MARYVILLE – A handful of South Greene track athletes earned the opportunity to compete for a state championship after strong performances at the Class East Sectional Track Meet on Wednesday at Eagleton Academy.
“I’m really proud of the kids. We had four section championships. We have two relay teams going to state. I can’t say enough about the kids,” South Greene coach Joe Case said.
South Greene’s Heath Norton, Natalie Foshie and Alexa Gabbard captured sectional championships on Wednesday.
Norton claimed two section titles, winning both the Discus and the shot put. In the discus he started the day with a big throw on his first attempt and no one in the field could come within 10 feet of it.
“It’s a good feeling to be going to state,” Norton said. “I’ve worked hard at this since I started track in eighth grade. Just to know that I’ve secured my spot is a good feeling. It felt good to put that big number up early in the discus. It let me relax a little bit knowing that everyone is trying to catch me.”
In the shot put Norton saved his biggest throw for last and let out the longest throw of day to beat second place by almost two and a half feet. A year ago Norton placed second in the state in the shot put. His throw on Wednesday would have been good enough to win last year’s state championship.
“I’ve been pushing that mark for a while now in the shot and it felt good to get there,” Norton said. “I’ve practiced hard all week and knew I was capable, I just had to go out and do it. Now I’ve just got to focus on the individual parts of the throw. The next couple of weeks will be about technique, making sure I have that down.”
Foshie will be returning to the Class A State meet as well after claiming her section championship on Wednesday. Despite rain during her throws Foshie still managed to turn in a strong performance with a series of throws no one else in the field could keep up with.
This will be the third time Foshie will compete for a state title in the discus. As a freshman she placed eighth and as a sophomore she was fifth.
“It feels good to be going back to state,” Foshie said. “Getting that first throw out there was important. It gave me some confidence and let me know it could be a good day. In the past I’ve been really nervous when throwing at state. I feel I just need to go down there with confidence and my goal is to get into the top three this year.”
Gabbard started her sectional meet with close calls in both the high jump and long jump, where she placed fourth and third respectively. Then on her first attempt in the triple jump she came up with a number that she immediately knew would put her in contention. The jump ended up outdistancing second place by one inch, and gave Gabbard the gold medal.
“It feels really good to be going to state,” Gabbard said. “After the first jump I knew I was in a good place. I knew the girl from Happy Valley could have a good jump, but after that first one I was pretty confident I would be going to state. Being a sectional champ means a lot, but I still have my senior year and I have some bigger goals.”
Gabbard learned last week that she will be competing in the state pentathlon as well.
South Greene’s girls 4×800 relay team of Samantha Birdwell, Abby Hoxie, Julie Harrison, and Ava Leasure will also be competing at state after a second-place finish.
South Greene’s mixed 4×400 relay team of Birdwell, Hoxie, Noah Case and Tripp Neas also placed second and advanced to the state championship meet.
The top two finishers in each event in each of the state’s three sectional’s automatically advance to the state meet. The next two top finishers from across the state are then chosen as wildcards. That means that third and fourth place finishers will still have a chance to make it to state.
South Greene’s boys 4×800 relay team of Noah Case, Noah Wright, Jayden Lacik and Andrew Lacy set a school record on Wednesday and placed third.
Case also set the school record in the 800 meters.
As a team the South Greene girls finished in third place and the South Greene boys were fourth.
The Class A State Meet will be held on May 20 in Murfreesboro.
Media is asked not report times, heights or distances until all three sectionals are complete and all wildcard competitors are selected.
