McCallie won the boys team title at the Mid-South Invitational track meet with 117.5 points. McCallie athletes finished first in the shot put and pole vault and had multiple second place finishes. Kingsport's Dobyns-Bennett finished second in the team standings. For the girls meet, Signal Mountain tied for the team title with Dobyns-Bennett by scoring 82 points, just enough for a share of the crown after finishing sixth in the final 4x400 relay event. Signal Mountain's McKenzie Ethridge won the 100m and 200m dashes. Baylor also performed well, with Ally Craig winning the high jump.

1. McCallie, Signal Mountain girls win titles at Mid-South Invitational
by Jeff Rancudo
McCallie coach Mike Wood has something for folks who say the prep track and field stars of yesteryear were
better in some ways than those of today: Take a close look at his 2016 Blue Tornado track squad.
After they captured top team honors Saturday at McCallie's 33-team, 700-athlete Mid-South Invitational, you
probably wouldn't hear a peep from naysayers.
The Blue Tornado won with 117.5 points, with the individual highlights including a 1-2 finish in the shot put as
Jay Roberts threw 50 feet, 4 1/2 inches and Trel Phillips went 48-3. Also for McCallie, Pete Pritchard won the
pole vault (13-0) and runner-up finishes were earned by Romeo Gibbs (long jump), Tons Ferguson (110-meter
hurdles) and Hakim McMorris (300 hurdles).
Kingsport's Dobyns-Bennett — led by sprinter Bryce Barrett, who set meet records while winning the 400
(48.99) and 200 (22.17) — placed second with 101 points. Nashville's Montgomery Bell Academy (95) was
third, with Baylor (74) fourth.
Wood has the perspective to know what this year's team is truly made of.
"What I love about it is, all these 30-some years that I've been coaching, you still have the hard-nosed kids,"
Wood said. "That's what you love to see. Like our 4x400 (relay team) today. Because those guys were dead, and
they stepped up and gave it all they had (and finished fifth). We were getting a lot of second-, third- and fourth-
place finishes. Parker Marshall ran a personal best in the two-mile (with his 10:07.03 earning sixth).
"People say, 'Back in the day, you know, we were this, this and this.' I'm like, 'Back in the day, pretty much
what I see out here now is kids who just get after it and got a lot of heart.' And it's the same thing I saw 30 years
ago. It's just a great group."
In other top Chattanooga-area boys' performances, Baylor's 4x100 relay team was first, while the 4x800 and
4x200 teams were second. The Red Raiders' Ryan Parker won the discus (156-05) and teammate Ulysses
Strawter won the long jump (20-9 1/2). Chattanooga Christian's Benjamin Moore was second in the high jump.
In girls' competition, Signal Mountain tied for first place with Dobyns-Bennett as each scored 82 points, six
ahead of Baylor. The title wasn't decided until the 4x400, the day's final event. Dobyns-Bennett won it in
4:09.43, but Signal Mountain was sixth, just enough to earn a share of the crown.
Signal Mountain coach Dustin Carpenter said his Lady Eagles "are really just giving phenomenal effort at this
point in the season. They don't take 'no' for an answer. Each and every day is 100 percent. Even running some
different kids in different events today, they still rise to the occasion and perform to everything that we're asking
of them."
Signal Mountain's McKenzie Ethridge won the 100 in 11.96 and the 200 in 25.04. The Lady Eagles' Stephanie
Peterson won the 3200 (11:12.57) while teammates Taylor Luthringer and Becca Umbarger were second and
fourth. Signal also won the 4x100, and Emily Davis was second in the mile with Aryn Sanders third in the long
jump.
In other top girls' finishes, Baylor looked strong as Ally Craig won the high jump (5-2), and the 4x800 relay
team and 100 hurdles competitor Rachel Smith were second. Soddy-Daisy won the 4x200, and CCS's Olivia
Huffman was second in the 400.