Girls 3200m - 10:11.35 | Abby Faith Cheeseman
Previous - 10:29.92 (Abby Faith Cheeseman, 2023)
On Wednesday morning, Webb School of Bell Buckle junior Abby Faith Cheeseman won the Class A 3200m with a time of 10:11.35. The State Meet Record at this distance was already her own at 10:29.92 which she set last season and considering her "slowest" time this spring was 10:16 this may be the least surprising of the six but let me revisit that previous statement. Abby Faith Cheeseman has run this race four times and has not run slower than 10:16?! With her best effort being 9:56 what we'll need to watch for this summer or next is if she can topple Jenna Hutchins' All-Time mark of 9:49.83.
Boys Discus - 199' 5" | Ashton Hearn
Previous - 191' 2" (Josh Sobota, 2018)
And if that was the least surprising, the boys discus record was close behind. Before entering the meet, Christian Brothers' Ashton Hearn had thrown farther than the mark of 191-2 held by Bearden's Josh Sobota four times including a new Tennessee All-Time #1 distance of 202-9. The elements weren't perfect for throwing with the wind steadily blowing right to left across the sector and into the faces of the throwers but on his second throw Hearn landed one beyond the cones set out to denote "record territory." After the initial measurement an official came over to confirm 199' 5". This would be his second title in as many years in the event and would go on to win the shot put as well in the third rotation of the morning. He and teammate Drew Benton, who to his own credit came close to the record as well with a throw of 188' 7", are both juniors so we'll likely have to update this event record once again in twelve months.
Boys 4x800 - 7:43.36 | Christian Brothers
Previous - 7:44.74 (Hillsboro, 1982)
The Penn Relays Track Carnival was live streamed on FLOtrack this year and the FLO team told state editors "If there is any race you want brought over to MileSplit let us know." Even though Christian Brothers finished 4th overall in the Champions of America 4x800 with a TN #6 All-Time mark that Saturday I had avoided drawing attention to the footage from the end of that race. IYKYK. Needless to say I did not respond to FLOtrack with the request. It wasn't exactly how you want to rack up 2 million plus views on MileSplit National but it was to me a signal to me that if you can run that time with that finish, the record was within reach. On Wednesday, the same four, Chaz Jones, Noah Mullenix, Kaleb Smith, and Joe Edwards, lined up against a formidable McCallie opponent who this season had run a TN #7 mark in the relay that same weekend as Penn and by the end of the race, not only did Christian Brothers claim the State Meet Record from 1982, but also the All-Time record of 7:43.93 held by Brentwood Academy.
The following day, Dobyns-Bennett would also run under the State Record mark by Hillsboro with a 7:44.30 giving them the #3 All-Time mark in the event.
Boys 1600m - 4:04.55 | Colin Eckerman
Previous - 4:05.75 (Andrew Bumbalough, 2005)
This time last year, Webb's Colin Eckerman was at home after finishing 6th and 6th in the 1600m and 3200m at the East Regional missing out on any of the five at large qualifying spots in Division II Class AA. This year, he sat atop both distances in the overall state rankings and had layered motivation when he lined up for this race on Wednesday. In order to get into the fast heat for the Festival of Miles he would have to run faster than 4:05. If he could do that, the State Meet Record would take care of itself. With a loaded field seeded between 4:08 and 4:13, Eckerman had company to the very end and secured his place in St. Louis next weekend. There, the future Furman Palladin hopes to break the All-Time mile mark of 4:01.75 held by Brodey Hasty and become the first ever Tennessee High School runner to run under four minutes for the full mile.
Boys 400m - 46.60 | Hudson Allain
Ties - 46.60 (Emmanuel Bynum, 2018)
Prior to Thursday, Brentwood's Hudson Allain had run in the 47's for four hundred meters eleven times indoors and out with his best of 47.06 coming at the Section 3 Championship a couple of weeks prior. After anchoring the Brentwood Boys 4x200m to a state championship in dramatic fashion, this next race was going to go one of two ways; either he would run slower than his normal range of times after expending so much energy to bring the Bruins to victory on that relay or it was a signal that he was so locked in we were about to see something special. It was the latter. Hudson would win his second championship in as many years and tie the previous State Record mark of 46.60 held by Whitehaven's Emmanuel Bynum. He would also go on to win the 200m, anchor the Bruin 4x400m to victory, and lead Brentwood their second team title in as many years.
Girls 800m - 2:08.63 | Claire Stegall
Previous - 2:09.44 (Tania Wells, 1978)
Nolensville's Claire Stegall set the All-Time record at this distance last year and has since lowered it to 2:05.51 but she had yet to do it at the State Meet and so while we all kind of expected this to occur, when the faucet turned on during the hurdles the event before I had low expectations. Not to mention, Stegall had already taken to the track twice before this in the 4x800 and the 1600m. The race surprisingly went on without delay and Stegall locked in and even split 64s officially putting her name once again in the State Meet Record book cleaning up a little bit of messy history for the distance. Her summer schedule will include Brooks PR and New Balance so be on the look out as she hopefully gets to race in some more favorable conditions.