Ryan Parker of Baylor School repeated as the TSSAA Division II-AA discus champion with a throw of 158"1'. In winning the title Parker had the top three throws over his challengers.
photo by Dennis Norwood
MURFREESBORO -- There weren't as many winners in the boys state track meet at MTSU's Dean A. Hayes Soccer & Track Stadium on Friday as there were for the girls on Thursday, but there were still some pretty outstanding performances.
Baylor's Ryan Parker didn't throw the discus as far this time as he did in 2015 when he won the title with a best throw of 164 feet, seven inches, but the three marks he did record were all further than the second-place finisher on Friday.
And while Parker was repeating his championship in the discus, McCallie's Jay Roberts claimed first place in the shot put after finishing fourth last year. And teammate Trel Phillips, who was the champion a year ago with a best toss of 49 feet, 10.5 inches, competed this year, but didn't win as he had a best toss of 46 feet, two inches.
Parker was seeded first in the discus, meaning that he was the last to throw in the group of eight qualifiers. Another competitor right before him had a measurement of 149 feet, two inches, but that didn't seem to faze Parker, who opened the day with a nice effort of 153-6.
His second was even longer at 158-1 before getting 155-8 on his third. Then with the title already wrapped up, he let it all go on his final attempt, but scratched as he stepped over the line on the front of the circle.
"That was awesome," Parker said shortly after that event had concluded.
"I'm kind of sad because this is my last day as a Baylor athlete as it's really bitter-sweet. I'd do it all over again if I had the chance, but I'm ready to challenge the next level of my life.
"I was definitely nervous at the start as I haven't thrown well in the last few weeks. And I just got my wisdom teeth pulled last Friday, but I just tried to relax and do the very best I could and it all worked out," he added.
Roberts had a measurement of 50 feet, 10.5 inches on his first attempt before scratching on his second. His third one was 49-6.5 before saving the best for last at 51-6.75.
"I'm feeling pretty good right now, but I didn't throw my best today," the red-headed junior said, noting that his previous best was 51-11.
"It calmed me a little bit to get a good first throw, but I scratched on my second and started worrying because I knew that Trel and Ryan Johnson of Brentwood Academy were both capable of going much further than that.
"I was more calm on my last attempt as I knew I had it won, but going out with a bang was nice for me," he added.
Parker's best throw of 46-10 netted a second-place finish while Phillips was fifth with his 46-2.
McCallie also scored 14 points in the triple jump when teammates Hakim McMorris and Tons Ferguson finished second and third, respectively.
McMorris had a best effort of 45 feet, a half inch while Ferguson was close behind at 44-6.25. The winning jump was 46 feet and a quarter inch.
"I knew it would be tight up top, but it was a good start for me. I was expecting my teammate Tons to finish ahead of me," the 16-year-old sophomore boarding student from California expressed.
Ferguson later cleared 6-2 to take second in the high jump while teammate Pete Pritchard cleared 13-6 to get third in the pole vault.
Brentwood Academy scored 211 points to easily win the D-II boys title while MBA was second with 87.
McCallie was third with 68 points with Baylor sixth with 52.
Red Bank's Kedrick Wilbanks claimed first place in the 100 dash with a time of 10.93 seconds as he nipped Maplewood's Jeremy McDowell, who was second in 10.95.
McDowell got even with a win in the 200 while Wilbanks was forced to settle for third.
Tyner's Gerry Davis was second in the A-AA shot put with a toss of 50 feet flat while Rhea County's Chase Sholl won the 110 high hurdles in 14.48 seconds after winning the decathlon on Tuesday with 6,568 points.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)
Ryan Parker shows his winning form.
photo by Dennis Norwood