Harrison Williams does a little of everything

State Meet Highlights

The Tennessee (TSSAA) track and field championships are conducted as part of the state's five-sport Spring Fling, all of it held in Murfreesboro. Track, baseball, softball, tennis and soccer championships all coincide together. Tennessee separates private schools (Division II) from public (Division I). And the Division I schools are separated by size for the track championships (D1 AAA for the large schools, D1 AA/A for the smaller ones). The athlete of the year in Tennessee was decathlete Harrison Williams, who dominated the D2 meet.

Top Performances:

 
- Harrison Williams of Memphis University won the state's decathlon championship with 7,114 points and then later in the same week won titles in the 110 hurdles (13.79w), 300 hurdles (state record 36.40 300 hurdles), the high jump (6-8), the pole vault (16-0). That's five wins (including the decathlon, which scores for team points) and 50 points.

 
- Molefi Maat, senior from Cordova, posted 10.47w and 21.38w to sweep the D1 AAA 100 and 200. He was unbeaten all year in the 100 and 200 in Tennessee.

 
- Junior Adam Barnard of Daniel Boone stepped up with a big win in the D1 AAA 1600, taking the victory in 4:10.61. He was also fifth in the 3200.

 
- Aaron Templeton of Hardin Valley Academy struggled a time or two when he traveled, but he was tough as nails on his home turf. He won a hotly competitive 3200 in 8:59.81 to defeat Brentwood trio Taylor Caldwell and Alec and Aaron Thomas and in the D1 AAA race.

 
- Maia McCoy of Whitehaven was the top girls sprinter in the state and swept the 100 (US#20 11.63) and 200 (US#31 23.94).

 
- Janel Pate of Hillsboro won the 400 in 54.84 and the long jump with 18-5.25. She was also second in the 100 and third in the 200.

 
- Brittany Kelly from Northeast was a quadruple winner, sweeping the hurdles (13.95/43.98) and also taking the high jump with 5-6. She also won the AAA pentathlon with 3,493 points.

- Wesley Pectol from Greeneville tore through the 800-1600-3200 triple in the small school division, scoring big points for his team.

- Desmond Maclin from Jackson Central Merry swept the small-school 100 (10.60w) and 200 (21.49).

- Carlton Orange of Memphis University won the Div 2 800 meters in 1:52.11.

- Joe Irby doubled in the Div 2 throws, with 62-0 in the shot put and 174-4 in the discus.

- Jaden Davis from Hutchison tripled in the Div 2 sprints, with 12.17, 25.00 and 55.65.

- Freshman Tyra Gittens of Ensworth won the five-event pentathlon with 3,563 points. That included a 5-10 high jump. She also won the regular high jump at 5-8 and was third in the 200.

Top Teams:

It was a two-team race for the D1 AAA boys title and Houston came out on top of Brentwood 68-63. Houston pulled 28 of it points out of the 4x1, 4x2 and 4x4 relays. On the girls side, Northeast was the big winner with 76 points.

In the smaller AA/A division, Greeneville (56) edged Pearl Cohn (54.50) on the boys side. Signal Mountain scored 70 points to win the girls title.

And in the private schools competition, the Memphis U boys ran away with it with 176 points. Harpeth Hall edged Brentwood Academy 131-127 in a very close contest. Harpeth wrapped it up with the 4x400 win.

Top Competition:

When you have to break 9 minutes to win the state title in the 3,200 that says something about the quality in the race. And Templeton needed every bit of his 8:59.81 to edge Caldwell's 9:01.13 in the eight-lapper.

Record-breaker:

The versatile Harrison Williams broke the all-time state record in the 300 hurdles at the state meet, but he took down a couple of others at different times. He cleared 16-8 in the pole vault indoors at the Reno Pole Vault Summit, he was part of Memphis' record-breaking 4x400 relay at the Eastern Relays on April 26. And he scored 7,734 points – No. 2 all-time U.S. – in the junior decathlon to make the national team.

Results: http://parser.dyestat.com/meets.jsp?state=TN