Jackets take 3-team meet at Calhoun High
Winning 14 events and dominating the competition in a few of those, the Calhoun High School track and field team were big winners at a triangular meet on their home track.
The Yellow Jackets scored 118 points to place nearly 60 points ahead of second place Ringgold. Murray County finished third.
Calhoun ruled in the shot put with the first six places as well as the discus and the 400-meter run, where the hosts had the top five spots as well. There were also a few other events where they had three of the top five or two of the first four.
Senior Christian Smith won both the shot and the discus events to lead Calhoun’s run through both events.
He won the shot put with five of his teammates right behind in the final standings. Smith threw a 42-07 to place a foot ahead of Calhoun senior Christian Bell, who was second with a 41-08. Sophomore Blaze Hammett was third at 38-10 with sophomore Hunter White fourth at 38-04. Veal Aiden rounded out the top five for Calhoun and Pearce Taylor came in sixth in a field of 14 throwers.
Smith won the discus by almost 25 feet, throwing a 137-02 for the win. Calhoun sophomore Aiden Adcock was second at 112-09 and Bell came in third at 106-08 with the final throw beyond 100 feet. Sophomore Alec Upshaw was fourth at 99-09 and Gannon Smith finished the top five for Calhoun and overall at 98 feet, five inches.
In the 400 meters, freshman Demetrius Clavino won, going around the track once in 51.14 seconds. Senior teammate Stover Morgan was second for Calhoun with a 53.17 and he was just ahead of senior Isaiah Jackson, who ran a 53.54. Senior Bryant Arnold was fourth with a 54.03 and White completed the top five spots with a 54.69.
Calhoun also took the first four
places in the half-mile run.
Sophomore Leyver Mendez took first place for the Jackets with a 2:14.79 and he was six seconds ahead of freshman teammate Joseph Jones, who was second in the race and had a 2:20.32 time. Nathan Clemens just got past teammate Davian Ramirez for third place with Clemens finishing in two minutes, 21.12 seconds and Ramirez closing at two minutes, 23.76 seconds.
The Jackets also had a 1-2-3 run in the pole vault, the triple jumpand the 800-meter race.
Sophomore Carter Cloer won the pole vault with a 11-07 height and Matthew Williams was second at 10-06 with Davis Ruddell third at 9-06 for Calhoun.
In the triple jump, junior Kamryn Penny was first with a distance of 42 feet, 2.75 inches and senior Jeric Lewis was a close second at 41 feet, 5.5 inches. Junior McConnell took the bronze medal for the Jackets at 41-00.5.
The Jackets also did well in the long jump, coming in first, second and fourth. Senior Jaquan McClarty won it with a 21-03 distance with Logan Speer second at 18-08.25. An 18-07 was third and Liam Cornett was fourth for Calhoun at 18-04.25.
Calhoun’s other individual victories came in the 1,600-meter run, the 3,200-meter race and the 12-pound wheelchair shot put.
The Jackets had two of the first three places in the mile with senior Devon Dornan winning it with a 5:41.39. Second place was a 5:50.04 and Calhoun junior Joshua Blackwell was third in the race at 5:54.70 with the last time below six minutes.
Calhoun sophomore Xavier Hinijosa won the two-mile run with a 12:37.23, ahead of a pair of Ringgold runners who both had times over 13 minutes.
Junior Max Richardson continued his excellent season, remaining unbeaten in the 12-pound wheelchair shot put, coming in first at 7-05.
Calhoun’s other wins came in the relays, where they won all four them and were first and third in the 4-x-200 and first and fourth in the 4-x-100.
In the 800 relay, the Calhoun A team won it with a 1:36.41 and
Ta’Kairick Christian, Richard Clavino, Kendrick Fain Jr., and Corey Cook made up that relay. Second place was a 1:39.04 and the Calhoun B squad was third at 1:39.30. Bo Queen, Speer, McClarty, and Corey McHenry comprised that Yellow Jacket relay team.
In the 400 relay, the Calhoun B team was first at 44.32 and McHenry, White, Penny and Cook were the runners on that relay.
The Calhoun A team of Queen, Speer, Christian, and Fain Jr. came in fourth at 48.60 as just over four seconds separated the top four teams.
The Jackets won the 4-x-400 relay with a 3:51.07 and Jackson, Demetrius Clavino, Hinojosa, and Dornan made up that relay. Ringgold ran a 3:54.01 for second place.
In the 3,200 relay, Calhoun was first with a 9:45.45, nearly 90
seconds ahead of the runner-up time of 11:13.85 from Ringgold.
Even the events they did not win, the Yellow Jackets still did very well in.
They were second, third, and fourth in the high jump.
Richard Clavino was second at 5-06 in the high junp that was won by Ringgold’s Kishaun Taylor at 6-04. Jackson Kameron of Calhoun also went 5-06, but was third in the final results and senior Landon Chattam was third for the Jackets and fourth overall at 5-04.
The Jackets finished with two of the top four places in the 200-meter run. Junior McConnell ran a 23.50 to place second, just a breath behind the winning time of 23.47. Cook was fourth in the race for CHS, running a 24.46 as the four fastest times were a second apart.
Calhoun was also third, fourth and fifth in the 100-meter run. Christian was third with an 11.47 and just out of second place, whch was an 11.44 time. Queen was second for CHS and fourth in the race at 11.53 and Speer was fifth overall at 11.70. The winning time was an 11.15 by Ringgold sprinter Logan Roberts.