Area storylines to watch at Spring Fling
Cecil JoyceThere will be plenty of Rutherford County area participation at this week's Spring Fling.
Three area baseball teams, one soccer team and numerous track and field and tennis athletes will be competing for state championships in Murfreesboro.
Here are four storylines to watch during this week's state championships:
Breakthrough year for Tigers?
Central Magnet's baseball team will be playing in its fifth consecutive Class AA state baseball tournament and seeking its first trip to the finals.
The Tigers (30-11) will battle Pigeon Forge at Smyrna High on Tuesday at 6:30 in the first round. CMS has won 12 of its last 14 games, including a 6-5 victory over Chattanooga Central in the sectional.
The most successful state trip to date for the Tigers came in 2014 when the squad went 2-2.
Meanwhile, the Tiger soccer program will be playing in its fourth consecutive Class A-AA state soccer tournament and has yet to reach the finals.
Last season's state semifinals appearance was the best showing during that streak for Central Magnet, which enters the state at 17-2, coming off a 2-1 win over Loudon in the sectional.
It's been a familiar foe that has knocked out CMS each of the past three seasons as CPA eliminated the Tigers all three times.
Central Magnet will face CPA in the first round on Tuesday at 4 at Richard Siegel Park.
Veteran dominated
Two area Class AAA teams reached the state in Blackman and Stewarts Creek.
If you scour the two teams' rosters, it's not a surprise why.
Both the Blaze and Red Hawks are veteran-dominated clubs.
Stewarts Creek, which graduated its 11 seniors on the field following the Region 4-AAA finals last week, start seven seniors.
The top three starters (Austin Steel, Maddox Vondohlen, Daniel Freeman) and the team's closer (Will Duffee) are all seniors.
Blackman starts just four seniors, but those four engulf the top two pitchers (D.J. Wright, Michael Dimartino) and hitters (Wright, catcher Peyton Milam) and closer (Derick Junker).
The rest of the Blaze lineup is filled with juniors.
Net worth
Two teams and nine individuals will be competing at the state this week. But last year's lone state champion will not be included.
Siegel's boys team and MTCS' girls will battle Tuesday afternoon at Old Fort Park.
On Thursday the individual tournament begins as Siegel's Hussain Alzubaidi, Blackman's Anna Mincey and MTCS' Will Reeves will all be competing in singles.
In doubles, Siegel's Chadwick Daugherty/Ben Betzler, Siegel's Alyssa Coley/Emalee Hale and MTCS' Ashlyn Melton/Alex Pachciarz will vie for state titles.
Alzubaidi reached the Class AAA state tennis semifinals last season and hopes to better that this season. It will be a tough road, however, as defending state champ Sam Fischer (Brentwood) would await in the semifinals if Alzubaidi gets past Wilson Central's Michael Mercante in the first round.
Central Magnet's Nathan Zou, who won the A-AA singles title as a freshman last year, missed almost all of this season with an injury and will not return to defend his title.
Better medals
There are several track and field athletes who medaled in last year's Spring Fling that are hoping to do even better in 2017.
Riverdale track standout Anastasia Hayes medaled in three track and field events last year. She will return in two of those - 400 meter dash and 4x400 relay.
Oakland's Imani Udoumana will try to better last year's third-place finish in the triple jump, while also competing in the 100 and 300 hurdles and long jump.
Blackman's Tanalya Gordon was runner-up in the long jump and returns with hopes of a state title this season. Stewarts Creek's Gabrielle Napper was fourth in the high jump last season.
Oakland's Daniel Smith will try to better his seventh-place showing in the 1600 meter run.
One athlete who won't be able to better her showing from last year is MTCS sophomore Mackenzie Harris. She will return to the A-AA high jump, where she won a state title last season (5-foot-2).
Reach Cecil Joyce at cjoyce@dnj.com or 615-278-5168 and on Twitter@Cecil_Joyce.