Five Cyclones conquer East Sectionals to earn state track and field bids
Published 9:37 am Friday, May 17, 2024
Photo Contributed Diesel Russell won the East Sectional discus competition with a personal record of 159-8 to advance to the state championship.
Photo Contributed Lady Cyclone Jamira Smalls qualified for the state competition by finishing in second place in the Girls' Shotput with a personal record of 36-5.
Photo Contributed Cyclone junior Jeremiah Norris medaled with 3rd place in the Boys' 400M Dash with a personal record of 50.45 to gain a bid to the state championship track meet.
Photo Contributed John Seipert medaled with a second place in the Boys' 300M Hurdles with a personal record of 40.65.
Photo Contributed Liahna Nave was the East Sectional Champion in the Girls' Discus with a throw of 120-10.
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STAR CORRESPONDENT
The Elizabethton Cyclone track and field team has known the pressures of showing up big at the right time over the regular season, and when it was time to take the big stage in the East Sectionals in Knoxville, it once again came out with some highlight performances.
Five Cyclones qualified to participate in the TSSAA State Track and Field competition next week in Murfreesboro after their performances with several more just missing out by the slimmest of margins.
The count doesn’t include Camdyn Garland who finished fifth in the state Pentathlon event on Wednesday.
Cyclone throwers and two runners made the loudest noise in the sectional competition.
Diesel Russell captured the East Sectional Championship in the Boys’ Discus as the junior took the title with a personal-record heave of 159-8.
Freshman Liahna Nave continued to have an impressive year as she captured the East Sectional Championship in the Girls’ Discus with a throw of 120-10.
A third thrower, sophomore Jamira Smalls, earned a bid at the state championship meet with a second-place finish in the Girls’ Shotput with another personal record effort of 36-5.
In the running events, senior John Siepert medaled by finishing second in the Boys’ 300-meter hurdles in a personal record of 40.65.
Junior Jeremiah Norris collected a third-place finish in the Boys’ 400-meter dash in a personal-record effort of 50.45.
“We’re excited for these athletes to get to compete at State,” said head coach Matthew Campbell. “They have worked all season long to put themselves in this position. The Sectionals here in the East is a tough Track Meet. We’re going up against the best in the state to qualify.
“We had many fifth-place finishes that would’ve been first or second place finishes in the Middle or West. That’s just part of it and I know all of us are proud of the way that our kids competed. It shows you how big of an accomplishment it is for the athletes that qualified.”
Campbell added that the senior members of the team who gave everything at the meet will be sorely missed next season as seniors Max Garner, Maddox Lucas, Zion Reddick, Brian Presley, and Cadie Digby will be graduating from the team.
