From Left: Cameron Jackson, Courtney Lee, Daivion Jenkins
Shelby County Jamboree
Hurdle U
At the Shelby County Jamboree, a quartet of Whitehaven sophomores, Cameron Jackson, Courtney Lee, Daivion Jenkins, and Christopher Talley, dominated the hurdle events placing 1st, 3rd, and 4th in the 110s and 1st, 2nd, 3rd in the 300s. At the time of this publishing, this is a snapshot of their times and rankings in these events on the season for Division I Class AAA.
Athlete | 110mH | 300mH |
| Christopher Talley | 14.66 (2nd) | - |
| Courtney Lee | 15.25 (5th) | 39.63 (1st) |
Daivion Jenkins | 15.47 (6th) | 40.71 (2nd) |
| Cameron Jackson | 15.97 (10th) | 41.11 (3rd) |
When it comes to sophomores overall, the are the top 4 overall and top three overall. What worth monitoring short term is if the Tigers can qualify three out of Section 4 in either event. Assuming Harris of Memphis Central does both, there isn't much margin for error. Longer term, can they get three on the podium and potentially sweep top three by senior season. While this may seem like an overreaction since the sample size is small, the possibility of a singular program potentially ending the season with three sophomore hurdlers under fifteen and under forty is absurd and worth drawing attention to.
Austin McCall, Y'all
As a sophomore, Crosstown's Austin McCall placed 4th in Division I Class A in the 400m dash with a 50.68. As a junior he missed the entire scholastic season with injury. Last night, he opened his senior campaign with a 48.46. To put this in perspective, the last four winning times for his classification were 49.46, 49.32, 49.31, and 48.43. Needless to say, he's in the drivers seat for this distance for this division. He also ran 10.97 and 22.43 which will also put him in contention for the sprint triple should he choose to take on all three.
More Highlights
Shelby County Jamboree
- The previously mentioned Miles Nesmith of Memphis Central went 22-5 moving him to the lead of both horizontal jumps.
- Houston's Zoe Marsh ran under 5:00 for the first time in her career outdoors with a 4:56.82. Her previous best was 5:00.49 which narrowly missed the barrier last season.
- Collierville Girls went 3:58.87 in the 4x400m. I'm not sure if I can find the earliest any team has run under 4:00 but I have a feeling March 5th would likley be it.
Dobyns-Bennett Early Bird
- The Tribe sees The Haven's Quartet and raises them a pair. Brayden Simpson (Indoor 60mH State Champion) and Maddox Pruitt debut to 14.46 and 14.99 respectively to TN #1 and #3 in the 110m Hurdles.
- Samantha Degrace, the high jump runner up last spring, matches her lifetime best of 5' 6" in her debut.
- Freshman Liahna Nave of Elizabethton goes 111 feet in discus for her high school debut. Only four girls all of last season threw farther in Division I Class AA.