Red Bank High School’s Kedrick Wilbanks wins the Class A/AA 100-meter dash at the state meet Friday at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro.MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – It’s taken nearly two full years, but Kedrick Wilbanks’ comeback is finally complete.
The Red Bank junior proved he’s fully recovered from the hip surgery he underwent the summer after his freshman year by edging out the state’s top qualifier to win the Class A/AA 100-meter dash Friday evening in the TSSAA track meet at Middle Tennessee State University.
Wilbanks, who was seeded third coming into the state meet, finished in 10.93 seconds, just ahead of Maplewood’s Jeremy McDowell (10.95). He followed that up with a third-place finish in the 200 and also ran the anchor leg of the Lions’ 4×100 relay team that finished sixth.
“It took me a year just to recover, but this makes it feel like all the hard work has paid off,” said Wilbanks, whose personal best time is 10.73. “I think a lot of it was the adrenaline of running at state. I had a good week of practice and felt strong coming in. I’ve got a lot of people pushing me, so I didn’t want to disappoint them.”
Rhea County’s Chase Sholl added to an already impressive week with a Class AAA state title in the 110-meter hurdles. But in his final two events of the evening he showed signs of a tiring week that included a second straight decathlon championship. He was sixth in the 300 hurdles and after only a few minutes of rest took fifth in the 200, an event in which he had posted the fastest qualifying time.