SPORTS WRITER

Sam Cowan

Members of the North and South track and field teams competed in the Class AA state championship meet Monday at the University of Tennessee.

North had seven total athletes competing across five events while South had two athletes representing the school in one event each.

The North Gatorettes ended the day with two second-place finishes as Loralie Mason placed second in the girls high jump with a leap of 5 feet.

Jefferson’s Allison Rodabaugh and John T. Moore’s Reese Arnold also exited the event with a top height of 5 feet, but Rodabaugh edged out Mason due to needing one less attempt to reach that mark.

North’s Vivian Baggett finished second for the day in the girls 100-meter hurdles with a time of 16.24 seconds, improving on her time from sectionals by 0.46 seconds. John T. Moore’s Arnold finished first with a mark of 15.6 seconds.

North’s Karley Butler also made it to the upper half of the awards podium as she finished third in the girls shot put with a distance of 34 feet, 7 inches, improving on her best throw from sectionals by 2 feet, 4 inches. Thompson’s Station’s Anna Claire Cole took first place with a distance of 39 feet, 9.25 inches.

South’s Sawyer Mayes competed in the boys version of the shot put and finished fifth for the day with a distance of 41 feet, 3 inches. Legacy’s Jason Pierce recorded a distance of 42 feet, 2 inches to finish first.

The North 4×100-meter relay team of Baggett, Adriana Wilkerson, Kinley Fergerson and Amirykal Johnson finished first in their event with a time of 53.26 seconds. Alcoa finished first in the event with a mark of 51.95 seconds.

South’s Kyleigh Johnson recorded a sixth-place finish for the day in the girls discus throw with a distance of 73 feet. Thompson’s Station’s Cole launched her discus 114 feet, 9 inches to place first.

North’s Dalton Brown rounded out the overall placements for the local tracksters as he finished sixth in the boys high jump with a height of 5 feet, 2 inches. Sullivan Central’s Reeves Smith cleared the bar at 5 feet, 8 inches to finish first.

The Class AA state meet marked the end of the season for the North and South track and field teams.