Darrah Wiseman has more gold around her neck.
The Tellico Plains junior won her fifth and sixth career gold medals at the TSSAA Class A State Championship meet on May 21.
Wiseman moves to six medals in six events.
Bears’ senior Nicholas Hawk added more medals to his resume as well, finishing fourth in the 300m hurdle and fifth in the 110m hurdle.
“Just how proud I am for both of them and all the hard work they have put in. Not just this year, but Nicholas for the past four years and Darrah for the past three,” Tellico Plains coach Barry Carroll said. “It is the fruits of their labor and a sport that rewards hard work. Nobody deserves to be here more than those two.”
Wiseman’s first finish came with a strong final kick ahead of the final 200 meters in the 1600m.
Rounding the final corner, Wiseman turned the jets up, winning the meet by two seconds ahead of Liberty Creek’s Sydney Tackett.
“Usually, I like to do it around the 200m mark. It really just depends on how I am feeling my competition. If I feel them like they are kicking I will do it a little later, but if I feel like I can take them I will do it a little earlier,” Wiseman said. “It was definitely faster competition than my older years, which is fine. It was the first event, so I had to conserve energy while maintaining my speed.”
Wiseman won the event with a time of 5:29.33. Wiseman has now won the 1600m and 800m in consecutive years.
Her first two gold medals date back to 2022’s 800m and 3200m.
For someone with the success that Wiseman has had, managing expectations may be as big a challenge as managing the day.
“I do my best to block that out. If I let people’s expectations get into my head then it starts to affect me,” Wiseman said. “I try to block it out and run my own race.”
Wiseman’s insurance in the 800m was just shy of two seconds. A winning run of 2:25.79 edged out Madison Academic’s Ximena Acosta.
“We knew she would probably be pushed more than she has in the past. The Liberty Creek girl, especially in the 1600m, we were not really sure how she would go out in the race,” Carroll said. “We played it conservatively because Darrah has an amazing kick. We knew if we were close towards the end she could close it out.”
“For the 1600m I was focused on just winning and then resting up for the 800m,” Wiseman said. “(My coaches) were just being positive and encouraging. We talked about the race strategy and how I wanted to sit back and kick at the end.”
The junior had about an hour of downtime between the two events.
Hawk started the day with fifth place in the 110m hurdle behind a 16.37 time.
The senior finished less than a tenth of a second behind fourth-place Alexander Powell of Brainerd.
“It was another day at the track. It is not different — you have done it 100 times. This one is just in front of a larger crowd,” Hawk said of his conversations with his coaches. “It feels great. I was really happy with the placements I got. It is a little sad, because now it is over, but life goes on.”
Hawk blew past his personal best in the 300m hurdle.
“He had a really fast and gutsy run in the 300m hurdles. It was a really great time for him,” Carroll said.
Zooming to a fourth-place finish with a time of 40.96, Hawk beat his PR by some time.
“It was my last event in high school track, so I was giving it everything I had,” Hawk added.
The senior competed in his first TSSAA state competition a week prior, placing fourth in the Class A State Decathlon.
Beating the heat, Carroll had a tent set up to help his runners handle the sun.
Hawk finished ahead of his seeded time of sixth in the 300m hurdle.
Mitchell Witt joined Carroll to help the runners handle the day.
“To me, it is a testament to the quality of kids that are at Tellico. I am just so proud of them and proud for the program. I am glad we have been able to have some success over the year and to be a part of it,” Carroll said.
Wiseman has represented Tellico at the last three state meets.
“It means a lot. It is really special and I love to be able to do this for my town and my community. I think everybody just really supports me and it is amazing to show them what they do for me,” Wiseman said. “I am just super thankful for my family and Coach Carroll. Especially with this being his last season and what he has done.”
Carroll ended the season by resigning from his position. He will coach his son's middle school program in McMinn County.
“I have had a blast coaching cross country and track for the past 12 years. I have had some great kids, several state qualifiers and a few state championships,” Carroll said. “It is just more than I ever expected to be a part of the coaching track at Tellico with no track facilities.”
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