Franklin Road Academy’s Highland Games and Track Relays is not your average track meet.
Between events like the tug-o-war, caber toss and kilted mile run, coupled with Scottish music playing throughout the all-day event, Saturday’s 17th annual Highland Games felt more like a carnival than a track and field competition.
“It’s kind of funny,” East Nashville freshman Kennedi Johnson said. “But you’re still here for one purpose, which is to win.”
That’s precisely what East Nashville did, too.
The Lady Eagles, who trailed first-place St. Cecilia by one point heading into the final event, overcame the Scarabs, clinching the come-from-behind victory with a first-place finish in the 400-meter relay to claim the top spot in the girls team rankings.
“We just fought hard,” Johnson said. “We wanted to win really bad, and it feels like we accomplished something today. We worked as a team and did what we needed to do to win.”
East Nashville, which also captured wins in the long jump, the 110-meter hurdle relay, the 100-meter relay and the 200-meter relay, beat out St. Cecilia by just three points, 96-93. Father Ryan (55), Harpeth Hall (52), Lipscomb Academy (50), FRA (37), Hume-Fogg (37), Christ Presbyterian Academy (33), Sovereign Grace (17) and Hillsboro (16) also finished in the top 10.
“I’m super excited,” East Nashville coach Andre Warren said. “The girls work really hard so to see them win is great. We have a lot of young girls — only one senior on the team — and it’s just exciting to come to a meet of this caliber and win it.”
The boys competition wasn’t nearly as close. Montgomery Bell Academy made sure of that.
For the second straight year, the Big Red buried their Highland Games competition, cruising to a first-place team finish with 143 points — 61 more than second-place Brentwood Academy.
“We ran better than we have,” MBA senior Owen Powell said. “We had a pretty good meet before spring break, but we still ran better today. It’s the additional training I guess. (This meet) is a good way to get a glimpse of the other teams, and not just your own. It lets you get a feel for the season and get a baseline, and you kind of set your season goals from that baseline.”
The Big Red won 11 of the 15 events on Saturday, notching victories in the pole vault, the long jump, the discus throw, tug-o-war, the distance medley, the 110-meter hurdle relay, the 100-meter relay, the 200-meter relay, the 400-meter relay, the 800-meter relay and the kilted mile run.
Brentwood Academy, which claimed wins in the shot put and stone throw, finished with 82 points, while Father Ryan (71), FRA (68), Lipscomb Academy (42.5), Hume-Fogg (33), Donelson Christian Academy (23.5), Hillsboro (21), Sovereign Grace (21) and Whites Creek (16) rounded out the top 10.
Reach Michael Murphy at 259-8018 and on Twitter @Murph_TNsports.
