Brentwood Bruins went 1, 2, 4 in the 100m Hurdle finals at Volunteer Track Classic with Sophie Yount notching the victory at 14.60. Abby Miller (2nd) and Daisy Oatsvall (4th) each won an event earlier in the day with Miller winning the 300 Hurdles and Oatsvall the High Jump. On Monday of last week, all three qualified to to represent Section 3 in the Pentathlon at State.
Volunteer Track Classic
Brentwood Sweeps Team Titles
The Volunteer Track Classic is one of the most high profile meets Tennessee boasting a 56 year history. Despite the 2024 competition being held on the same weekend as Eastern Relays in Louisville and the McCallie Mid-South Invitational in Chattanooga, the competition was still very strong with 37 marks landing within the TN top 10. Brentwood High cruised to team wins on both girls' and boys' sides. The Bruin boys scored 103 points to Farragut's 78, having a scorer in every individual running event except the 800m and 2000m steeplechase. They were led by Hudson Allain and Jackson White who both competed in the 100m and 400m, with Allain taking 2nd in the 100m and 1st in the 400m, while White was 4th and 2nd respectively. Allain and White would end up scoring 31 out of the 79 points scored in individual events. They were also helped by hurdler Cameron High (6th in 110h, 1st in 300h), and distance standout Callahan Fielder (3rd in 1 mile, 4th in 2 mile). The Bruins medaled 9 times over 8 events, setting a new DI-AAA top mark in the 400m and 4x400. On the girls' side, a strong group of hurdlers combined with Brentwood's elite distance crew propelled them to 128 points, more than double the points of runner-up Signal Mountain. The trio of Sophie Yount, Daisy Oatsvall, and Abby Miller scored a combined 54 out of the 103 individual points scored. Those three would toe the line in an event 11 times throughout the meet. Brentwood distance was also a significant part of their team victory, with 2 relays and 6 different runners combining to score 52 points. Lia Banovac won the 800m with sister Lauren Banovac placing 4th, Abi Cobb and Rachel Haws would go 2nd and 6th in the Mile while Lydia Cromwell would place 3rd in the 2 mile and Hailey Parker 4th in the steeple. Just a week prior, the quartet of Lia, Lauren, Rachel and Miller would reset the 4x800m relay state record at Doug Hall with a 9:03. They reflected on that performance below. Abby Miller also discussed the record breaking experience in a separate interview here.
A Contender From Each Division
With 72 teams in the field, something could be said about the results of each race and how it impacts the Tennessee landscape but for sake of time, I picked one boy and one girl athlete or relay from each of the five competitive divisions to draw attention to.
- Boys Division I Class A: Even though Will Douglas graduated, the possibility of another Douglas from Camden Central standing on top of the podium next month is very likely. Younger brother Pete Douglas jumped to the two spot in the 3200m with a 9:59 full two mile. After conversion, he sits behind only Jaden Hillis currently for this event in Class A.
- Girls Division I Class A: Darrah Wiseman loves running in Knoxville. Her previous best in the 800m was set at VTC in 2023 and she finally improved on that mark on Saturday with a 2:18 and 6th overall finish. She's the 2x defending state champion at that distance and appears ready to make it three in a row.
- Boys Division I Class AA: Well after racing ended on Friday night, Northview Academy's Ethan Demeter placed third in vault clearing a Class AA leading 14-6. The height is a new PR by six inches and puts him two feet clear of his next closest competitor. Will be interesting to see how early he enters the competition as we approach regionals and state.
- Girls Division I Class AA: The South Doyle Girls are the back to back defending state champion in this classification and after Saturday, look like they're in position to make it three in a row. Their 49.59 placed second and moved them to the top of the Class AA rankings. They'll see some fresh competition in Murfreesboro though as Pearl Cohn has moved up and Station Camp has moved down and both teams rank right below them in the standings.
