Rising senior state title holder for 3,200 meter, should compete for 2024 XC title
Vance Laster is a state track and field champion. He closed out his junior year by winning a title on Tennessee’s grand stage, the 31st annual Spring Fling at Dean Hayes Stadium in Murfreesboro.
Laster won the crown representing Anderson County High School at the TSSAA Class AA boys track and field championships in the 3,200-meter run in Midstate late last month. He was also a member of the Mavericks’ 4x800-meter relay team, combining with John Cutler, Ben Clotfielder and Ryan Basford. That team finished third at the state meet.
He posted a time of 9 minutes, 40.93 seconds in the 3,200.
Laster competes on the big stage, but said he didn’t always enjoy running.
“I ran all through middle school and at first, I didn’t like it,” he said. “My mom made me do it because she wanted me to stay active. But I was never excited about it.
“I think I really started to enjoy it during my freshman year. Now, I enjoy it and it helps me stay healthy.”
Still, he never thought he would be running at the state’s highest level.
“This feels amazing; I never thought I would win or even compete for a state championship,” Laster said. “And competing on the relay team really made the day.
“Track is (thought of) as an individual sport, but there’s a lot more team aspects in this sport than you’d find in other sports.”
Throughout his athletic career, Laster has competed in all three track distance events. He has also competed in the 800- and 1,600-meter runs.
He opted not to run the 1,600 during the postseason, thinking that he wouldn’t have the energy to compete in the two longest races in the sport.
But he’s looking to make a return trip to the Spring Fling as a senior in 2025 and hasn’t ruled out the possibility of competing in multiple individual events during the postseason.