TSSAA Spring Fling top moments: Maryville girls 4x400 wins title, Hardin Valley jumpers dominate
MURFREESBORO - Here are some of the biggest moments from the third day of competition Thursday at the TSSAA Spring Fling state championships:
Maryville girls 4x400 wins state championship
The Maryville girls 4x400-meter relay made history Thursday in the Class AAA state track and field championships. The team of Brooke Burgin, Katie Workman, Jasmine Mayden and Aliyah Kennedy became the first track state champions from Maryville since 2019 and the first 4x400 champions in program history.
The Rebels finished first with the second-fastest time in the state this season, running 4 minutes, 00.60 seconds. Kennedy, who anchored the relay, helped Maryville edge second place Brentwood by just .28 seconds.
Burgin, Workman and. Kennedy also ran on the 4x200 relay that took 10th place, and Workman and Burgin ran on the. 4x100 that was ninth.
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Riley Cassity advances to Class AA singles championship
Farragut sophomore Riley Cassity beat Collierville's Ella De Jesus in the Class AA state singles semifinals to advance to the final against Ravenwood's Grace Stout. This is Cassity's first appearance at the state tournament.
After rain delays throughout the morning, the tennis tournament format was changed to single sets played to eight points. Cassity gave up only one point to secure an 8-1 win in the lone set. Stout, her championship opponent, lost in the first round of the 2021 state tournament. The championship will be played at 11 a.m. Friday.
Hardin Valley duo dominates girls' long and triple jump
Sidnee Stanton and Brooke Taylor have been a one-two punch for Hardin Valley in the horizontal jumps all season, and that didn't change in the Class AAA state championships.
Stanton, a Tennessee Tech signee, took first place in triple jump for the second year in a row with a leap of 36 feet, eight inches. Taylor took third, jumping 35-6.75. In long jump, it was Taylor who finished ahead, placing second at 17-9.5. Stanton was fourth at 17-2.
The two combined for 29 points, making up more than half of Hardin Valley's 52 team points to place fifth overall.
Catholic girls tennis players reach singles, doubles finals
One day after winning the team state championship for the second year in a row, three Knoxville Catholic girls tennis players advanced to the finals in the Division II-AA tournament.
Maeve Thornton, the reigning Division II-AA singles champion, will attempt to defend her title against Ensworth's Riley Collins in the final Friday at 11 a.m.. She beat. Ensworth's Avery Franklin 8-2 in the lone set of the semifinal round.
The doubles pair of Lillie Murphy and Eleni Liakonis also reached the championship after beating Ensworth's Mimi Bowen and Lenna Hamdan in the semifinal. Liakonis reached the singles semifinals in 2021, but she has never competed in a championship match. The Catholic duo will take on Baylor's Agda Laakso and Helen Guerry at 11 a.m. Friday for the title.
Farragut 800-meter runners earn top five placements
Both the Farragut boys and girls excelled in the 800 at the Class AAA track and field championships.
In the girls' race, sophomore Parker Willis took second place in 2:16.26, more than two seconds faster than her previous career-best performance. Chattanooga signee Lexi Foley was fourth in 2:19.45, just her third career time under 2:20. Both also ran on the 4x800 relay that was place and the 4x400 relay that took third.
In the boys race, Tyler Ebbert took second place in 1:57.02, losing only to Daniel Boone's Levi Streeval, the fastest 800 runner in the state.
Contact Emily Adams at eaadams@gannett.com or on Twitter @eaadams6.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: TSSAA Spring Fling: Top 5 moments from the Knoxville area on Day 3
