Wildcats 7th in state in 800-meter run, 4×800-meter relay

 

Duhamel, AC’s Flatford have second-place finishes

Oak Ridge senior Tyler Boullie finished seventh in the 800-meter run in the state championship track and field meet in Murfreesboro on Friday, and the Wildcats’ 4×800-meter relay team also finished seventh. The Oak Ridge boys finished ninth in the state in Class AAA in the 4×100-meter relay.

Anderson County senior Derek Flatford finished second in the 110-meter hurdles and fourth in the 300-meter hurdles. Senior Gashaw Duhamel, who ran cross country for Oak Ridge in the fall, finished second in Class A-AA in the 3,200-meter run, running for Tennessee School for the Deaf.

In other Oak Ridge finishes, senior Jordan Hardy, who battled a hamstring injury for much of the season, was 13th in the state in the long jump in Class AAA, and sophomore Jose Villegas was 14th in the 3,200-meter run.

Boullie, who had been the number two seed in the 800-meter run, had also been on the 4×800-meter relay team at the Section I finals in Johnson City on May 14. The relay team had been the third seed coming into the state track and field championship. But Boullie did not compete in the 4×800-meter relay at state because he wanted to have a fresh race in the 800-meter run.

At state, the 4×800-meter relay team included Villegas, senior Thomas Colburn, and juniors Jacob Etheridge and Reid Dukes.

In other races at the two-day state track meet, Oak Ridge freshman Kate Hausladen finished eighth in the girls 300-meter hurdles on Thursday, and she finished 11th in the 100-meter hurdles.

The boys 4×100-meter relay team, which finished ninth on Friday, included seniors Caleb Downard and Jaeshawn Maddox, sophomore Tony Miller, and freshman Jordan Graham, the anchor. The boys had been the 12th seed, and Oak Ridge Coach Allen Etheridge said the team ran great, outrunning their seed position. The boys were 0.06 seconds away from an eight-place medal finish, even though none of them had been to the state meet before.

Graham, who also plays football, was stunning on the last turn, Etheridge said.

“Jordan’s actually been faster and faster and faster this last month,” Etheridge said. “He’s way faster than he was in the fall.”

He said it was a miracle that Hardy, who hurt himself in March, was able to make it to state.

It was the first full year of running for Villegas, who ran indoors and outdoors, Etheridge said. Like some other track athletes, Villegas also competed in cross country in the fall. (The boys cross country team finished second in Tennessee in November.)

Hausladen, who also plays soccer and the violin, ran a clean race against a stiff headwind in the 100-meter hurdles to warm up at the girls’ state track meet on Thursday, and she had a better race in the 300-meter hurdles, Etheridge said.

“She was great,” Etheridge said. “She’s not too cowed by anything…I think she’s got a lot more in her.”

Memphis Central, Whitehaven, and Brentwood, which also has a strong cross country program, had the top three team finishes at the boys meet on Friday.

Whitehaven, Ravenwood, and Southwind were the top three teams at the girls meet on Thursday.

The state track and field championships were part of the 2016 Spring Fling, which also included baseball, boys soccer, softball, and tennis championships.

See the complete Class AAA boys track and field results here.

In other top East Tennessee results on Friday, Knoxville Catholic won the boys team championship in Class A-AA. See the Class A-AA results, which include Duhamel’s race, here.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See more photos here.

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