Performer Of The Week
Every week this season we will be conducting a poll from beginning Monday and ending Wednesday to highlight the performances from the previous week. This will give us an opportunity to showcase the best talent in Tennessee. Though some athletes will likely lay down marks every meet that are worthy of being in the poll every time, our goal is to cast a wide net and showcase a vast array of athletes from all parts of the state. Polls open Monday and close Wednesday at midnight.
Caitlin Paulins - Unicoi County
Since 2018, Unicoi County High School has produced a female pole vaulter that has cleared ten feet and for the last two seasons Caitlin Paulins has carried that torch for the Blue Devils most recently breaking their school record with this clearance of 10-6 at the Science Hill High School Senior Night.
This performance has her in the top spot in Division I Class AA and TN #8 overall. This is a six inch improvement on her personal best of 10 which won the Large Division I Section 1 however she did not vault at state. I won't speculate as to the reason why, I'll hopefully find out when she hopefully makes the trip this season to Murfreesboro where I imagine the senior feels there is unfinished business to attend to before fully closing the door on her high school career.
Sidnee Stanton - Hardin Valley
Every week that I deliberate between who to include in this poll, Sidnee Stanton's name has crossed my mind but I didn't want to use the opportunity prematurely to highlight the future Tennessee Tech Golden Eagle. A girl triple jumping over 38 feet has not occurred in Tennessee since before the pandemic but that changed Monday when the senior from Hardin Valley broke the KIL Championship with a meet record leap of 38-5. She's the defending state champion in the event and with the only other girl over 37 being teammate Brooke Taylor, 18 points in this event for the Hawks in Murfreesboro seems likely. The pathway to gold in long is a little more crowded however as Stanton and Taylor rank 3rd and 5th respectively with Stanton's season's best being an 18-4.5 on a less than ideal day in South Carolina in early April. Jumping in less than ideal conditions may serve as an advantage considering as we saw on Thursday and Friday of this past week, spring weather in Tennessee can be unpredictable.
Webb Distance Runners
Between Anna Graves and Jazzlyn Garmer the girls distance crew swept the open distance races at the KIL Championship with Graves winning the 800m (2:17) and the 3200m (11:19) and Garmer taking the 1600m (5:08). Twin sister Calysta Garmer placed 3rd in the 1600m with 5:09. Must've been an exciting race. I'm curious to see how Webb utilizes these three heading into qualifying and moreover what Bella Guillamondegui (the division leader in the 800m and 1600m) will decide to race. With the 3200m for Class AA being in the evening this year rather than the morning session, I don't know if the triple (which she attempted last year) is a viable option but who knows. If that does come about, this performance by the Spartans at KIL should illustrate that they'll be able to put at least one challenger on the track at any distance if not two. It'll also be interested to see if Webb decides to load up the 4x800m. Their current season's best is a 10:06 but lets do the math. 2:17, 2:26, 2:33 and you assume Jazzlyn (who hasn't raced one this season) is at least good for 2:26 as well that composite time is 9:42 which is 13 seconds faster than the best in their division currently. All this is to say, the distance races in this division are going to be very exciting every time they take to the track next month and with Graves only a Sophomore and the Garmers still in 8th grade it's going to be so for many seasons to come.
Webb School of Knoxville's 4x800m placed 4th at the Volunteer Track Classic in Mid-April.
Madissen Mebane - Madison Academic
If it wasn't for the meteoric rise of Danielle Dunning this season, the runner you would be looking to to possibly take up a spot on top of the podium this month in Class A is Senior Madissen Mebane. In her first meet of the season at the Arlington Spring Speed Spectacular the senior won the 200m dash with a personal best of 26.37 with the likes of Bartlett, Collierville, and White Station also in attendance. In total she has notched five victories this season including her most recent victories this past Saturday a the Northwest Class A Sub-Sectional where she won the 100m and 200m Dash. Last year she placed 7th and 8th respectively in the 100m and 200m dash at state but she's currently ranked 2nd and 3rd in Division I Class A so expect her placement on the podium to be a little higher come May 24th.
Avia Lane - MLK
Last season, Avia Lane burst onto the scene as a freshman finishing 2nd and 4th in the 100m and 200m dash in Large Division I. This season she's in the new Class AA and currently sits on top of both events with personal bests of 12.05 and 24.49. It didn't surprise me to see she won those events at the West Sub-Sectional this week for the Middle Region but she also won the 400m with a 59.48 which ranks second only to her teammate Koriona Boyd. This really sets the stage for their potential team showdown with Signal Mountain and Volunteer. Lane's individual role becomes heightened stepping to the track in three open events while Boyd, with only one, will play a major role in solidifying the MLK relays. Lane will have the opportunity to run in one more which I suspect will be the 4x200m or 4x400m (as she did last season). If she can come away with four golds it's hard to see MLK not leaving with the overall team trophy as well.
Avia Lane placed runner up the 100m dash at Great Eight with a 12.11.