BRISTOL, Tenn. - Three track meets in six days. Three plaques for Tyler Barrett to find a home.
"I am not exactly sure what I am going to do with all these, I am not going to lie to you," said Barrett, who earned top field events performer in three track meets this week, including Saturday's Frank Carver Invitational at Tennessee High. "My walls are pretty full right now."
No wonder. Barrett claimed the same honors at the Judy Thomas Invitational at Patrick Henry on Monday and did the same at the Food City Track Classic at Abingdon on Wednesday.
Also, an NCAA Division I football prospect for the Rebels, Barrett doesn't take any of the awards for granted.
"It is an honor and a blessing to be able to come out here and win these awards," Barrett said. "I love it, man. I love coming out here every week and competing and it is a fun sport. Football, you come out here and you are trying to hurt the other guy and you are trying to go after him, but out here, everybody is just friends out here competing and having a good time. I love it."
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Hundreds of track athletes from four states, including 25 girls teams and 24 boys teams, were part of the day-long festivities on a picture-perfect day that followed a couple of chilly and rainy days earlier in the week. That didn't seem to bother the athletes in the least.
"The good thing is our kids train throughout the year so we are used to all weather conditions," Abingdon track coach Brent Swiney said. "They are pretty acclimated to competing in whatever conditions are present that day."
In addition to Barrett, who won the shot put and finished sixth in the discus, other local individual winners included four athletes from Abingdon, led by Amanda Ferrante (1600 meters), Josie Jackson (800 meters), Rives Boltwood (1600 meters) and Gregory Poisson, who left behind the competition in 9:41.91 to capture the 3200 meters, which is eight laps around the quarter-mile track.
"Very tiring. I love the two-mile because a lot of people don't like two-mile. The first four (laps) went back great.," said Poisson, whose goal this season is to break the 9:20 mark, and hopes to get his time down to 9:15. "My goal today was stay on 70s as long as I could. I ran 9:25 last year so I am kind of bouncing back. My indoor season wasn't quite what I wanted it to be, but I was happy where I ended up.
"Two weeks ago I PR'ed (personal record) in the mile so I was happy about that. I knew there wasn't going to be a whole lot of competition today, but I just wanted to see how many even splits I could get through. That was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be...
"I am very happy with the first half, the last half was rough, but that was all right."
Tennessee High junior Fairyn Meares, who won the state in the pole vault last season with a leap of 10 foot, 6 inches, settled for 10-foot on Saturday, and did that after spraining her ankle earlier in the meet. She was wearing a boot on her left foot, but expects to be back soon.
"My PR is 11 and I was jumping really, really well and I was on a bigger pole," Meares said. "I was doing really great, but it is unfortunate that I sprained my ankle. I am really proud of myself and I will be back in no time, I am going to do a lot of rehabilitation for it."
Don't expect any injuries to slow down Meares. She loves to compete.
"I was a gymnast for 10 years before hand and unfortunately I had to quit that because of injuries," Meares said. "I was really strong and my coach was like pole vaulting is your thing so I was like 'Ok' and I really like it."
How does she overcome the mental hurdle of running with a pole, sticking it in the right position and then propelling herself over a bar.
"It is confidence and it is fully believing in yourself," said Meares, who compete in the national meets during the summer. "I have this kind of mentality with the vault, MC is what we call it, put all your emotions on the side and then celebrate after the jump. So just lock in and be focused...It feels like flying, that is my favorite part of it. It is fun."
Tennessee High's Jack Richardson was also a winner, finishing first in the high jump with a leap of 6 feet, 2 inches.
Abingdon had the best team finish of the local teams, placing third in the girls competition with 69 points, trailing first place Maryville (112) and North Buncombe from North Carolina (76). Chattanooga signee Ferrante won the 1600 in 5:08.80, while Jackson won the 800 in 2:20.14, with Ferrante finishing close behind in second place.
"They train together every day so they know each other and how they work really well together," Abingdon track coach Brent Swiney said. "Today showed that, especially in that 800 when they just both were right there together and they finished it really well. We are really expecting some big things as we go throughout the rest of the season."
While Poisson and Furman signee Boltwood, who won the 1600 meters in 4:23.27, were winners for the Abingdon boys team, Swiney thinks that particular group of Falcons can be special, but there is work to be done.
"We have had a solid day today, especially with the girls," Swiney said. "With our boys, we had quite a few kids missing and we are just really going to have to decide with the boys if we want to compete or not. We are hoping that better days are ahead for us, but the girls have had a really good day today so I am proud of them. We are hoping our boys can get it together a little bit."
The 6-foot-3 and 300-plus pound Barrett competed in the state meet last season, but injuries kept him out of contention. He won Saturday's shot put with a throw of 57 foot and 11 inches. His goal is to get above 60 feet and don't count him out. He placed sixth in the discus and is certainly looking to improve there as well.
