One is so busy he rarely has time even to practice, and the other is so dedicated to the sport that she rarely misses an opportunity to spend extra time honing her skills.
Regardless of the different approaches, McCallie junior Tons Ferguson and Baylor senior Selena Popp each qualified for next week's Division II state meet in both events they entered Tuesday afternoon at GPS.
Tons Ferguson of McCallie flies through the air as he competes in the triple jump Tuesday during the Division II state track qualifying meet at GPS.
McCallie's Myles Patton competes in the long jump during TSSAA Division II regional field events Tuesday, at Girls Preparatory School. He won with a 21-foot leap.Ferguson, who also plays baseball and has time only to show up and compete in a meet with very little practice time, won the high jump and triple jump, the same events Popp won Tuesday. Only the first-place finishers are automatic qualifiers for next week's Spring Fling, while the others hope to claim one of the three at-large bids in each event.
The six field events, as well as the 3200-meter runs, were held Tuesday. Qualifying for the remaining running events will be held Thursday, also at GPS.
Ferguson easily won both of his events, claiming the high jump by clearing 6 feet, 2 inches (4 inches better than second place) and triple jumping 43 feet, 11 inches (2 feet, 6 1/2 inches better than second).
He is scheduled to compete in the 110- and 300-meter hurdles Thursday, although McCallie also has a baseball doubleheader that day with a berth in next week's state tournament at stake.
"He's only practiced with us maybe a couple of times this whole year," McCallie coach Mike Wood said. "He's competed in about three meets this year because of conflicts with baseball, so he basically just comes out and does what he does which is amazing.
"You're talking about events where you need practice time as well as ability, but he's doing most of it on natural ability. If he did practice, there's no telling how good he could be. He could be a multiple state champion because he's a very talented athlete."
McCallie had a total of four automatic qualifiers in Tuesday's eight events. Joining Ferguson as event winners were Myles Patton in the long jump and Trel Phillips in the shot put.
Having finally recovered from a hamstring injury that slowed her at the beginning of the spring, Popp, who already owns state titles in multiple events, high jumped 5 feet and won the triple jump with a leap of 35 feet, 1 inch (more than five feet better than second place). She will compete in both the 100- and 300-meter hurdles Thursday and already has qualified in the pentathlon as well.
"This is my last year, so I would love to get in the state in as many events as I can," Popp said. "It was a tough start to the season with the injury, but I've been slowly building my way back and I feel good about where I am now.
"It's great knowing that I'm automatically qualified in a few events already, but I want to make it in both the hurdles, too. I want to do as much as I can in my last week of high school competition."
Baylor freshman Rachel Smith, in her first season of competing in the event, won the pole vault, clearing a region meet-record 10 feet, 9 inches.
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293.