Three Shelby County athletes strike gold at Austin meet

• Three Shelby County athletes strike gold at Austin meet
• Three Shelby County athletes strike gold at Austin meet

Two Shelbyville seniors and a Joaquin sophomore each brought home a gold medal from the Class 2A state track and field meet Friday at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin.

Dylan Parker and Emily Pharris - both of Shelbyville won the 2A boys high jump and 2A girls 800-meter run, respectively. Max Garvin of Joaquin won the 2A boys pole vault.

“I took second in the 800 last year, and third in it my sophomore year,” Pharris said. “It felt great to win it this year.”

Pharris was one of seven Shelby County athletes to compete in the state meet. However, she was the only one to compete in more than one event.

Pharris also competed in the 2A girls 400-meter and 1,600-meter runs. She finished second and eighth, respectively, in those events.

“This is my first year running the 400, so it was great to medal in that,” Pharris said. Pharris not only qualified for the state meet each of the last three years, but she also qualified in three events each of those times. The senior competed in the 800 and 1,600 all three years, but the third event was different each time.

Pharris also competed in the 4x400-meter relay as a sophomore, the 4x200-meter relay as a junior, and the 400 this year. She also won the 2A state cross country championship each of the last two seasons.

Parker made the most of his only state meet appearance. He took home the gold medal with a leap of 6 feet, 5 inches. Slade Nickels of Sudan also jumped 6-5, however, he had six missed jumps compared to five misses for Parker.

“Last year, I didn’t even make it past regionals,” Parker said. “This year, I came in with a chip on my shoulder. This is a great feeling. No better feeling.”

This is just the second year that Parker has competed in the high jump. He’s also a member of the Shelbyville baseball team, where he plays shortstop and pitcher.

“I’ve really been working on high jump,” Parker said. “It’d be great to get to the state tournament in baseball as well.”

Garvin, who moved to Joaquin from Mt. Enterprise this semester, won his event with a vault of 15-6. He had the same distance as Pratt Mc-Lain of Gruver, but McLain had six missed vaults while Garvin just had four misses.

“I’ve come a long way this season and I gave it all I had,” Garvin said.

Garvin began pole vault when he was in fourth grade. He doesn’t hesitate to call it his favorite event.

“I also do sprints and high jump,” Garvin said. “They all work into the technique of pole vault. It’s a different feeling. The adrenaline of competing, there’s nothing like it. I love it when I go for a high bar.”

Garvin attended Garrison a year ago and Mt. Enterprise during the fall. He’s happy to be at Joaquin.

“It’s been good,” Garvin said. “The weight training and coaches are great.”

Garvin took second in the event last year while attending Garrison. That gave him plenty of motivation to turn silver into gold this year.

“Last year made me push through and I didn’t want to finish second again this year,” Garvin said. “I want to beat the 2A state record of 17 feet.”

Dalton Beckham of Timpson also competed in the pole vault. He finished seventh.

Other Shelby County athletes who competed were Riley Mullins of Joaquin (8th, 2A girls discus), Kylie Snell of Shelbyville (8th, 2A girls 300-meter hurdles) and Emonte Cross of Center (9th, 4A boys triple jump). Cross competed on Thursday.