Memphis and Knoxville showed out over the weekend.
Some of the best talent in West Tennessee was in action in New Orleans at the Sugar Bowl Classic. Other sprinters stayed in town, opening up their seasons in West Tennessee. The Hardin Valley Invitational in Knoxville also provided some top times.
But overall, sprinters took center stage.
Here are our top performers of the week in Tennessee.
Josh Owten -- Memphis Central High School
Owten is the new TN No. 1 in the 300m hurdles after his 38.96 win at the Tiger Relays over the weekend.
VARSITY BOYS 300 METER HURDLES FINALS PLACE ATHLETE TEAM RESULT WIND H# 1 Josh Owten 12 Memphis Central High School 38.96 1 2 Courtney Thomas 12 Memphis Central High School 39.96 1 3 Cameron Easley 12 Bartlett High School 40.01 1 4 Aeneas Reed 9 Houston High School 40.56 1 5 Dillion Brown 12 Memphis Central High School 42.45 1
He also won the 110m hurdles with a final time of 15.13. He ran 14.80 in the prelims.
The Memphis Central senior is a big reason why his team is ranked in the top five to start the season in the Division 1 Large Schools division. And if he continues to improve, his team can win the state championship.
Owten's personal best in the intermediate hurdles is 38.67. He ran that last season at the Section 4 Championship.
Kirstin Jones -- Whitehaven High School
Jones had a lot of wind at her back in the 100 and 200 over the weekend in New Orleans. But she still beat some outstanding competition in the process.
In TN No. 1 marks, Jones placed second in the 100 meter dash and third in the 200 meter dash.
VARSITY GIRLS 100 METER DASH FINALS PLACE ATHLETE TEAM RESULT WIND H# 1 Diandrenique Gaines 10 Hattiesburg High School 11.75 5.0 1 2 Kirstin Jones 11 Whitehaven High School 11.75 5.0 1 3 Kiana Foster 11 Loranger 11.76 5.0 1 4 Malaysia Sinegal 11 Edna Karr 12.15 5.0 1 5 Raven Nunnery 9 John Curtis 12.20 5.0 1 6 Delje Keller 9 Edna Karr 12.37 3.5 1 7 Arianne Linton Ascension Catholic 12.40 3.5 1 8 Angel Williams 11 Ben Franklin 12.41 5.0 1
VARSITY GIRLS 200 METER DASH FINALS PLACE ATHLETE TEAM RESULT WIND H# 1 Jayda Eckford 12 Clinton High School 24.10 3.1 1 2 Diandrenique Gaines 10 Hattiesburg High School 24.32 2.6 1 3 Kirstin Jones 11 Whitehaven High School 24.37 3.1 1 4 Kiana Foster 11 Loranger 24.59 3.1 1 5 Raven Nunnery 9 John Curtis 24.92 3.1 1 6 Angel Williams 11 Ben Franklin 25.50 3.1 1 7 Irel Crouch 10 East St. John High 25.62 2.6 1 8 Sanura Branigan 9 Whitehaven High School 25.62 3.1 1
For Jones, her 11.75 in the 100 is a new personal best. And that 24.37 in the 200 is her best time since since her 2016 State Championship. Jones' Whitehaven team is ranked as the top team in the state to open up the outdoor season. If she continues to run this well, they'll be hard to stop.
Willington Wright -- Hardin Valley Academy
This guy just keeps on improving. Wright is once again one of our top performers of the week after wins at two different meets last week.
At Sevier County, Wright set a new personal best in the 200m, which is also a TN No. 1.
BOYS 200 METER DASH FINALS PLACE ATHLETE TEAM RESULT WIND H# 1 Willington Wright 12 Hardin Valley Academy 21.80 1 2 Kyle Noe 12 Heritage High School 23.06 1 3 Kelton Gunn 10 Hardin Valley Academy 23.28 1 4 Brayden Hurst 10 Sevier Co. High School 23.36 1 5 E.J. Caldwell 12 Hardin Valley Academy 23.49 1 6 Nolan Brown 11 Hardin Valley Academy 24.08 1 7 Kaden Taylor 11 Northview Academy 24.76 1 8 Drew Blair 11 King's Academy 25.03 3
That's Wright's first time under 22 seconds. This past indoor season, he got below 22.4 for the first time in his career. It's still only March, so there's lots of time for Wright to continue this rapid improvement.
But he still wasn't done for the week. After wins in the 100 and 200 at the Sevier County Home Meet, Wright went on to PR in the 400 at the Hardin Valley Invite this past weekend.
BOYS 400 METER DASH FINALS PLACE ATHLETE TEAM RESULT WIND H# 1 Willington Wright 12 Hardin Valley Academy 48.02 1 2 Jeamy Williams 11 Dobyns Bennett High School 51.40 1 3 Kenard Laribo 12 Wilson Central High School 51.71 1 4 Andrew Williams 12 Farragut High School 51.90 2 5 Kelton Gunn 10 Hardin Valley Academy 52.01 3 6 DeEric King 12 West High School 52.05 1 7 Luke Brice 12 Bearden High School 53.32 3 8 JaQuan Williams 10 Bearden High School 53.46 6
Wright set three personal bests in one week. The 100 (11.00), 200 (21.80) and 400 (48.02). His marks in the long sprints are also the best in the state so far this season.
Hardin Valley Academy will have a great shot to get on the podium this May at the state meet. Wright's meteoric rise to the top of the leaderboards in three different events will help the Hawks' push for a state championship.
Mariah Smith -- Germantown High School
Smith set personal best marks in both the 200 and 400 over the weekend. She also won the Tiger Relays at both distances.
VARSITY GIRLS 200 METER DASH FINALS PLACE ATHLETE TEAM RESULT WIND H# 1 Mariah Smith 11 Germantown High School 25.22 1 2 Taylor Ollins 11 Arlington High School 25.52 1 3 Imani Gillen 10 Bartlett High School 26.68 1 4 Daisha Barker 11 Bolton High School 27.19 1 5 Kennedie Gillum 10 Germantown High School 27.23 1
VARSITY GIRLS 400 METER DASH FINALS PLACE ATHLETE TEAM RESULT WIND H# 1 Mariah Smith 11 Germantown High School 58.31 1 2 Jessica Kelley 12 Ridgeway High School 59.94 1 3 Trinity Henderson 10 Houston High School 1:00.61 1 4 Brooke Owens 12 Bartlett High School 1:00.94 1 5 Madison Stokes 12 Memphis Central High School 1:01.90 1 6 Daisha Barker 11 Bolton High School 1:03.17 1 7 Taylor Brewer 10 Kirby High School 1:04.61 1 8 Laila Hardin 10 Kirby High School 1:05.10 1
In the 400, Smith is currently No. 3 in the state. She sits behind LaNea Wallace and Kirstin Jones at the moment. But Saturday's race was a big victory in West Tennessee, where some of the region's best sprinters have run impressive times this season. Nine of the ten fastest 400 times in the state this season come from Memphis athletes. Smith is right there at the top after this weekend.
Smith is one of two Tennessee athletes to break 25.5 in the 200. It's just her and Kirstin Jones so far.