Nashville, Tn June 8, 2011

Tuesday, Mookie Betts of John Overton High School was selected by the Boston Red Sox in the 5th round of the Major League Baseball Draft with the 172nd pick. Betts has already signed with the University of Tennessee and must now decide between the pros or going to college. If Betts decides on college, he must wait 3 years before being eligible for the draft again.

Murfreesboro, Tn May 27, 2011

Jordan Lavender, a senior at University School, had a day at the TSSAA State Track Meet like no one ever has before. She won the long jump in the morning with a jump of 19.00.05 feet, then in the evening won the 100 meters in 12.07 seconds, the 400 in 55.03 seconds and capped off the day with a 24.61 in the 200 meters giving her four state titles in one day. It also gave her a total of ten titles in her 4-year career at USN, tying her with Lauren Stewart of Brentwood High and Jacquelyn Coward of Knoxville West with the most titles in state history. Lavender will be going to the University of Virginia in the fall.

The MLK girls’ team defended their state title winning the team crown in A-AA. Amia Butler won the 100 hurdles and was 2nd in the triple jump and 3rd in the long jump. Leslye Williams won the 200 and was 3rd in the 100. Jasmine Owens was 2nd in the 400, and Kiana Howard was 3rd in the 800. MLK’s relay teams took 1st in the 4X200 and 4X400, and they finished 3rd in the 4X100 and 4X800.

Murfreesboro, Tn May 25, 2011

Soccer

Senior midfielder Andre Agassi scored the game’s only goal in the 54th minute of play as Father Ryan beat MBA 1-0 in the TSSAA Div II-AA soccer semi-final game at the Richard Seigel Soccer Complex in Murfreesboro, Tn. They will meet Christian Brothers on Thursday at 7:00 for the championship.

USN’s Kareem Gordon scored a goal in each half to lead the Tigers over University School of Jackson by the score of 2-0 in the semis of the Div II-A bracket.

They will face ECS on Thursday for the championship at 4:30

Murfreesboro, Tn May 24, 2011

Recap of Day Two at Spring Fling in Murfreesboro

Johnathan Shuler of Stratford trailed Tony Johnson of Fayette Ware by a single point in the decathlon after 9 events with the grueling 1500 meter run yet to come, and Shuler beat Johnson by 31.8 seconds to capture the title. In AAA action, last year’s champion Kevin Lazus was on hand to cheer on brother Jake Lazus of Brentwood High to the title. Eric Hoff of Brentwood finished 2nd. The DII winner was Sam Tabor of ECS with Josh Davies of BA getting 2nd and Bryan Oslin of MBA finishing 3rd.

Murfreesboro, Tn May 23, 2011

Kanellar Carney of East Literature defended her state title in Class A-AA as she won the girls pentathlon in Murfreesboro at the Blue Cross Spring Fling. LaQuisha Jackson of Howard finished 2nd and Amia Butler of MLK finished 3rd. In Div II Marjorie Butler of Webb School of Knoxville for the 3rd straight year. She edged out Abbie McKinney of FRA and Sally Warm of Baylor was 3rd. Maddie Treasure of Knoxville West won the AAA title, Jennifer Cannon was 2nd and a strong 800 meters propelled Holly Van Grinsven of Brentwood into 3rd place.

The boys completed the first five events of the decathlon with five events to come tomorrow. The Div II leaders are Sam Tabor of ECS, Lane Austell of Briarcrest and Josh Davies of Brentwood Academ. The AAA leaders are Jake Lazus of Brentwood , Eric Hoff also of Brentwood, and Cody Blanc of Knoxville Central. The A-AA leaders are Tony Johnson of Fayette-Ware, Johnathan Shuler of Stratford, and Marcus Cash from Trezevant.

Complete results can be found through TSSAA.org

The BlueCross Spring Fling gets started tomorrow in Murfreesboro and will run through Friday. High school state championships will be decided in baseball, softball, tennis, soccer, and track and field. There will be a lot of familiar names among the winners along with new state champions in several sports. Here are a few things to look for.

Track and Field – The girls pentathlon and boys decathlon start things up Monday at MTSU. The girls will complete all 5 events tomorrow, while the boys will split their 10 disciplines up over two days.