"I love the technicality of it. Obviously, the discus ring is bigger so you have more to room to frail about and do things, but the shot, it is an seven feet so it is so meticulous. Every little thing you do is so measured and you have to be great at it," said Barrett, who never fails to show up for work. "I am practicing all the time. It is an ongoing joke that I never missed a practice, like ever. I just try to be there every day and try to do my best...
"I wasn't happy with the discus. It was a little bit of a rough day, I only got one mark inbounds, which was a pretty good throw that ended up hitting a wind wall and dying up pretty high. I was pretty happy with the shot put, getting really consistent, I think a big throw is coming, I think I can probably break the 60-barrier here soon. I want to hit 60 and go even higher than that."
Abingdon has developed a reputation as one of the state's top schools for runners, either in track or in cross country. Poisson is glad to be part of it, having followed in the very fast footsteps of numerous former Falcons who have attained his goal of running at the college level.
"Coach Swiney is great. We do some amazing stuff under him," he said. "I have been really fortunate, I came onto the team as a freshman and had two years with the guys in front of me. I was on a team with Isaac Thiessen and then Jack Bundy and now I have Reece Boltwood. I have been really fortunate in that I have had that environment to kind of push me."
He also has an ideal place to run.
"We have got the Creeper Trail," he said. "Every day we run from the school to the Creeper Trail, a really great resource. It is beautiful. We are really fortunate to have that as well."
Dobyns-Bennett won Saturday's boys team competition, easily out-distancing Science Hill 125-66.5. Abingdon was the top local boys team with 45 points.
****
Frank Carver Invitational
Saturday, at Tennessee High
GIRLS
Team Scores (Top 10 of 25 teams)
1. Maryville 112, 2. North Buncombe, NC 76; 3. Abingdon 69; 4. Science Hill 63.5; 5. Dobyns-Bennett 60; 6. Harlan County, KY 38; 7. Tennessee High 33; 8. Elizabethton 31; 9. David Crockett 26; 10. Greeneville 24. (14. West Ridge 21; t20. Patrick Henry 6; t20. Gate City 6; 23. Sullivan East 2; 24. Lebanon 1.
Individual Winners
Medley Relay: North Buncombe, NC 12:16.11; 100 Hurdles: Sky Dunford (Maryville) 16:58; 100 Meters: Aliyah Kennedy (Maryville); 4x200 Relay: Maryville 1:45.40; 1600 Meters: Amanda Ferrante (Abingdon) 5:08.80; 4x100 Relay: Maryville 49.81; 400 Meters: Sophia Banks (North Buncombe, NC) 57.55; 300 Hurdles: Hayes McCallum (Maryville) 46.94; 800 Meters: Josie Jackson (Abingdon) 2:20.14; 200 Meters: Annalee Seratt (Maryville) 26.10; 3200 Meters: Maggie Bellamy (David Crockett) 11:44.30; 4x400 Relay: North Buncombe, NC 4:01.76; High Jump: Paige Phillips (Harlan County, Ky.) 4'11"; Pole Vault: Fairyn Meares (Tennessee High) 10'0"; Long Jump: Alexa Gabbard (South Greene) 16'3"; Triple Jump: Nevan Smelser (Dobyns-Bennett) 33'9"; Shot Put: Leah Mowell (Cherokee) 39'3"; Discus: Liahna Nave (Elizabethton) 120'0.
BOYS
Team Scores
1. Dobyns-Bennett 125; 2. Science Hill 66.5; 3. Maryville 61; 4. Volunteer 50; 5. Abingdon 45; 6. Jefferson County 43.5; 7. Daniel Boone 40; 8. Elizabethton 38; 9. Greeneville 35.5; 10. West Ridge 29 (13. Tennessee High 20; 14. Patrick Henry 18; 20. Sullivan East 5.5; 21. Lebanon 5).
Individual Winners
Medley Relay: Daniel Boone 11:20.24; 110 Hurdles: Brayden Simpson (Dobyns-Bennett) 14:41; 100 Dash: Taylor Madison (Sevier County) 11:05; 4x200 Relay: Science Hill 1:30.30; 1600 Meters: Rives Boltwood (Abingdon) 4:23:27; 4x100 Relay: Dobyns-Bennett 43:32; 400 Meters: Jeremiah Norris (Elizabethton) 51:03; 300 Hurdles: Brayden Simpson (Dobyns-Bennett) 39:52; 800 Meters: Luke Mussard (Dobyns-Bennett) 1:56.06; 200 Meters: Taylor Madison (Sevier County) 21.86; 3200 Meters: Gregory Poisson (Abingdon) 9:41.91; 4x400 Relay: Maryville 3:32.76; High Jump: Jack Richardson (Tennessee High) 6'2"; Pole Vault: William Hagemeier (Science Hill) 13'0"; Long Jump: Kamarion Marshall (Dobyns-Bennett) 22;0.75"; Triple Jump: Nigel Vidale (Dobyns-Bennett) 43'3.25"; Tyler Barrett (Patrick Henry) 51'11"; Discus: Landry Buckles (Elizabethton) 158'3".