CSAS' Lennex Walker competes in the Class A-AA triple jump at the 2017 state track &field meet at MTSU in Murfreesboro, Tenn. Walker took first in the event, as well as four others, as she completed her senior season. Walker will compete for Austin Peay State University next year.
photo by Dennis Norwood
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – There were no team championships to celebrate in the TSSAA Girls State Track Meet here at Dean A Hayes Track & Soccer Stadium Thursday, but there were a whole bunch of individuals who came through with sterling performances and positive results to finish another season with.
Perhaps the most sensational performance came from Lennex Walker, that talented young lady who has been the leader for the Chattanooga School For Arts & Sciences in recent years.
Walker entered this week’s competition as the favorite in five events and like the champion she is, she came through with winning performances in all five.
She won the Pentathlon to start things off on Monday before winning the final four on Thursday, including the long jump, triple jump and both hurdle races.
Signal Mountain senior Camryn Bowman continued her dominance in the A-AA shot put and discus events by winning with ease while Baylor had three individual winners in Rachel Smith, JuToreyia Willis and Makayla Packer.
The Chattanooga Christian Lady Chargers had the only relay win as they captured first in the 800.
The Lady Chargers later finished second in the 1600 relay with a time of 4:02.65, which was just behind MLK's winning time of 4:02.51.
Tyner’s Alexis Wilson was second in the 100 while Ooltewah’s Krystal Starling was the runner-up in the AAA shot put.
Baylor’s 800 relay was also a runner-up while the Lady Red Raiders claimed third in the 400 relay. Red Bank’s Lionettes also claimed third in the A-AA 400 relay.
But on a day when the weather was quite pleasant and a gusting wind kept temperatures from ever getting too warm, Thursday was the day that Walker has been pointing toward and training for since way back when.
When the time came to perform, she was more than ready to compete.
It all started with the long jump where she recorded her best effort on her third attempt, which measured 18 feet, 11.25 inches, which was a personal record by more than four inches.
A little while later, she measured 36 feet, three inches in her first attempt in the triple jump. Her second attempt was 35-11.5, but knowing that she was well ahead of the competition, she passed on her final two attempts.
And then in the two hurdle races, she was first in the 100 highs with a time of 14.19 seconds while later taking first in the 300 lows with a time of 45.02 seconds. Nobody was anywhere close in any of these events.
“I feel better now, but I was ready to compete,” she admitted after posting a personal best in the long jump.
“I was trying to save my legs for later, so that’s why I passed on my last attempt.
She was equally as excited after the first hurdle race was in the books.
“I just tried to focus on my race and to control what I was doing and not worry about everyone else. I’m excited as the countdown is on. Just one more to go” she expressed after her third win of the day.
She was all smiles after each of her wins, but none any more glowing than after her final high school race.
“I was so nervous, but I’m so happy. My goal was to win the race to the first hurdle and then go from there. I actually feel pretty good right now as I’ve trained hard all season for long days like this. I’m extremely blessed to be able to put on a show for the crowd like I did, but this has been a wonderful day for me,” she concluded.
Signal Mountain’s Bowman had been part of three straight team championships, but she was the only Lady Eagle individual to qualify. The 3200 relay team finished fourth later.
She won the discus event for the third straight year with a best toss of 133 feet even that came on her first attempt. She followed with efforts of 126-3, 128-9 and 120-0, which were all better than the second-place distance of 117-10.
“I was just shooting for a PR, but I had my best effort on my first throw and things went down from there. You never know who will show up, but two of my best competitors from last year have graduated,” she suggested.
The 19-year-old Signal Mountain senior also had her winning toss in the shot put on her first attempt at 39 feet, 2.75 inches. Her other attempts were 38-7.25, 36-9.5 and 37-6.25.
“My adrenalin was flowing when this event began, but it’s nice to go out with a bang in my final high school meet,” the four-time shot put champ and ETSU commitment suggested.
While Walker and Bowman were the individual stars in the A-AA competition, the Chattanooga Christian quartet of Anslee McGlocklin, Cassie Curry, Laura Beth Turner and Olivia Hoffman posted a time of 1:44.72 in winning the 800 relay. They had the second-best qualifying time of 1:45.33.
And in what may have been the closest race of the day among the A-AA contestants, Tyner’s Alexis Wilson was second in the 100 dash with a time of 12.37 as she lost by a scant two-hundreths of a second to Lipscomb Academy’s Mikele Vickers, who is just a freshman.
“It was a close race and I did the very best I could do. I guess it just wasn’t meant to be for me today,” the Lady Ram senior said after taking third in the same event last year.
Baylor’s Willis was the winner in the D-II triple jump with a best effort of 36 feet, 11 inches after qualifying with the third-best distance of 37-0. Willis is just a 16-year-old junior, but she’s benefitted greatly from the influence of the late John Bradford, who was a long-time Baylor assistant coach who passed away last week.
“I really just wanted to be a state champ for the first time and I knew I had to do my best to honor coach Bradford. I was a little bit nervous before we started, but I filled my head with positive thoughts and everything worked out well,” she explained.
Smith was the D-II pole vault winner with a best effort of 11 feet after finishing second a year ago. The petite junior normally is a slow starter, but that wasn’t the case on Thursday.
“I normally wait until about my third attempt to clear a height like that, but today I cleared it on my first try. I felt more confident today as the pole I’m using feels really good, but all of my hard work is starting to pay off,” she said after claiming her first-place medal.
Teammate Carmen Ross was third after clearing 10 feet.
Thursday was a whirlwind kind of day for Baylor freshman Mikayla Packer. She’s the center fielder for the Lady Red Raider softball team and arrived at the MTSU track shortly after her team had dropped a 7-1 verdict to GPS.
She didn’t stick around long as she had to get back for another softball game, but her time was well spent after winning the 100 dash in 12.28 seconds. She didn’t have time to rest at all as she anchored the 800 relay in the next event where she joined teammates Willis, Kayla Hayes and Grace Wardeberg in taking second in the race.
She was also the anchor leg on the 400 relay as her team finished third, but she had to bypass the 200 as she had to leave before that event was run.
“I think I got here about 30 minutes ago and really didn’t have much time to warm up, but I just went out and pushed as hard as I could. I really wasn’t expecting to win, but it really feels good. And I guess I’ll stick around until they tell me it’s time to leave,” the speedy and talented 15-year-old nodded.
Ooltewah’s Krystal Starling was about the only standout for Chattanooga teams in the AAA competition as she was second in the shot put with a best toss of 41 feet, three-quarters inch before taking fifth in the discus with a best effort of 112-3.
Walker Valley’s Lauren Pate was fifth in the shot put at 38-10.
East Nashville was the A-AA team champ with 72 points while Martin Luther King was second with 64. CSAS was third with 54 while Chattanooga Christian was eighth with 29 and Signal Mountain ninth with 28.
Red Bank was 15th with 14 points while Tyner had nine points for 21st place and East Ridge four points for 34th.
Brentwood Academy was the winner in D-II with 143 points while Ensworth was second with 103 and Baylor third iwth 80. GPS was eighth with 23.
Whitehaven scored 89 points to win the AAA meet while Brentwood was second with 83.
Ooltewah was 11th with 17 points while Cleveland and Walker Valley were 31st and 37th with six and four points, respectively.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)
Signal Mountain's Camryn Bowman won the Class A-AA discus event at the state rack & field meet with a throw of 133 feet. Bowman also took first place in the shot put.
photo by Dennis Norwood