2015 D2 Preview - Sprints and Hurdles

2015 TN Track & Field -- Division II Sprints & Hurdles

I've been a subscriber to the magazines Runners World and Running Times for a very long time now. And no, I'm not saying these main stream magazines provide any real type of training advice for a track coach, but they make good reading nonetheless. What I've noticed though is that over the last few years, there are a lot of Track coaching techniques being brought into the articles. Things that us Track & Field coaches have known, and practiced, for the past few decades are now trickling into the lives of everyday runners. Plyometrics seems to be a hot topic lately. Which means in the next year or so you'll probably be seeing some articles on how to rehab from performing these drills incorrectly. What those articles don't tell you is that doing plyometrics and other fairly high impact exercises should be performed with a trained eye on them... hmm... like a Track coach maybe?? Ok, I'm stepping off my soap box now. On to the D2 sprints and hurdles preview -

D2 Girls - Sprints

Track & Field in Tennessee does seem to be growing. Judging from the sizes of some of the local weekly meets, not to mention the weekend meets, it's growing exponentially. More athletes are also competing outside the regular season and even in national forums. From my perspective, this type of growth and this type of national experience is certainly a very good indication of how Track and Field in Tennessee is strengthening!

And there's no lack of talent when it comes to the D2 girls sprints. Leading off the Girls D2 in the 100 with a 12.17 that she ran on her way to the 2014 state championship win in the event is Hutchison senior and TCU commitment Jaden Davis. This powerful sprinter also holds the top spots for D2 schools in the 200M and 400M with 24.96 and 53.85 respectively. And she holds a pretty rarified triple from the State Championships: wins in the 100, 200 and 400. Jaden loves to compete as she extended her season into the summertime to set both the 200 and 400 marks at the 2014 AAU Junior Olympic games. It certainly helps an athlete's development to compete outside the regular high school season, especially the deeper into the season they can go.

Behind Jaden, and only a hundredth of a second from reaching the Mile Split silver standard, is Diamond Battle of BGA with another impressive mark of 12.26. Two other D2 girls broke under the 12.50 mark with Adreanna Parlette of St. Cecilia Academy posting a 12.39 and Maya Wright of Ensworth at 12.43. Rounding out the top 5 is Zairia Brown of Evangelical Christian School with a 12.1. Looking deeper into the standings, there are only 5 seniors in the top 25 for the 100M sprinters. With the top 12 girls all breaking under the 13 second barrier, we could see a lot of changes with who will be moving into the top of this event over the next few years.

The 200M sprint has some of the same names as the 100, with Jaden leading the list again. Tyra Gittens of Ensworth comes in with the second fastest time at 25.29. Tyra has a 100M best of 12.56 but did not run it during the 2014 season. Diamond Battle's 25.60 puts her in third with Maya Perry-Grimes (Ezell-Harding) fourth with a 16.01. St. Cecilia athlete, Adreanna Parlette makes the top 5 spot with a 26.10 best. Adreanna is fairly new to the sport and only a sophomore... and surprisingly enough, not the only sophomore in the top 5 -- Tyra is on that list also. There's actually nine sophomores on the top 20. And I would keep a close eye on the 7^th spot athlete, Martha Kay Williams of St. Mary's Episcopal, who could easily -- and quickly -- move up a few spots. Oh, and Martha Kay is just a freshman -- evidently a fast freshman for sure!

And sounding like a broken record again, only this time Jaden Davis leads the girls D2 400 by leaps and bounds. If someone is to catch this girl, they had better have had some training under their belt by now or that feat is going to be impossible. Jaden's time last summer, a 53.85 puts her at the 11^th best in the nation and best overall in TN regardless of the Division. In the D2 ranks, Lydia Witty (Harpeth Hall) is the only other MileSplit elite standard holder with 57.80 and a ways from catching Jaden. It remains to be seen if Jaden will attempt to defend her triple title again this season, but knowing how competitive this young lady is, you better count on it. Like I said, you better be on your game now if you want to catch this talented athlete.