Pentathlon – Jasmine Johnson (Arlington), Holly Van Grinsven (Brentwood), and Maddie Treasure (Knoxville West) will battle it out in AAA action. The AA event should be very close as defending champion Kanellar Carney of East Literature will try to hold off teammate Jada Curbeam, Amia Butler of MLK, and speedster LaQuisha Jackson of Howard. The Division II competition will most likely come down to the last event as Abbie McKinney of FRA and two-time defending champion Marjorie Butler of the Webb School of Knoxville will battle it out.

Mt Juliet, Tn May 20, 2011

The Mt Juliet Bears beat the Overton Bobcats 4-3 in their state sectional baseball game to qualify them for the TSSAA state tournament next week in Murfreesboro. Brandon Henson knocked in the winning run for Mt Juliet in the bottom of the 9th as the Bears came back to win after falling behind 3-2 in the top of the 9th. Kyle Smith pitched brilliantly for the Bears. He threw 8.0 innings gave up just 3 hits and struck out 16. After a two run homer by Overton’s Cody Crawford in the 1st inning, Smith retired 24 of the next 26 Overton hitters allowing only 2 walks. He didn’t give up another hit from the 1st inning until Mookie Betts led off the 9th with a single.

Nashville, Tn May 19, 2011

The Division 1 Middle Tennessee Sectional A-AA Track Meet was completed this evening on the campus of David Lipscomb University. The top two finishers in each event automatically qualify for next week’s state championship meet in Murfreesboro, along with the top two from the East and West Tennessee sections, and there will be two “wild cards” as well from across the state.

The girls' team competition was easily won by the MLK team with wins in the 4x100, the 4x200 (sectional record), the 4x400, and they finished 2nd in the 4x800 relays. Individually Amia Butler qualified in the 100m hurdles, the 300m hurdles, and the long jump, while teammate Leslie Williams won both the 100 and 200-meter races. East Literature finished 2nd and they will be well represented at the state meet by Kanellar Carney, who qualified in the 100m hurdles, the 300m hurdles, and the high jump, all while nursing a shoulder injury sustained just last week. Jada Curbeam, also from East Lit, qualified in the long jump and triple jump. Antonia Harris of Stratford qualified in the 100 and 200 meters, and teammate Tyesha Jones will be throwing for state titles in the shot and discus. Freshman Megan Roach of CPA won the 800 meters and the pole vault.

Nashville, Tn May 17, 2011

The Div II Middle Tn Region track meet got started today at MBA with the boys competing in the field events finals and the girls qualifying for the finals in the running events. The 3200-meter finals for both boys and girls took place as well. In finals the top two finishers automatically qualify for next week’s state meet in Murfreesboro. The West Tn region will also send two to state, and East Tn will send one automatic qualifier. There will also be three “wild card” qualifiers with the next three best marks from across the state.

Jordan Lavender of USN made the finals in the 100, 200, and 400. Abbie McKinney of FRA will go in the finals of the 100 and 300 hurdles. Emily Peters of St. Cecilia nipped Sarah Delozier of Ensworth at the tape to win the 3200 meters in perhaps a bit of an upset, both they will both go to Murfreesboro next week in what should be a great race.

In the boy’s finals of the field events, Josh Davies of Brentwood (48’6.75”) and Cory Batey of Ensworth (48’6.5”) finished 1st and 2nd to qualify in the shot put. Graham Shuler (137’5”) and Amos Mason (136’4”) of Brentwood Academy made it in the discus. Victor Caro (22’4”) of BA and Chase Owen (22’0”) of MBA qualified in the long jump. The High jump went to Rodney Edmiston of Ensworth with a jump of 6’0” and Van East of MBA will also go to state with a jump of 5’10”. Edmiston also qualified in the triple jump with a huge leap of 45’6” and also qualifying was Chase Owen of MBA with 43’6”.

Nathan Fouts 13’1” of MBA and will Reynolds 12’0” of BA will go in the pole vault. Daniel Peters and Ryan Hill, both of MBA finished 1st and 2nd in the boys 3200 meter run.

The girls’ field event finals and the boys’ qualifying in the running events will be tomorrow at MBA. The running finals will be on Friday for both boys and girls.