Nave's title headlines strong day for local athletes at state meet

Sunday turned out to be a banner day for several local athletes who competed in the Tennessee State Indoor Track & Field Championships in Nashville. Elizabethton's Liahna Nave captured a state championship in the girls' shot put and also finished fourth in the girls' weight throw. Nave, a junior, posted 11.89 meters in the shot put, edging out Jaida Harmon of Brentwood Academy to claim the state title. Nave's 12.14-meter effort in the weight throw put her two slots behind Cherokee's Leah Mowell, who finished runner-up in the event. Cherokee's Emma Stipes recorded a sixth-place finish in the girls' weight throw while Mowell ended up third in the shot put behind Nave and Harmon. Northeast Tennessee had a great showing in the boys' weight throw. Science Hill's Cameron Reece finished runner-up, Daniel Boone's Jacob Feathers was third, Cherokee teammates Evan Laster and Riley Elkins finished fourth and fifth, respectively, and Boone's Miach Martin recorded a seventh-place result. Cherokee's Isaac Bryan finished fourth in boys' high jump to round out a great day in the field events for local athletes. On the track, Dalencia Kittrell of University High finished third in the girls' 400m with a time of 56.14 and fifth in the girls' 200m event. Meanwhile, Dobyns-Bennett's Gigi Vanzon finished sixth in the girls' 800 meter run with a time of 2:18.19 and Fisher Battel of Daniel Boone was eighth in the boys' 800. Mahri Layne of Science Hill recorded a sixth-place finish in the girls' 2-mile run with a time of 11:15.92, and Daniel Boone's Nicholas Ard finished seventh in the boys' 2-mile run. The D-B girls' 4000m relay team finished second in the state while Daniel Boone's team came in seventh. The results were switched in the boys' 4000m relay with Boone finishing runner-up and D-B's boys finishing seventh. Dobyns-Bennett's girls scored another runner-up finish in the 4x400 relay and Daniel Boone finished sixth. Daniel Boone's boys finished seventh in the 4x400, just ahead of D-B's team, which claimed eighth place.