‘Might be the best boys squad I’ve had:’ Allison on his Farragut track & field team

  • While all four of these Farragut runners (white tops) in the 1600-meter run set career personal-bests times, sophomore Harrison Cunningham, second from left, captured third place; junior Trevor Coggin, far right, finished fourth, with senior Jake Radtke, second from right, claiming fifth and junior Riley Hanson eighth. - Photo courtesy of Jake Mealey

It might be a special Farragut boys team that hosted East Tennessee Track & Field Jamboree Saturday, March 5, at Bill Parker Track. The Ads were among 32 schools competing — the largest ever in this event’s history.

“This might be the best boys squad I’ve had in my five years here,” FHS head coach Chris Allison said.

“We have senior Tyler Ebbert (800-meters) and sophomore Braden Ebbert (2-mile) that both qualified for indoor New Balance Nationals that started their campaign off great in the indoor season,” Allison added. “It’s going to be great when they both start their outdoor campaign season after spring break.

“Our throws are looking very strong with seniors Nathan Reczek and Mason Collins and freshman Bryce

Thompson, who’s set a freshman record in the shot put already. He broke the indoor school record and held it for two weeks until Mason Collins reset it at the Louisville Indoor Classic.”

Allison said he originally thought boys pole vault might be “an area where we would need a little rebuilding.

“But after sending a few athletes over to that area, it’s looking to be taking off with sophomore Julian Gorfido leading the way, and with senior Brett Holloway and freshman Josh Hambrick, who set a freshman record of 11-feet,” he added.

“Sprints seem to be coming together with seniors Schumann Xie and Zachary Keasling. One surprise we had was junior Jacob Farhat, in his first year of track, who is going to be a great addition to the program. He placed fourth in the 400 March 5 running 52 seconds.”

As for distance and middle-distance, “They are looking strong, led by junior Trevor Coggin,” Allison said. “They are already setting (personal records) and they haven’t even started the official season. We have up to six or eight boys that we can spread out just like the girls to keep them somewhat fresh for their primary events.

“Our coaches are doing a great job in their areas with the program,” he added.