Macy Tabor clears 4’10” in the high jump on Thursday at the TSSAA State Track Meet
Six athletes from Coffee County Central High School competed on Thursday in the TSSAA Spring Fling state meet at MTSU’s Dean Hayes Track and Soccer Stadium in Murfreesboro. Three Raider harriers competed in the field events in the morning session while the boys’ 4×400 relay team was in action in the running session on Thursday night.
The morning started strong for sophomore Lady Raider Macy Tabor in the high jump. Coming in at a starting height of 4’8” was higher than Macy normally starts but she “felt good” clearing the first height on her 1st attempt. “Maybe I should always start at that height” quipped Tabor after the event. Tabor cleared 4’10” in her 1st attempt before scratching on all 3 attempts at 5’. After reaching the state meet and medaling in middle school, Tabor admitted that the excitement and nerves were pretty high on Thursday. “Normally I don’t get nervous, but today my heart was racing. It sure was an experience” added Tabor.
Trace Bryant clears 10′ in the pole vault on Thursday at the TSSAA State Track Meet
While Tabor was high jumping, Trace Bryant was pole vaulting. After picking up the event in his junior year, this was Bryant’s first exposure to the state meet in the pole vault. After scratching on his 1st attempt, Bryant cleared 9’6” and then backed that up by clearing 10’ on his 1st attempt. When attempting his personal record of 10’ 6”, Bryant scratched all 3 times to finish short of the medal stand. “I definitely think I could have done a whole lot better” said Bryant. “I definitely had an off day; but at the end of the day I made it to state….nothing to bad sad about that” added Bryant.
Chloe Haggard clears a new personal record best of 7′ in the pole vault on Thursday at the TSSAA state track meet
At high noon, the 2 week career of Chloe Haggard in the pole vault hit center stage at MTSU. Haggard, who first trained for the pole vault earlier this month, entered the state meet short on experience but long on athleticism and determination. After opening up with a clean jump at 6’, Haggard turned around and cleared her personal best of 6’6” a mere 3 minutes later. Chloe followed that up with her 3rd straight successful jump of 7’ to set a new personal record. Haggard scratched in all 3 attempts to clear 7’6” to end her senior season in 15th place in the state. “It’s fun, really wished I could have (picked up the sport) sooner. It is really fun and I enjoyed getting to come to state” said Haggard after the event.
Members of the Coffee County 4×400 Relay Team after Thursday’s race. From left to right: John Dobson, Kelvin Verge, Renata Garcia and Trace Bryant.
The boys’ 4×400 team of Trace Bryant, Renata Garcia, John Dobson and Kelvin Verge closed out the long day for the Raider harriers. The quartet becomes the first Coffee County boys’ relay team to qualify for state in what is believed to be at least 8 years. The group ran a new personal best time of 3:32.73 which was good enough for 15th place.
