Power and flight
Dark breaks mark at Karns; Hall wins long jump at Vol Classic
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Anderson County senior Luke Dark, a Milligan signee, competes in the discus at the Vol Classic on Saturday, April 18, at Tom Black Track in Knoxville. Dark finished 12th in the event with a throw of 146 feet, 2 inches, and later took second in the shot put with a mark of 63-8. - Tony Cox
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Oak Ridge’s Rhett Hovater explodes off the line to open the first leg of the 4x800-meter relay at the Vols Classic on Saturday, April 18. - Tony Cox
Despite being a bit short-handed, the Anderson County High School track and field teams turned in several impressive performances at one of the area’s biggest meets Saturday.
The Mavericks and Lady Mavericks competed in the Vol Classic at the University of Tennessee’s Tom Black Track.
“The prom was on Friday and then we’ve had some sickness and some injuries,” Anderson County Coach Harrison Calhoun said. “Looking at the way our kids ran, threw and jumped, I was really impressed.
“I was proud of our kids.”
The Mavericks and Lady Mavericks will next compete in the Last Chance Meet at Maryville on Friday.
For the Lady Mavericks, Ava Moody posted a fifth-place finish in the girls 1,600-meter run, crossing the finish line in 5 minutes, 6.94 seconds.
Anderson County’s boys distance runners also had a big day as Cameron Hardy finished sixth in the boys 1,600 with a time of 4:28.57. John Cutler just missed the top 10, finishing 11th in 4:31.93.
“Cam broke 4:28 and I think he now has the second-fastest time in school history in the 1600,” Calhoun said.
The Mavericks also claimed a championship in the long jump as Joseph Hall recorded a leap of 22 feet, 11 inches.
“I want to give a shoutout to Joseph Hall for winning the long jump,” Calhoun said. “He cleared 22-11, so he’s right there at 23 feet.”
Luke Dark posted a second-place finish in the shot put with a throw of 63 feet, 8 inches. He also finished 12th in the discus with a mark of 146-2.
Dark had a busy week, as he also competed in the Sabota Throwers Only Classic at Karns High School on Thursday. There, he won the shot put with a throw of 65-10, breaking his own school record.
“Luke broke the school record, his own record, again,” Calhoun said.
Oak Ridge also competed in the Sabota Classic and the Vol Classic.
The Wildcats had a pair of top-10 finishers in the discus at Karns on Thursday. Oliver Pagel finished sixth with a throw of 102-3, while Spenser Hatmaker was seventh at 100-9.
In the shot put, Oak Ridge’s Edwyn Maradiaga was ninth with a mark of 36-5.
At the Vol Classic on Saturday, the Lady Wildcats’ 800-meter sprint relay team finished seventh in 2:04.38. Their distance medley relay team was 10th in 15:40.83.
The Wildcats’ sprint relay team placed eighth in 1:40.56.
In the boys pole vault, Cooper Calfee finished sixth with a clearance of 12-6. In the long jump, Andrew Lewis was sixth with a leap of 21-7.50.
