McCallie's Tons Ferguson, Baylor's Kate Kaufman sectional dual winners

Arkansas-SEMO Live Blog
photo Tons Ferguson of McCallie School flies through the air as he competes in the triple jump Tuesday during the Division II state track qualifying meet at GPS. Ferguson won the event with a hop, skip and jump of 43 feet, 1.5 inches.

Much like Bo Jackson was in football, McCallie's Tons Ferguson may be better at his "hobby" than his preferred sport of baseball. The sophomore Bahamian who came to McCallie to play baseball won two events at Tuesday's Division II East sectional track and field meet at GPS despite not having competed in an event all spring.

"To come out raw like that wasn't easy," said Ferguson, who qualified for next week's state meet by clearing a personal-best 6 feet, 2 inches in the high jump and winning the triple jump at 43 feet, 1.5 inches. "I had made a few jumps on my own when I wasn't playing baseball, but other than that I really haven't done much this spring with track.

"But mentally I was ready for today and that probably made the difference, even though I knew I wasn't at my best physically."

The D-II schools competed in six field events and the 3200-meter run Tuesday and will conclude the state-qualifying meet Thursday with the remaining running events. Only the top finisher in each event is guaranteed a spot in next week's state meet in Murfreesboro. There are two automatic qualifiers in each event from both the Middle and West sectionals, and the other three spots will be made up of at-large invitees.

Ferguson also is one of the area's top hurdlers and would be a solid favorite to qualify in the 110-meter hurdles as well, but he will be with his Blue Tornado baseball team for a game in Memphis on Thursday.

"Baseball is the sport I came to play, so I need to be there with my teammates," Ferguson said. "It would be nice, individually, to have the chance to run the hurdles, but we have a lot of seniors on the baseball team who want to get to the state tournament, and I feel like I owe it to them to be there to help if I can."

photo Kate Kaufman of Baylor competes in the pole vault Tuesday during the Division II state track qualifying meet at GPS.

Baylor senior Kate Kaufman was the only other athlete to win two events Tuesday, setting a personal best in the triple jump (36-3.25) and winning the pole vault with an admittedly disappointing best of 10 feet.

"That just wasn't one of my better days in the vault, but I qualified for next week and that's what matters," said Kaufman, who cleared 11-9 earlier this season. "I probably pushed myself harder in the triple jump because of how disappointed I was with my vault, and getting a personal best in that made it a much more satisfying day."

McCallie's Cameron Walker won the shot put (52-2) and will hope to earn an at-large state discus berth after finishing second in that event. Blue Tornado teammate Ramsay Ritchie cruised to a first-place finish in the 3200, more than 14 seconds ahead of the runner-up.

Baylor's Selena Popp won the high jump and also must wait to see if she earned an at-large spot in the triple jump after finishing second.

Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293.

TSSAA Class AAA Sectional 2 Results at Riverdale High School, Murfreesboro

(Top four advance to state meet)

Girls

Team scores: 1. Riverdale 127; 2. Cleveland 64; 3. Oakland 63; 4. Ooltewah 62; 5. Siegel 56; 6. Rhea County 40; 6. Stone Memorial 40; 8. La Vergne 39; 9. Coffee County 34; 9. Blackman 34; 11. Walker Valley 28; 12. East Hamilton 24; 13. McMinn County 20; 13. Shelbyville 20; 15. Cumberland County 18; 16. Soddy-Daisy 15; 16. Tullahoma 15; 18. Cookeville 8; 19. Stewarts Creek 6.

100 meters--1. Joy Frierson, Riverdale, 12.32; 2. Kiana Davis, Ooltewah, 12.51; 3. Ivori Hood, Oakland, 12.65; 4. Maya Hughes, Oakland, 12.66.

200--1. Kiana Davis, Ooltewah, 25.93; 2. Whitney Tesi, Siegel, 26.59; 3. Ivori Hood, Oakland, 26.59; 4. Jade Abbott, Blackman, 26.64.

400--1. Ellise Carter, Siegel, 59.22; 2. Taonna Miller, Cumberland County, 1:00.29; 3. Jade Abbott, Blackman, 1:00.47; 4. Dionna Moore, Riverdale, 1:00.50.

800--1. Adaysha McGill, Oakland, 2:29.16; 2. Clorissa Campbell, Shelbyville, 2:29.56; 3. Autumn Daniels, Stewarts Creek, 2:30.34; 4. Anna Lanter, Soddy-Daisy, 2:30.52.

