Depth, despite running no relays, fuels Hawks’ 2nd indoor state title
BIRMINGHAM, ALA. — Choosing to follow the wishes, not the directive, of Knox County Schools and not participate in relay events due to the fear of COVID-19, Hardin Valley Academy and Farragut High School boys indoor track teams seemed to be making huge sacrifices in points at the Tennessee State Indoor High School Championship last month.
It didn’t matter — the Hawks still dominated, while the Farragut Admirals were plenty good enough to finish second.
(Complete Hardin Valley story follows here; FHS complete story is across this page on upper right).
Repeat state champs
With plenty of points “in sprints and throws and distance events,” according to HVA head coach Bryan Brown, which added up to 89 versus runner-up Farragut’s 39, Hardin Valley easily captured its second consecutive boys indoor state title Monday, Feb. 15 — having to travel to Birmingham, Alabama to pull off the feat.
As for relays, “A lot of teams did (complete, including) “a couple” from Knox County, “but we chose not to,” Brown said.
To more than make up the difference, “in a lot of events we had two scorers,” the coach said.
“The kids did really well across a lot of events,” added Brown, who also led the HVA boys’ cross country to a runaway Division I Large state crown last fall.
“It was close for a lot of the time, but by the end of the day, with all of the field events coming in, we placed two in the long jump, two in the triple jump, two in the shot put and two in the weight throw.”
Two Hawks were individual state champs: junior Austin Rome in the 400-meter dash (50.05) and junior Gavin English winning the triple jump (42-feet-9). “They also scored in other events,” Brown said.
Two HVA athletes placed (top six) in the 60- and 200-meter dashes: senior Luke Anastasio (fourth in 200 right behind Rome in third) and junior Jeremiah Jones (sixth in the 60 behind Anastasio in fourth).
Junior Ben Smith placed in both the triple jump (second, 41-feet-1.75) and long jump (fourth).
“In shot put and weight throw, Ian Salyer and Evan Maples scored,” Brown added about Salyer’s fourth-place shot put, followed by Maples in fifth; while Maples claimed third in the weight throw just ahead of Salyer in fourth.
Senior Andrew Schultz captured fifth in the 1-mile run.
This Alabama top finish also marks the 10th state championship in either track and field or cross country in school history, boys and girls, dating back to 2008 — all under Brown’s coaching.
Top Lady Hawks
A pair of HVA Lady Hawks combined to place in three state events, led by junior Kendal Ely’s second-place showing in shot put (28-feet-6.75) and third-place finish in weight throw (29-feet-5).
Senior Abigail Scheibelein finished third in the 200 dash (26.93).
Final thoughts
As for why this all-Tennessee event was held in Alabama, “No Tennessee venue would host it,” Brown said.
