Sky is the limit for Cole Shea:
Cole Shea, reigning Large School Division I Pole Vault State Champion, set a new TN #1 this week with 15' 2" which in turn is a new personal best for the Mount Juliet Senior. Obviously winning state is on the list of goals for the season again but 16'6", the state record, also is. Beyond the pit he is also a large part of Mount Juliet's 4x100m relay which broke a school record earlier this season. He has an 11.24 to his name in the 100 open which contributes to his success in the vault. In my experiences you see a lot of vaulters only vault and a lot of sprinters only sprint so I asked him how he manages his time between the two disciplines and he mentioned he trains with AXIS Athletics 3 days a week for vault and on the other days he dedicates to sprinting. The Georgia Tech signee plans to study Aerospace Engineering which seems like an appropriate major all things considered.
Youth movement for Beech:
Three freshman from Beech had impressive performances on Thursday night. Kiera Berry won the 100m open with a time of 12.88 which is a new personal best. Emily McDowell won the 1600m with a personal best of 5:40. It was mislabeled under Maggie Medley however, hopefully that will be corrected. On the boy's team Caleb Clayton got second in the 200m open. Last week at the Sumner County Championships he won the event with a personal best 23.06. For freshman class ranking purposes those times would put Kiera top 10 for the event, Emily top 15, and Caleb currently sits at #2 overall.
Lebanon Continues to be a contender in Jumps:
Since 2012, a Lebanon High School male athlete has qualified for state in high jump, triple jump, or long jump every year except one. This year they have the opportunity to continue that streak and check off the 4th discipline in pole vault in the process. Nathan Shields vaulted 14-4 this week which puts him 4th overall in the state but also 4th overall in his SECTION! Cole Shea and two Brentwood high school athletes currently sit ahead of him with another vaulter from Brentwood sitting at 13'0". In the other vertical jump, Jonterio Horton cleared 6'2" this week joining a cluster of athletes in the state that are all tied at 9th on Milesplit rankings. In the triple jump, Tatroyon Crawford jumped a new personal best 42' 5" and is a fringe state contender in the event as well.