In all sports, there's something that is always tough to achieve... for the girls 400, getting under the 60 second mark is one of those tough achievements. Once there though, it seems the next steps are even closer than you imagined before. There are four other girls in the D2 ranks that have gone under that mark. Briana Watson (Battle Ground) is the third D2 overall with 58.60 that she set during the prelims at her sectional last season. Martha Kay Williams of St. Mary's Episcopal ran a 58.85 and she is only a freshman this season -- so yes, she ran that as an 8^th grader! Keep a close eye on this girl for sure! Alyssa Neuberger of Briarcrest Christian ran a 59.41 to capture third at the state championships last season. Alyssa is also an accomplished 800 runner and pretty decent long jumper, and just recently ran an impressive 600M dash in 1:49.73. And the last sub-60 girl is Selena Popp of Baylor. Selena is probably much better known for her hurdling and pentathlon abilities but her strength here might just have her looking closer at what her state schedule might want to look like. Well, probably not unless they change where the 300 hurdles lands on the schedule!

D2 Boys - Sprints

The boys D2 400 is stacked with some very talented Memphis University School athletes. MUS is the defending team state champion and whether these top 400 runners all run the open at state might be dependent on how their competition stacks up. So that may open up to see MUS try a top three sweep in this event. Maybe, or maybe not. If anything, I'd like to see Terrell Jackson (48.51), Chris Davis (48.55) and Carlton Orange (49.13) lace up the spikes and line up on the state line and go head to head since these three have the fastest times for D2 in the state. And these guys aren't slowing down as their indoor season has heated up considerably too. Right behind these talented boys is MBA's Mike Lacey who ran a 49.19 to get the runner up spot to Chris Davis at the state championships last year. My guess, he's not wanting to take the #2 spot this year. And a couple more just on the edge of catching these top guys would be Simpson Tanner (University School of Nashville) with a 49.67 setting him at the 5^th fastest D2 returning athletes and his teammate, Dylan Groos (50.84, who also ran a 1:54.12 indoor 800 this winter).

In the boys D2 100 and 200 rankings, C.J. Sanders of Brentwood Academy currently sits in the front row for the two sprint events but I had heard he has moved to California so that puts a new twist to the rankings. So Chris Davis moves to the top of the rankings with that news. And the third fastest returning time is Ty Chandler of Montgomery Bell with a flat 11.00 run from the middle sectional meet. Chris Davis ran a 10.85 at the State championships to round out the top 3. Chris is the only one with sub 11 times, but the top ten in this event are pretty close -- within a quarter of a second of breaking that time barrier. There are a lot of seniors (7) in the top ten this year so with some focused training, we may just see some familiar faces on the podium later in the season. Or maybe not!

Now in the 200, it looks to be a lot closer race and that, track fans, is an understatement for sure! Chris Davis (MUS) gave C.J. a pretty good run at the state championships last year, but C.J. was able to capture the title with a 21.88. The race was so close, it came down to 0.001 of a second apart. So right now, Chris should feel somewhat comfortable about the 100, and the 200 is another story as this is probably Chris's better event. Another MileSplit silver standard athlete in the 200 is Calvin Austin III (Harding) who ran a 21.91 in the summer. I had talked with Calvin's coach a lot last year and it seemed every time I did, it was just after Calvin put in another great race in the area. He just seems to continually improve the more he runs... but of course, isn't that the way it's supposed to be! Just wondering if it'll be senior experience with Chris or the youngsters like Calvin or Ty making his way to the podium this coming May.

There are several other athletes worth mentioning that have some great times and hope to return this year. Two McCallie athletes, Alex Trotter (22.31) and JJ Lewis (22.58), stand out in the 200 for sure. And who knows, after having an indoor season for the record books, maybe Terrell Jackson might even better his 23.01 in the 200. Or maybe Mike Lacey, a strong 400 racer, may drop down to better his 100 and 200 times this year. There are tons of possibilities with these D2 athletes and you have to believe it's going to be exciting to watch as they race their way to the state championships this season.

