Oak Ridge qualifies for state tournament in seven track, field events

 

Note: This story was last updated at 12:30 p.m.

Eleven Oak Ridge athletes have qualified for this month’s state tournament in seven track and field events. Three athletes—freshman Kate Hausladen, sophomore Jose Villegas, and senior Tyler Boullie—will each compete in two events.

Hausladen finished first in the girls 300-meter hurdles at Science Hill High School on Saturday with a time of 47.47. She was third in the 100-meter hurdles at 16.86.

Boullie was second in the boys 800-meter run at 1:56.04. He was also on the boys 4×800-meter relay team that finished third at 8:05.88. The other members of that relay team are Villegas, senior Thomas Colburn, junior Jacob Etheridge, and alternate Reid Dukes, a junior.

Besides qualifying as a member of the relay team, Villegas also qualified for state by finishing fourth in the boys 3,200-meter run with a time of 9:57.14.

To qualify for state, an athlete or team must finish in the top four in an event. Saturday’s qualifying meet was the Section I Championship at Science Hill in upper East Tennessee.

Also qualifying for state were:

• Senior Jordan Hardy, who finished third in the boys long jump at 20-04.50.
• The boys 4×100 relay team, which came in third at 48.80. That team includes senior Caleb Downard, senior Jaeshawn Maddox, sophomore Tony Miller, and freshman Jordan Graham.

The Wildcats had other close finishes. Freshman Jada Guinn tied for fifth in the girls high jump at 5-00.00. Junior Kayla Summers was fifth in the girls shotput at 33-06.75, and sophomore Brigid Bishop finished fifth in the girls pole vault at 8-06.00.

The throw by Summers in the girls shotput was the best she’s ever had, Oak Ridge Coach Allen Etheridge said. Guinn missed qualifying and getting fourth place in the girls high jump because she missed five feet on her first attempt but got it on her second.

Graham was fifth in the boys 200-meter dash at 22.87. That was only 0.05 seconds behind the fourth-place finisher, senior Bryson Stephens of Morristown East.

Hausladen qualified for the 100-meter race in the state tournament later this month in Murfreesboro, the 2016 Spring Fling from May 23-27, even though Etheridge said it’s not her strongest event.

Hausladen, who had the one first-place finish for Oak Ridge on Saturday, won the 300-meter hurdles “spectacularly,” Etheridge said. She was 0.75 seconds ahead of second-place runner, freshman Caroline Lewis of West High School.

“It was a personal best for her (Hausladen),” Etheridge said. “It was the fastest 300 hurdles we’ve had in quite some time.”

Boullie missed winning the boys 800-meter run by about .05 second.

“That was a thriller of a race,” Etheridge said. “He (Boullie) ran just about a perfect race. The guy who beat him (sophomore Kenton Bachmann of Hardin Valley) ran really, really well.”

Hardy has been battling a hamstring injury much of the year and didn’t compete at several meets. Then, he finished third in the boys long jump on Saturday.

“It was kind of a big thing that he was able to come back,” Etheridge said.

In the boys 3,200-meter run, Villegas edged out fifth-place finisher, senior Mullin Green of Maryville, by 0.01 second.

Villegas didn’t run as well as he might have, but he finished great, Etheridge said.

“I think he gave the thing away, then it came down to the last 50 meters—and he hammered it,” the coach said.

He said the boys 4×800 relay team ran a season-best to finish third. Coaches “shut them down a bit” to save them for other races, and didn’t push that race as hard as they might have.

 

The boys 4×100 relay team qualified for state out of lane 9, which is on the far outside and makes the race more difficult. Despite that, the team ran a half-second faster than they have this year.

They “absolutely nailed their handoffs” and “ran fast as heck,” Etheridge said.

Graham finished fifth in the boys 200-meter dash “by a whisker,” Etheridge said. “He was so fast today.”

He said the Wildcats had many great performances, including by those who finished fifth and just missed qualifying for state.

“We did about what we could do in almost every event,” Etheridge said.

“Our girls were tremendous,” he said. They thought they might get the 4×100-meter relay, but “everyone else ran super,” Etheridge said.

The goal was to get everybody to compete at their best. The Wildcats got almost everything they wanted, and a few that they didn’t think they were going to get. Villegas’ finish in the 3,200-meter run was unexpected, and the boys 4×100 was “a crap shoot,” Etheridge said. But Oak Ridge covered all its bases, competed in a lot of events, scored “a ton of points,” and got good performances out of everybody.

