While the Spring Fling doesn't begin in full until next Tuesday, a pair of Chattanooga athletes got a jump-start on the TSSAA event — and the competition — in Wednesday's track and field pentathlon at Middle Tennessee State University.
Sale Creek junior Eisa Eilertson won the Class A state title and Signal Mountain sophomore Marlee Burkley was the Class AA champion in the grueling five-event competition for girls in Murfreesboro.
Tyner freshman Kohl Ward stands in fourth place in Class A after five events of the boys' decathlon at MTSU, with the remaining five events set to take place Thursday.
Sale Creek began its track program just four years ago, and although it has produced at least one medalist each of the first three seasons, Eilertson became the first individual state champion in any sport at the high school. Last fall, she was a part of the school's first state championship team in any sport, helping the Lady Panthers to the Class A volleyball title.
"We were hesitantly confident going into the day because Eisa was the top seed after the state qualifying meet," Sale Creek coach Roy Shipley said. "She's strong in the first four events but that last one, the 800-meter run, has been her nemesis, so we were a little nervous going into that one."
Eilertson won both the long jump (16 feet, 10 inches) and the high jump (4-9.75), placed third in the 100-meter hurdles and was fourth in the shot put to finish with 2,747 total points, while East Nashville's Aziaah Shute finished second with 2,702.
Going into the 800, Eilertson had to stay within five seconds of Shute to secure the title. She wound up finishing with a personal-best time of 2 minutes, 49.79 seconds, which was less than one second behind Shute.
Sale Creek has produced successful athletes despite not having track facilities at the school. The team has practiced at either Hixson or Soddy Daisy over its first four years of existence.
Contributed photo / Sale Creek junior Eisa Eilertson became the school's first individual state champion, regardless of sport, with her TSSAA Class A pentathlon title Wednesday.Meanwhile, Signal Mountain's girls' track and field program, which has won seven team state championships in the past 10 Spring Flings, is off to another strong start, thanks to Burkley.
Heading into the final event of the pentathlon, Burkley needed to beat Martin Luther King's Amya Joy's 800 time by at least 10 seconds. She wound up winning that event, crossing the line 13 seconds ahead of Joy to finish with 3,051 points. Joy was second with 3,016.
Typically a strong hurdler, Burkley stumbled in the 100 hurdles, finishing sixth in the day's first event before rallying.
"A lot of athletes would let that get in their head," Signal Mountain coach Dustin Carpenter, "but Marlee took the approach that it was in the past and there was nothing she could do about it, so she just kept looking forward and steadily climbed back up the standings."
Burkley won the high jump, the fourth event, to set up her run to the title.
Said Carpenter: "That type of perseverance speaks to her toughness and to our athletes looking to reach our program goal of becoming the most dominant in the state."
BASEBALL
Class 1A sectionals
South Pittsburg 8-3, East Robertson 5-7
Gordonsville 8-11, Whitwell 2-0
Class 2A sectional
Alcoa 5-2, Marion County 1-0
Class 3A sectional
Signal Mountain 3, Upperman 1: Cash Keene’s two-run double in the fifth inning keyed the win for the Eagles (27-8). Ben Timblin was walked three times and had a single at the plate, and he also picked up the win on the mound by throwing 6 1/3 innings of two-hit ball. Blake Wolfard recorded the save with a pair of strikeouts to close game one of the best-of-three series.
Division II-A quarterfinals
Boyd Buchanan 7, Friendship Christian 2: In the best-of-three series opener, Brodie Johnston doubled and scored three runs while stealing a base for the Buccaneers, who were also led by Mr. Baseball finalist Cooper Jones at the mound and plate. Jones doubled and drove in a pair of runs while going the distance with seven strikeouts and one earned run allowed.
Friendship Christian 8, Boyd Buchanan 6: Friendship Christian hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh to force a decisive third game. Boyd Buchanan’s Brodie Lowe hit a grand slam in the fifth inning for a 6-4 lead, and Aaron Hise had a game-high three hits for the Bucs.
Columbia Academy 3-2, Silverdale Baptist Academy 1-0: Tanner Bayne, Brett Oxford and Owen Phillips had singles in the opener, while Maddux Hasty allowed two earned runs in 5 2/3 innings pitched for the Seahawks. The loss in the second game ended their season at 17-13.
SOFTBALL
Region finals
Whitwell 4, South Pittsburg 0: A one-out single in the final inning was the only hit allowed by Kailee Yarber, who struck out four batters to lead the Lady Tigers to the Region 3-1A championship. A second-inning home run by Lindsey Gonzalez put the hosts ahead, and Jasie Willis added insurance with a two-run single in the fifth, followed by Karleigh Dempsey's single in the sixth to score Yarber, who had doubled.
Meigs County 5, Bledsoe County 0: Lainey Fitzgerald was in complete command, allowing one hit while striking out 18 batters to lead the Lady Tigers to the Region 2-2A title. Madylin Johnson went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, and Sierra Howard, Sadie Scott and Kennedy Smith each drove in a run for Meigs County, which will host Johnson County in a state sectional on Thursday.
Walker Valley 2, East Hamilton 1 (nine innings): Ryann Presswood went the distance in the pitching circle in the extra-innings matchup, scattering seven hits and striking out 12 batters as the Lady Mustangs won the Region 3-4A title. Madison Thomas went 3-for-4 at the plate, and Autumn Lanclos had an RBI in the win.
Division II-A quarterfinals
Silverdale Baptist Academy 10-9, Goodpasture 0: In the first game, Kennedy Stinson homered while totaling three hits, Gabbie Hensley drove in a game-high five runs and doubled twice while totaling three hits, and Ella Cunningham threw five scoreless innings with 12 strikeouts for the Lady Seahawks. In the second game, Stinson homered again, and her three RBIs were matched by Braylee Raby, while Bita Cox homered and drove in two runs while striking out eight batters and throwing six scoreless innings for the win.
Division II-AA quarterfinals
Chattanooga Christian School 15, Lipscomb Academy 3: In the best-of-three series opener, Addi Lewis drove in a game-high five runs and was one of three players to homer for CCS, with Emily Matthews and Aspen Tipton-Williams the others. Hannah Smith added three hits and was the winning pitcher
Lipscomb Academy 4, CCS 3: Lipscomb Academy scored the tying and go-ahead runs in the top of the seventh. Nyla Halfacre went 2-for-3 with a pair of RBIs for CCS.
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com and Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com.