The most alarming aspect for anyone competing against Lennex Walker - either from the Chattanooga area or across Tennessee once the Spring Fling state meet rolls around - is that she swears she's not yet in track and field condition.
The Arts & Sciences senior stole the show Friday during the annual Optimist meet at GPS, winning three events and finishing second in another. She accomplished all that despite admittedly just recently beginning to get into form for her spring sport.
"I'm still in basketball shape, not track shape," Walker said with a grin. "There is a difference, and I believe once I get into track shape and get all those muscles firing, I'm confident that I can win state titles in four events. And I think I'll be right there in the pentathlon, too."
Walker won the triple jump with a best leap of 36 feet, 10.5 inches, which was nearly nine inches better than the second-place finisher. After taking second in the long jump to Red Bank's Kimbra Dunning, Walker easily won the 100-meter hurdles (14.51 seconds) and 300 hurdles (45.29), finishing each of those events more than a second ahead of her closest competition.
"Days like today are a little tough, honestly, because I'm kind of running against myself but don't have anybody to really push me," said Walker, who won state titles last year in the 100 hurdles and the triple jump and was runner-up in the long jump and pentathlon. "I'm always a little scared to push myself too much this early because I don't want to wind up with an injury.
"I've got some technique things to work on and I've set some big goals for the end of the season, so this felt good to get out here and see where I am right now."
Baylor won the girls' team title, with GPS second in the 11-team field.
Cleveland junior Keegan Jones won the long jump and the 200-meter dash, and he anchored the first-place 4x200 relay team. He was second in the 100, finishing just behind Red Bank's Kedrick Wilbanks to help lead the Blue Raiders to the boys' title in the nine-team field.
"I just wanted to come out and stay relaxed and show what I could do," said Jones, who was named MVP of a recent meet in Fort Payne, Ala. "It's been a long, hot day, and all I want to do now is go home and go to bed and get some rest."
Blue Raiders teammates Mel Obadiah (800), Benjedi Casseus (300 hurdles) and Eric Parker (110 hurdles) also won their individual events, and Cleveland's 4x800 relay team also took first.
"I'm really proud of the way our kids came out and competed today," Cleveland coach Adam Renshaw said. "We've still got some work to do, but our guys are learning how to compete and we've got a good group of versatile athletes who are starting to grow up and compete every time out.
"Keegan is really special. He's just an unreal athlete that I think is starting to figure out just how good he could be. The sky's the limit for his future."
McCallie's Hakim McMorris won the triple jump and was second in the 110 hurdles.
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.