“This was about as good a sectional as I could have hoped for,” Etheridge said.

There are four sections in track and field in Tennessee. Section 1 is comprised of TSSAA Regions 1 and 2, which means it encompasses all of East Tennessee from Knoxville north to Bristol.

It’s the end of the season for those who didn’t qualify for state.

Here are the results for the events in which Oak Ridge qualified for state:

• Girls 100-meter hurdles—1st, senior Georgia Caudle of Science Hill at 16.80; 2nd, sophomore Tiffany Noe of Morristown West at 16.83; 3rd, freshman Kate Hausladen of Oak Ridge at 16.86; and 4th, junior MacKenzie West of Campbell County at 16.93.
• Girls 300-meter hurdles—1st, freshman Kate Hausladen of Oak Ridge at 47.47; 2nd, freshman Caroline Lewis of West at 48.22; 3rd, junior Madison Bunch of Morristown East at 48.23; and 4th, sophomore Lizzie Davis of Hardin Valley at 48.25.
• Boys 800-meter run—1st, sophomore Kenton Bachmann of Hardin Valley at 1:55.99; 2nd, senior Tyler Boullie of Oak Ridge at 1:56.04; 3rd, senior Bruce Boles of West at 1:56.39; and 4th, senior josh Routh of Daniel Boone at 1:56.89.
• Boys long jump—1st, junior Jacob Sobota of Bearden at 21-00.75; 2nd, junior Drew Isom of Morristown West at 21-00.25; 3rd, senior Jordan Hardy of Oak Ridge at 20-04.50; and 4th, senior Stedman Love of Karns at 20-04.25.
• Boys 4×100-meter relay—1st, Jefferson County at 43.51; 2nd, Morristown West at 43.71; 3rd, Oak Ridge (Downard, Miller, Maddox, and Graham) at 43.80; and 4th, Maryville at 43.97.
• Boys 4×800-meter relay—1st, Science Hill at 7:57.32; 2nd, Daniel Boone High School at 8:01.03; 3rd, Oak Ridge (Boullie, Villegas, Colburn, and Etheridge) at 8:05.88; and 4th, Maryville at 8:14.02.
• Boys 3,200-meter run—1st, junior Ben Varghese of Daniel Boone at 9:33.47; 2nd, sophomore Seth Bowden of Maryville at 9:43.22; 3rd, senior Malick Gemechu of Science Hill at 9:53.44; and 4th, sophomore Jose Villegas of Oak Ridge at 9:57.14.

Here are some other qualifying finishes for nearby high schools:

• Senior Derek Flatford of Anderson County finished first in the boys 110-meter hurdles (15.03), third in the boys 300-meter hurdles (40.00), and fourth in the boys triple jump (42-03.25).
• In other Anderson County finishes, freshman Brittany Bishop was first in the girls pole vault (11-00.00) and junior Brandi Duff was fourth (8-06.00). Senior Madison McCoy was third in the girls shotput (35-07.25), and senior Riley Honken was fourth in the boys 300-meter hurdles (41.48).
• Hardin Valley was first in the girls 4×100-meter relay (49.49), 4×200-meter relay (1:42.86), and 4×400-meter relay (4:04.48), and second in the 4×800-meter relay (9:51.65). The boys finished fourth in the 4×400-meter relay (3:28.43).
• In other Hardin Valley finishes, senior Reagan Goins was first in the girls 100-meter dash, junior Symphony Buxton was second in the girls shotput (37-11.00), and senior Neyasha Honorable was third in the girls 400-meter dash (58.52), followed by junior Maddie Jeske in fourth (1:02.23). Sophomore Lizzie Davis finished third in the girls high jump (5-02.00), and junior Tim Frizzell was fourth in the boys shotput (46-11.50).
• Senior Brook Christian of Farragut was first in the girls triple jump (32-04.75), and senior Miranda Burt finished second in the girls 200-meter dash (26.24).
• Senior Brittany Tolson of Powell was second in the girls 3,200-meter run (11:13.86), and she finished fourth in the girls 1,600-meter run (5:14.25).

Hardin Valley finished the meet as the top girls team, and Dobyns Bennett finished as the top boys team. See the complete results here.

 

 

 

More information will be added as it becomes available.

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