Performer of the Week

Every week this season we will be conducting a poll from beginning Monday and ending Thursday to highlight performances from the previous week. This will give us an opportunity to showcase the best talent in Tennessee. Though some athletes will likely run times every week that are worthy of being in the poll, our goal is to cast a wide net and showcase a vast array of athletes from all parts of the state. 

Preseason Until Now

Though we're officially a week into the season, August really is an easing in period for most programs. Some meets are the 5k distance, some meets are shorter, some meets are on a course and others are on a track. While some teams and  runners are delaying their debut for a couple more weeks, others already have multiple races and in some cases, multiple victories under their belt. Here are some that have stood out so far. 

Lyndi Chapman - Walker Valley

The Chattanooga area wasted no time diving into the 5k distance with the McMinn County Jamboree on August 6th. Walker Valley's Lyndi Chapman won the event with a 20:28. It's a 42 second improvement year over year. She followed up with another victory a week later at her home meet running a 12:09 in the shorter 2 mile distance. 

Jacie Begley - Volunteer

Volunteer's Jacie Begley also has multiple victories at multiple distances already this season. She opened with a 12:04 at the Holston Home 2-Miler and this past week notched another at the Hayfield Hustle running a 21:27 at the 5k distance. Through sixteen career five thousand meter races she was only run under 22 four times so I imagine for Begley it's a confidence booster to open your season under that minute-mark. 

Brynn Balturshot - Station Camp

As reported last week, Station Camp's standout freshman Abi Cobb is now at Liberty Creek but just as one leaves another enters. Remember this name: Brynn Balturshot. In her debut at the Green Hill Invitational, the Bison ran a 19:08 en route to victory. To put this in perspective, Lydia Cromwell and Rachel Haws of Brentwood debuted on this same course at Voyles last year with a 19:12 and 19:29. Our first opportunity will to see this freshman will be there in a couple of weeks. Can't wait to see how she handles the deeper field. 

Victoria Markham - Augustine High School

Last year I made the mistake of identifying Augustine High School as a Division II School. They're not. This year I denoted them as a home school program. They're not that either. They simply a brick and mortar private school that is not a TSSAA participating school. That said, they still have one of the best runner's in West Tennessee in Victoria Markham. Last season she took first place in every race she ran in until HXN and this year debuted to a similar tune winning the Fleet Feet West Tennessee Jamboree in 13:18 over the 2.2 mile course. The team schedule is sparse right now with only 3 races registered but hopefully we can catch this Junior at a race before the season ends. 

Scarlett Nash - Collierville

The Collierville girls return as the Division I AAA's third best team in our preseason rankings and Scarlett Nash returns as their #1 runner. The now sophomore didn't exactly end her track season with a great performance running a season worst in the 3200m at state but was able to open this season at that exact distance with a better time. She won the 3200m time trial at Bartlett with a 12:38 distancing herself from the field by 30 seconds. Collierville as a team would make up seven of the top 10 finishing positions. I'm not sure what the ceiling of this team is but I am sure the floor is very high. Can't wait to see them on the course in couple of week at Memphis Twilight.