D2 Boys and Girls -- Hurdles

Just like in most Track meets, the girls go first. But with this hurdle group, I'm going to veer off the lane a bit and start with the boys. The top two boys 110M hurdlers, both having the silver elite status, are Walter Pate (14.45) of Christian Brothers and top seed George Patrick (14.37) of Brentwood Academy. Both athletes competed at the Vandy indoor meet this past January 31^st in the 60M hurdles. And both athletes ran to a US Top 10 mark. And both athletes broke the existing meet record with George getting 8.08 to set the new record and Walter clocking an 8.10. Walter also won the State Indoor championships this season where George went to compete in the indoor Pentathlon at the New Balance indoor nationals (which by the way, he matched Walter's 8.10 in the 60 hurdles there). Ok, I say all this because... well, because out of all of the rankings, this has to be the one that I'm really excited to see how it all ends up in May. No doubt these two will go head to head and that is nothing less than a thrill in my book!

The girls 100 hurdles also has a couple of talented athletes crowding at the top. Tyra Gittens of Ensworth happens to have the fastest returning time at 14.53 that she ran at the AAU JO this past summer. Two tenths behind her is a talented Pentathlete in Megan Meadow of Brentwood Academy. Not surprising, Megan happened to run her best time of 14.73 at the D2 Pentathlon last season. There are six returners in this event who have under 16 times. They all happened to be seniors and all chasing Tyra, who is the only non-senior in that group (sophomore). Selena Popp sits at the 3^rd overall spot in the state with a 15.20. The Baylor senior also happens to be a Pentathlete. At the fourth spot is another talented Brentwood Academy senior, Jenna Langdon with a 15.46 and then followed by Eshe Robinson of St. Cecilia (15.51). Rounding out that last sub-16 mark is Kelley Mchugh of U of N with a 15.92. Kelley actually is the only girl among that group that doesn't compete in the pentathlon. But I noticed she has marks in all the events minus the 800... so who knows this year!

Getting over that tenth hurdle in the 100 hurdle race is always an accomplishment, but making it over the eight hurdle in the 300's is, well, probably more of a relief than anything else. If you can muster up just a little power on that last hurdle, you're likely on the way to the top of the podium since that feat is usually what makes or breaks the 300 hurdler. It's not fair, 10 hurdles in the 100 and only 8 in the 300 -- but oh so painful is that 8! Two familiar hurdlers, Megan Meadow (45.38) and Selena Popp (45.50) make up the top 2 in this event. Considering the sprint speed and strength they gain from competing and training for the Pentathlon, it's not surprising to see these girls at the top here. Megan was runner up to Victoria Wicks at last years state championships, but with Victoria graduated, seems Megan has a clear run to take the podium this year. Jordyn Lesh (Harpeth Hall, 46.29) ran to a PR that was just less than a quarter of a second behind Megan at state last year and this sophomore is likely to want to improve on that close finish this year. Wedged just ahead of Jordyn is Miller Fahey of Battle Ground Academy with a 45.25 to establish herself as a top 3 contender. Murfee Jones (46.30), the freshman from GPS is certainly a factor here considering she ran her time as an 8^th grader. Kelley McHugh of University School of Nashville is the last sub-47 athlete with 46.37. So that's six girls with sub-47 marks in this event and with a couple of them being so young, my guess is we will see some very fast times coming out of this group this year and beyond!

The boys, well... a name you're going to be hearing a lot the next two years leads a group of five guys that are under 42 seconds in this event. Decathlete Patrick George takes top spot coming into this year in the 300's with a 39.38 that he ran at state last year. Harrison Williams (now at Stanford) broke the state record last year in this race. Patrick was the runner up in that very fast race and the way he's training, will be a pretty tough call to beat this season. Cameron Sanders of Christian Brothers High School is right there nipping at Patrick's spikes with a 39.98. Those two are the only sub-40 returners this season. Walter Pate, also of CBHS has done some pretty good racing this indoor season and being a senior seems to have the drive and experience to cause some rumble at the top in this event too. And speaking of seniors, the 4^th and 5^th overall spots, and last two with sub-42 marks are Will Pearson (MBA) with a 40.83 and Emerick Lester (Briarcrest Christian) with 41.85. Actually there are seven seniors among the top 5 returners in this event. That may put a point on the case that this event requires experience and a lot of attempts to get the race right before you can master it. Of course, Patrick probably has his own take on that theory!

That's it for now. And again, if I left someone off it wasn't to avoid them. I probably didn't have the time or just skipped over them in the research. You can add your comments or even email us if there is something out there you want to see covered here. Now just lace up the spikes, get set....

See you on the Track,

Coach Ted