- Boys Division I Class AAA: Though Sevier's Taylor Madison has not quite matched his breakout time of 10.72 run at this meet last year, I'd argue his 10.98 (-2.1) on Saturday is a more impressive finish considering who was on the track with him. Through six events he has not lost to a runner in Class AAA in either the 100m or the 200m.
- Girls Division I Class AAA: Rockvale's Toju Williams (above) won the girls shot put on Saturday becoming the 4th thrower in Class AAA with a mark over 39 feet. In the process, she beat the defending state champion from a year ago.
- Boys Division II Class A: Columbia Academy's Griffin Cooper is the defending state champion for this classification but through two outings so far this season had only cleared 6-4. With the state leader Gavin Dabrowski in the field on Saturday, the two went mano a mano both matching their previous best of 6-8. Cooper would win the competition on misses but more notably separate himself from the field in Class A.
- Girls Division II Class A: The ladies of Lakeway Christian moved to the top of the division rankings in the 4x200m relay on Friday night with a 6th place overall finish and a time of 1:47.52. This is the fastest time in school history we have in our database for the Lions by a full 2 seconds.
- Boys Division II Class AA: Webb's Michael Conley was featured in the preseason as a jumper to watch but has quickly made a splash in the short sprints. He won the 200m dash on his 4th trip to the track on Saturday with a 21.63 moving him into the two slot for Class AA. Keep in mind, his best 200m dash prior to this season was a wind-aided 25.10.
- Girls Division II Class AA: Prior to Saturday, Knoxville Catholic's Chloe Truss led Class AA in the short sprints but after Saturday she leads all three. She won both the 200m and 400m events with new PRs of 24.76 and 56.26 respectively. After sweeping these events last spring, on paper she's on track to do so again.
Brentwood Bruins went 1, 2, 4 in the 100m Hurdle finals at Volunteer Track Classic with Sophie Yount notching the victory at 14.60. Abby Miller (2nd) and Daisy Oatsvall (4th) each won an event earlier in the day with Miller winning the 300 Hurdles and Oatsvall the High Jump. On Monday of last week, all three qualified to to represent Section 3 in the Pentathlon at State.
Volunteer Track Classic
Brentwood Sweeps Team Titles
The Volunteer Track Classic is one of the most high profile meets Tennessee boasting a 56 year history. Despite the 2024 competition being held on the same weekend as Eastern Relays in Louisville and the McCallie Mid-South Invitational in Chattanooga, the competition was still very strong with 37 marks landing within the TN top 10. Brentwood High cruised to team wins on both girls' and boys' sides. The Bruin boys scored 103 points to Farragut's 78, having a scorer in every individual running event except the 800m and 2000m steeplechase. They were led by Hudson Allain and Jackson White who both competed in the 100m and 400m, with Allain taking 2nd in the 100m and 1st in the 400m, while White was 4th and 2nd respectively. Allain and White would end up scoring 31 out of the 79 points scored in individual events. They were also helped by hurdler Cameron High (6th in 110h, 1st in 300h), and distance standout Callahan Fielder (3rd in 1 mile, 4th in 2 mile). The Bruins medaled 9 times over 8 events, setting a new DI-AAA top mark in the 400m and 4x400. On the girls' side, a strong group of hurdlers combined with Brentwood's elite distance crew propelled them to 128 points, more than double the points of runner-up Signal Mountain. The trio of Sophie Yount, Daisy Oatsvall, and Abby Miller scored a combined 54 out of the 103 individual points scored. Those three would toe the line in an event 11 times throughout the meet. Brentwood distance was also a significant part of their team victory, with 2 relays and 6 different runners combining to score 52 points. Lia Banovac won the 800m with sister Lauren Banovac placing 4th, Abi Cobb and Rachel Haws would go 2nd and 6th in the Mile while Lydia Cromwell would place 3rd in the 2 mile and Hailey Parker 4th in the steeple. Just a week prior, the quartet of Lia, Lauren, Rachel and Miller would reset the 4x800m relay state record at Doug Hall with a 9:03. They reflected on that performance below. Abby Miller also discussed the record breaking experience in a separate interview here.