1,600--1. Nicole Gardner, Siegel, 5:23.38; 2. Maddy McClellan, Riverdale, 5:31.91; 3. Emma McClellan, 5:35.72; 4. Gloria Pascual, Rhea County, 5:39.30.

3,200--1. Nicole Gardner, Siegel, 11:57.72; 2. Maddy McClellan, Riverdale, 11:58.97; 3. Hailey Coudriet, Stone Memorial, 12:16.96; 4. Emma McClellan, Riverdale, 12:27.48.

100 hurdles--1. Haleigh Montgomery, East Hamilton, 14.91; 2. Aliah Cook, La Vergne, 15.51; 3. Hayley Banks, Coffee County, 15.77; 4. Di'anna Wright, Oakland, 16.18.

300 hurdles--1. Aliah Cook, La Vergne, 15.51; 2. Haleigh Montgomery, East Hamilton, 44.59; 3. Tamia Aldridge, Riverdale, 47.91; 4. Kayli Priestwood, Stone Memorial, 48.16.

4x100 relay--1. Ooltewah, 49.69; 2. Oakland (Maya Hughes, Darra Wright, Di'anna Wright, Ivori Hood), 50.16; 3. La Vergne (Dymanique Thompson, Avianna King, Jade Lawson, Aliah Cook), 4. Riverdale (Joy Frierson, Dominique Hopper, Talia Martin, Jasmine Mayes), 51.76.

4x200 relay--1. Ooltewah, 1:45.23; 2. Riverdale (Tamia Aldridge, Joy Frierson, Dominque Hopper, Collinthia Howse), 1:45.54; 3. Cleveland, 1:46.23; 4. Oakland (Kaelin Morris, Imani Udoumana, Darra Wright, Nakia Marion), 1:48.88.

4x400 relay--1. Riverdale, 4:07.60; 2. Cleveland, 4;13.53; 3. Oakland (Nakia Marion, Imani Udoumana, Emily Zipay, Adaysha McGill), 4:13.75; 4. La Vergne (Avianna King, Dymanique Thompson, Teshanna King, Kira King), 4:17.82.

4x800 relay--1. Soddy-Daisy, 2. Riverdale (Maddy McClellan, Dominique Hopper, Collinthia Howse, Emma McClellan), 10:29.86; 3. Stone Memorial, 10:39.48; 4. Cumberland, County, 10:44.40.

High jump--1. Aly McNulty, Stone Memorial, 5-0; 2. Ashley Price, Ooltewah, 5-0; 3. Julie Brown, Rhea County, 5-0; 4. Kayli Priestwood, Stone Memorial, 4-10.

Pole vault--1. Meg Tomayko, Siegel, 9-6; 2. Kristen Fuller, Riverdale, 7-0; 3. Johnsie Jones, Tullahoma, 7-0; 4. Maddie Coulthard, Cleveland, 7-0.

Long jump--1. Qe Abdullah-Muhammad, Cleveland, 18-3; 2. Kethlyn Campbell, Shelbyville, 17-4; 3. Aliah Cook, La Vergne 17-1 1/2; 4. Kacy Robertson, Soddy-Daisy, 15-11.

Triple jump--1. Qe Abdulla-Muhammad, Cleveland, 37-6; 2. Talia Martin, Riverdale, 33-6; 3. Karson Young, Coffee County, 32-6; 4. Ashlyn McDonald, Tullahoma, 32-1.

Shot put--1. Simone Hicks, McMinn County, 38-6 1/2; 2. Hayley Banks, Coffee County, 38-1; 3. Rachel Lawhorn, Walker Valley, 35-3 1/2; 4. Kalea Barnett, Blackman, 33-10 1/4.

Discus--1. Simone Hicks, McMinn County, 112-6; 2. Rachel Lawhorn, Walker Valley, 109-6; 3. Hannah Alsup, Riverdale, 108-9; 4. Aaliyah Patterson, Oakland, 107-11.

Boys

Team scores: 1. Oakland 107; 2. Cleveland 102.5; 3. Riverdale 92; 4. Tullahoma 89; 5. Ooltewah 80; 6. Siegel 30; 7. Rhea County 29.5; 8. La Vergne, 28; 9. McMinn County, 27; 10. Blackman 24; 11. Franklin County 16; 11. Bradley Central 16; 13. Stewarts Creek 14; 13. Cumberland County 14; 15. Cookeville 13; 16. Soddy-Daisy 11; 17. Columbi 9; 18. Lawrence County, 7; 19. East Hamilton 6; 19. Walker Valley 6; 21. Soddy-Daisy 4; 21. Warren County 4; 23. Stone Memorial 3; 24. Shelbyville 1; 24. White County 1.

