JOHNSON CITY — Saturday’s 11th annual Tri-Cities Track Classic zoomed by quickly and efficiently at Kermit Tipton Stadium and local track and field athletes took advantage of conducive running conditions.
Science Hill successfully defended home turf, sweeping the team titles. The boys racked up 187½ points and the girls totaled 127. Dobyns-Bennett was runner-up on both sides.
Five meet records were broken and several school marks tumbled on a meet day with ideal conditions.
DEGRACE’S RECORD DAY
When D-B super athlete Samantha Degrace puts her mind to something, good things usually happen.
She had her mind set on sole possession of the school record, which she’d co-held with Kelly Smelser since last year. Degrace made the best of a great opportunity on Saturday, clearing 5-7 with ease to win the competition and break the tie.
“It feels great and it feels amazing to come out here and accomplish everything that I’ve wanted to do,” Degrace said. “It means a lot to me (to have the records). I think it shows the people behind me that it is possible. Although the school might not always be my favorite, it feels great to have the records because we have people that come out of here and go make names for themselves.”
She attempted 5-8 to tie the all-time Northeast Tennessee record held by David Crockett’s Addisyn Rowe from 2017, but just barely nipped the bar on her final attempt. It was so close that her coach that was running the event jumped up and down in jubilation before the bar fell to the mat.
“After I cleared, I didn’t believe that I had done it,” Degrace said.
Degrace came back later to win the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 15.37 seconds. She was also part of D-B’s runner-up 4x100 relay team (51.39).
MONEY IN THE BANK
Science Hill sophomore high jump Cash Nweze didn’t expect all that much going into Saturday’s meet, but he left with so much more confidence.
Nweze ended up winning the high jump with a 4-inch personal-best clearance of 6-5. He had never cleared 6-1 before last week, but once he got over that barrier, it was like he was playing with house money.
“I’m ecstatic because I had the goal of 6-4 coming in, but 6-5 is so much different than seeing 6-2 all the time,” Nweze said. “All the training paid off, certainly. … I changed from a five-step approach to a four-step approach this year. The first two meets, I was over 5-8, then I went over 6 feet and then 6-5 is huge. I’m getting more and more comfortable with the new approach.”
He attempted 6-6 and missed all three attempts, but was awfully close on his final one.
FRESHMAN ON THE RISE
Lorraine Hunter didn’t have the best or most consistent cross country season in her freshman campaign for Science Hill, but now she’s on the right track.
Hunter — who broke one of Jenna Hutchins’ records at Liberty Bell last year — sent a clear message to the rest of the area that she has come to play on Saturday. She won the 1,600 meters in a meet-record 5:11.99, which broke mark held by current Kennesaw State runner Zoe Arrington.
“The plan coming in was to let Maggie and Mahri take out strong and outkick them in the last lap,” Hunter said. “I felt great out there and I felt like I was mentally engaged in the race and had enough left to close it out.”
Hunter bided her time until the final lap, going around David Crockett’s Maggie Bellamy to take the lead and leave the rest of the field in the dust.
“I’m really happy with my race today,” Hunter said. “I’m still recovering a little bit from cross country, but this has started the way I wanted it to.”
BARESEL’S BIG DAY
Science Hill’s Hunter wasn’t the only freshman to make a name for herself. Unicoi County’s Braydin Baresel came away with two school records and barely missed a third.
Baresel — who had pulled the distance triple earlier in the week at Tuesday’s Science Hill meet — finished fourth in the 1,600 (5:32.52), seventh in the 800 (2:29.09) and was runner-up in the 3,200 (12:11.25).
She nabbed the records in the two shorter races, but missed the 3,200 record by an agonizing two seconds.
“The (1,600) is a hard race, but it feels a lot easier this year compared to last year because I’m running so much more,” Baresel said. “Today, the competition was really good and I think that’s what’s pushed me. Every other meet, I’ve been ranked first and haven’t had anyone to run against.
“It’s exhausting (running the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 in one meet) and it’s hard to get up for school the next morning, but it makes me feel accomplished. I’d rather be doing this than other stuff because I love doing this.”
OTHER NOTABLES
Science Hill senior sprinting star Emmett Watson had a standout day, claiming two individual gold medals in the long jump (22-11) and breaking the meet record in the 200 with a scintillating 21.83. He was also part of the Hilltoppers’ meet-record 4x400 relay (3:22.18), in which he anchored in 48 seconds.
Another record fell when Science Hill vaulter Carter Brademeyer cleared 15-1 in the pole vault — becoming the second Northeast Tennessee vaulter to do it along with teammate William Hagemeier last year — to win the competition. He attempted the facility and all-time NET record of 15-7, but missed on all three attempts.
Crockett freshman Aaliyah Story showed out once again, winning both the 200 dash (26.41) and the long jump (16-9½).
On the boys’ side, Dobyns-Bennett senior star hurdler Brayden Simpson was a double-winner, taking the 110s (14.58) and 300s (40.33) in rather easy fashion. But where the Tribe made great strides was having guys like Maddox Pruitt and Nigel Vidale get crucial points in the same events.
