Davis Bove, Baylor Franklin Break 4:00!!!

Ben Thompson

BREAKING 4:00!!!

Due to the pandemic, there hasn't been a lot to report on recently on the high school front. As I'm typing this the Indoor State Championship is being contested in Alabama. Medals will be awarded, champions will be crowned, and while we'll spend a lot of time on this outlet spotlighting those accomplishments, today I'm going to point out two runners that never did.

While Oregon's Teare and Cooper set the track and field world was set ablaze this weekend running all Top 10 All-Time Mile's in Arkansas, more locally, two runner's from Tennessee made their mark in history at the same distance.


Men's Mile Finals
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     Athlete                    Yr Team                           Time
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1    Suliman, Waleed          SR-4 Ole Miss                    3:55.60
2    Garcia Romo, Mario       SO-2 Ole Miss                    3:56.46
3    Bove, Davis              SO-2 LSU                         3:57.49
4    Smulders, Everett        SR-4 Ole Miss                    3:58.73
5    Franklin, Baylor         JR-3 Ole Miss                    3:59.12
6    Ponder, Cameron          JR-3 Furman                      3:59.76


Davis Bove (Centennial High School) and Baylor Franklin (Wilson Central High School) broke the 4 minute mark for the indoor mile in Nashville on Saturday at the Music City Invitational. As far as I can tell, Bove became the fastest Tennessean to ever run the distance indoors as well (someone verify that please). Simply incredible. With the likes of David Ahlmeyer, Cole Bullock, Beth Donnelly, Victoria Simmons, Skylar Boogerd, and Loral Winn among others also competing this weekend, the depth of distance talent this state has produced over the past few years was on full display.

Outside of Winn, none of the athletes previously mentioned captured a TSSAA State Championship before they started competing collegiately. In no way is that said as an affront on any of their running abilities, but more of a statement that reinforces the year over year distance talent Tennessee produces which as a community we should all take pride in. Congrats to these athletes and every athlete continuing to represent Tennessee proudly. Can't wait to see what this outdoor season has to offer.