100 meters--1. Chris Stokes, Oakland, 10.92; 2. Tyler Davis, Cleveland, 11.06; 3. Cole Potter, Tullahoma, 11.06; 4. Franklin County, Timothy Farris, 11.18.

200--1. Josh Brame, La Vergne, 22.23; 2. Tyler Davis, Cleveland, 22.24; 3. Cole Potter, Tullahoma, 22.42; 4. Rashun Freeman, Ooltewah.

400--1. Cody McCaskill, Riverdale, 50.65; 2. Austin Wenger, Tullahoma, 51.81; 3. Adrian Hart, Ooltewah, 51.98; 4. Chase Sholl, Rhea County, 52.15.

800--1. Johnathan Conley, Stewarts Creek, 1:56.64; 2. Harold Smith, Bradley Central, 1:57.41; 3. Leonel Perez, La Vergne, 1:58.62; 4. Logan McKenzie, McMinn County, 2:00.72.

1,600--1. Brandon Harvey, Riverdale, 4:31.33; 2. Eli Leskinen, Oakland, 4:33.61; 3. Garrett Flores, Ooltewah, 4:35.20; 4. Collin Gwaltney, Bradley Central, 4:36.00.

3,200--1. Eli Leskinen, Oakland, 10:01; 2. Nathan Longfellow, Cookeville, 10:06.90; 3. Ben Tabor, Cumberland County, 10:18; 4. Brandon Harvey, Riverdale, 10:26.51.

110 hurdles--1. Cleveland, Will Hilliker, Cleveland, 15.39; 2. Torey Wilkerson, Riverdale, 15.39; 3. Chase Sholl, Rhea County, 15.47; 4. Greg Cantrell, Oakland, 15.50.

300 hurdles--1. T.J. Parker, Cleveland, 40.72; 2. Travis Williams, Ooltewah, 40.76; 3. Daniel Rose, Ooltewah, 41.48; 4. Greg Cantrell, Oakland, 41.49.

4x100 relay--1. Cleveland, 42.51; 2. Tullahoma, 42.67; 3. Ooltewah, 43.40; 4. Franklin County, 43.67.

4x200 relay--1. Ooltewah, 1:28.83; 2. La Vergne (David Ayanlowo, Daniel Ayanlowo, Sherrod Hale, Josh Brame), 1:30.17; 3. Blackman (Dante Bertrand, Styles Corder, Quentin Hardy, Jauan Jennings), 1:32.17; 4. Tullahoma, 1:33.22.

4x400 relay--1. Tullahoma, 3:27.45; 2. Oakland, (Nathan Mack, Jacob McGuffie, Dustin Merritt, Greg Cantrell), 3:30.70; 3. Ooltewah, 3:33.33; 4. Riverdale, 3:33.95.

4x800 relay--1. Oakland (Jordan Hill, Daniel Smith, Nate Martin, Nathan Mack), 8:31.08; 2. Cumberland County, 8:36.30; 3. Riverdale (Will Davidson, Brandon Harvey, Cole Nichols, Avery Stokes), 8:39.04; 4. Ooltewah, 8:39.16.

High jump--1. Robbie Saxton, McMinn County, 6-0; 2. Brian Armstrong, McMinn County, 5-10; 3. Chris Ofori, Cleveland, 5-10; 3. Tad Onwu, Riverdale, 5-10.

Pole vault--1. Alex Pulido, Siegel, 12-0; 2. Abraham Lou, Riverdale, 9-6; 3. Keith Hall, Rhea County, 9-0. 4. Ross Sessions, Siegel, 8-6.

Long jump--1. Tyler Davis, Cleveland, 21-0; Rashun Freeman, Ooltewah, 21-0; 3. Shamar Smith, Tullahoma, 20-5; 4. Will Hilliker, Cleveland, 20-3.

Triple jump--1. Kris Potts-Howard, Tullahoma, 45-5; 2. Shamir Smith, Tullahoma, 44-1; 3. Chris Ofori, Cleveland, 42-7 1/2; 4. Abraham Lou, Riverdale, 42-7.

Shot put--1. Caleb Yates, Oakland, 50-0; 2. Jose Justiniano, Tullahoma, 46-5; 3. Tad Onwu, Riverdale, 36-3; 4. Jackson Harris, Columbia, 45-8.

Discus--1. Emmanuel Smith, Oakland, 148-1; 2. Caleb Yates, Oakland, 142-3; 3. Dalton McDonald, Cleveland, 135-4; 4. Darian McCroskey, Lawrence County, 126-3.

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