5 things to watch as Knoxville-area athletes head to Spring Fling

The next week will feature teams and individuals chasing state championships in Murfreesboro. As those journeys begin, here are five storylines to watch during Spring Fling.

Get back on top

The current senior class of the Christian Academy of Knoxville baseball team is looking to finish how it started. This crop of Warriors won a state championship as freshmen back in 2014 and are hoping they can accomplish that feat during this go-around. CAK will begin the state tournament against Signal Mountain at Blackman on Tuesday at 4 p.m. CT.

Back-to-back

The King’s Academy has quickly become a softball powerhouse. In just its fourth year as a program, the Lady Lions are looking for their third consecutive state championship appearance and are also trying to repeat as Division II-A champions. The road to two in a row starts with a matchup against Friendship Christian at 10 a.m. Wednesday inside the Starplex.

Final day streak

Over the past five years, a Spring Fling recurrence has been CAK making it to the Class A/AA boys soccer state championship game. Of those five appearances, the Warriors left Murfreesboro with a state championship three times, including last season after defeating CPA 2-1. CKA will face Boyd Buchanan to open the tournament on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.

Freshman takeover

Webb’s Ohm Sharma won the Division II-A boys tennis singles championship last year. The Spartans have a chance to have back-to-back freshman winners with Harrison Williams penciled in as the No. 2-seed out of the East/Middle Region. He’ll take on Evangelical Christian sophomore Hamilton Jackson in the opening round at 9 a.m. Tuesday at Old Fort.

More:TSSAA's Spring Fling schedule

Early favorite

After posting the top Class AAA sectional score in the state (6,472), Bearden senior Jacob Sobota enters the start of Monday’s decathlon as one of the favorites to bring home the state championship. The first five events of the decathlon (100-meter dash, triple jump, pole vault, discus and 400-meter dash) are slated to start at 11 a.m. while the final five events (110-meter hurdles, long jump, high jump, shot put, 1,500-meter run) will take place on Tuesday, starting at 10 a.m.