus six wildcards, qualify to compete in the boys decathlon and girls pentathlon. Volunteer had hoped to pick up a wildcard bid on the girls’ side, but Laster missed out by a few points.
OTHER TOP PERFORMANCES
A number of other athletes from Cherokee and Volunteer turned in outstanding performances at the sectional championships on Saturday.
Cherokee freshman Elizabeth Coward finished fourth in the 400 with a time of 1:01.77. Brooke Nelson finished seventh in high jump. Emily Cuthrell was eighth in long jump. The Lady Chiefs’ 4x400 relay finished eighth overall.
Lofton Hayes had two great races, finishing fourth in the 400 (50.96) and fifth in the 200 (22.67). Trey Smith posted two fifth-place finishes in the 110 hurdles (17.21) and the 300 hurdles (42.69). Jhay Sulit finished fifth in pole vault (11-0) and Ashton Lowry sixth in discus (144-11).
“Overall, I felt our CHS teams did really well this year. I think they will become much stronger over the next couple of years,” said Cherokee coach Chad Laster.
In addition to the athletes he coaches, Laster will have two of his own children competing in state track and field championships. His son, Evan, will compete in three events at the TMSAA state meet for Rogersville City School, and daughter Aliah will be making her third straight appearance for Volunteer in the pole vault.
Volunteer’s Kadey Brown finished fifth in discus (100-3); Laster was sixth (95-3). Laster also finished fifth in the 100 hurdles. Taylor Bogg was eighth in the 300 hurdles (50.27).
John Ross finished fourth in the 3000 hurdles. The boys 4x800 relay finished fourth.
LOOKING AHEAD
Volunteer’s Grant Winegar will kick off state competition for the Falcons in the TSSAA Decathlon, which will be held May 15-16 at MTSU’s Dean Hayes Stadium.
Any points he earns in the decathlon will be included in Volunteer’s team scores for the TSSAA Class AA Track & Field Championships, which get underway at 9 a.m. (CT) on Tuesday, May 21, at MTSU’s Dean Hayes Stadium.
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