RECAP: 2020 Tennessee Indoor State Meet


CLICK HERE FOR INDOOR STATE MEET VIDEOS

Indoor State 2020 was a good one.

We had a US No. 1. Some incredible finishes. And more hardware to hand out in the final indoor meet of the year in Tennessee.

These were the high points.

                                                                                --- ---

Zoe Vlk just keeps on winning. Here's what she had to say after her meet record in the shot put (13.28m).

Johnquiez Guerrier was one of the other big performers in the field events.

He won the long jump and set the state record. But...that's a lot more impressive when you also realize that he did that AFTER winning and setting the state record in the 200.

The first final of the day was the 800 meter run. And there were some quick ones. Especially on the girls side.

Beth Donnelly won in a new meet record (2:13.70) which also places her No. 22 nationally. Her teammates Anna Banovac (2:13.66) and Sofia Rutherford (2:13.98) weren't far behind. They'll all walk away with US Top 30 times with a 1-2-3 finish.

They were able to recover quickly too, coming back to finish 1-2 in the same order in the girls mile.

Donnelly and Rutherford led early. Leigh Walters and Kylie Wittman were in front of the chase pack halfway through. 2:13.08 for Donnelly in front.

And then with two to go, the Brentwood duo made their move. 

As they've done all season, Rutherford and Donnelly went 1-2. This time it was Beth who had the final surge in the last 60. 

4:58.71 for Donnelly. 4:59.20 for Rutherford.

On the guys side in the distance events, it was a new personal best for Gabriel Robinson, who edged out Justin Thompson for the win in 1:57.20.

Daniel Boone ran a fantastic race in the guys DMR. Their winning time was 10:38.94, which is a US Top 50 mark so far this indoor season.

In the two mile, it was all Landri Wilcox early and often. She took the lead about halfway through the race and never looked back, cruising to a state indoor title and a 10:45. She was knocking off 60 second laps for 300 meters really consistently throughout the middle portion of the race and closed in 57.52.


That's a season-best for the Cookeville junior. And it was just five seconds off her career-best indoors as well.

The guys race was quite entertaining. Canaan Anderson, Evan Allen, Fuji Anday and Silas Winders all broke away from the pack early. 

Winders made a big move with one lap to go, taking the lead from Anderson and going third to first all in the same lap. After that, he was gone.

The final time was 9:15. Anderson came in second in 9:18. And Evan Allen rounded out the top three in 9:21.

Winders closed in 45.26 (!) in the final 300 meters to close it out.

And then in the mile, Silas Winders almost did it again.

He waited until the bell in the two mile and got the win. And then after buying his time in the mile, he attempted to do the same thing.

Until Canaan Anderson intervened. With a 43.14 final 300.


He went from third to first in the final 300 to take the win, zooming by Winders in the final 20-30 meters. The final time was 4:20.48...Winders was second in 4:21.11.

In the sprints, the girls 60 meter dash was awfully close. But Alayah Dozier just barely edged out the field, led by Morayo Kassim, to take the win in 7.68.

The guys race was just as close. Sterling Melancon took the race in 6.91...just one one-hundredth ahead of Jaden Stevenson to win the indoor state title.

Melancon has led the way in the state of Tennessee at the top of the rankings all season. He just missed his season best of 6.88 from Music City, but he'll walk away with the top spot in the state this indoor season and a state title to go with it.

Meg Wilson and Isaiah Weasby won the 400 meter dash finals. Wilson became the first girl in Tennessee to break 58 seconds this year. Weasby, who has led the way all season indoors for Tennessee runners at 400 meters, continued his domination with a 49.44. That's just a tenth of a second of his season-best.

And then...it was Brevin Sims time. Which was perhaps the highlight of the whole meet.

He didn't disappoint.

Brevin had run 7.81 this season. That was the US No. 2 coming into the meet. He ran 7.82 in the prelim.

Then he put down a 7.76 in the final. That's the fastest time in the country this indoor season.

Here's what he and girls champ Alayah Dozier had to say after their races.