Rhea County's Chase Sholl won the 110-meter high hurdles, 300 hurdles and 200 at the Class AAA sectional.EVENSVILLE, Tenn. - It's a daunting workload, an overwhelming week for almost anyone.
But asked about his upcoming schedule, when he will compete in nearly three times as many track and field events as there are days in the typical work week, Chase Sholl just smiles and calls it an "opportunity."
Beginning Monday, the Rhea County High School senior will attempt to compete in 13 events in a five-day span at the Spring Fling state track meet at Middle Tennessee State University. He will start his week with the first half of the 10-event decathlon, finishing the final five events the following day. The 6-foot, 160-pound University of Tennessee signee will have only a couple of days to recover before competing again - he has also qualified for state in the Class AAA 200-meter dash, 110-meter hurdles and 300 hurdles Friday at MTSU.
Should he defend his AAA state title in the decathlon, he would become only the second area athlete to win consecutive championships in track's most difficult series of events, joining former McCallie star Michael Bingham, who won Division II crowns in 2003-04 and later ran in the Olympics.
"I'm a lot more prepared and organized this year, so I'm excited about the opportunity," Sholl said. "Last year was really my first year to train hard, and if anything, I think I overdid it. I've learned that sometimes the best thing for your body is to rest and recover and not spend every minute in the gym or training."
The youngest of three athletic kids born to former college athletes, Sholl knew only one way to approach sports - all out, all the time. Two years ago he left the second day of a region decathlon meet at Cleveland High and drove to Lee University to play in a school tennis match.
"He had also been involved in soccer, but it wasn't long after that that we decided he needed to choose a sport and focus on it," said Chase's dad Shawn, who played soccer at Carson-Newman. "Our whole family is pretty competitive, but Chase really didn't develop that side until around middle school. Once he did, and once he chose track as his main sport, he went after it like nothing I've seen.
"He's so dedicated to working out and training and watching what he eats, and he goes into every competition thinking he's got to win all 10 events."
At last week's state-qualifying sectional meet hosted by Murfreesboro's Riverdale High, Sholl nearly did just that, winning an astonishing seven events while destroying the rest of the AAA decathlon field, making him the clear favorite to defend his state title.
"Nobody goes out and thinks they should win every event of a decathlon, especially at the state level," said UT assistant track coach Berry Shumpert, who recruited Sholl. "Well, nobody but Chase. He has a lot of natural ability, but when you combine that with the kind of drive he has, he could have a very special career at an elite level."
The drive and mental toughness that pushes him beyond the limitations of others could also be Sholl's toughest opponent this week. Despite being well ahead of the field through the first six events of last year's state decathlon, Sholl wanted to continue attacking each event. As he landed in the sandpit during the long jump, he heard a pop and felt a sharp pain jolt through his right hamstring.
When he reached the trainer's tent, despite leading with just three events remaining, Sholl was told he had a partial tear and was advised by medical personnel, his coach and his dad to withdraw. Instead, he hobbled through the high jump, shot put and an agonizing 1500-meter run, holding on to narrowly outscore runner-up Carter Sorenson of Ravenwood and become the area's first state champion decathlete in seven years.
"I'm his coach, but that was nothing I did as coach to help him win," Rhea County coach Steffan Holder said. "We all tried to talk him into walking away when he was injured, but the only question he had was if it was his decision. Once we told him it was, he said 'Then I'm finishing'.
"He went out and high jumped off his left leg, threw the shot and ran nearly a mile, all on one leg. That tells you what kind of heart that kid has."
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.