By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Adrian Crawford’s name was all over the leaderboard after Day 1 of the Class 1A State Decathlon Championships.
He’s hoping to put it in the history book of the Union City High School track program on Thursday.
Crawford will look to join Tom Jernigan – the only other UCHS athlete to ever win a state decathlon title in 1964 – after taking first place in three of the five events on Wednesday at Clarksville’s Kirkwood High School.
The multi-talented Tornado junior, who finished second in the state competition last year before winning a pair of individual state titles in the triple jump and high jump, holds a 222-point lead over Darius Smith of MASE heading into Day 2 and the final five competitions in the event.
Crawford accumulated 3,106 points on Wednesday by winning the triple jump, the discus, and the 400-meter run. He was third in the pole vault and placed fourth in the 100-meter dash.
Last year, Crawford was third in the opening day standings and finished with 5,590 points after winning the high jump and discus and placing no worse than fifth in any event.
“He out-performed what he did last year in Day 1, and is in a really good spot,” Union City head coach Wade Maddox said of Crawford’s strong Wednesday performance. “We got him some work in every event during our regular season meets, and it was obvious he was comfortable in everything he did because of that experience.
“Adrian is obviously very talented, and he’s always full of energy. The challenge tonight will be to get him hydrated, get him a good night’s rest, and keep him focused on the big picture with several events he should do well in tomorrow.”
Crawford’s skills will be on display in the 110-meter high hurdles, the long jump, the shot put, the high jump, and the 1500-meter run on Thursday.
His classmate, Ca’Lae Ervin, competed in the Class A State Pentathlon for the second time in as many years on Wednesday, and finished ninth among a talented 12-person field.
Ervin ended up with 2,292 points – just short of her 2,439 points a year ago when she was fourth. East Nashville’s Aziaah Shute was crowned the state champion after piling up 2,952 points on Wednesday.
Ervin won the shot put in her strongest event. She placed seventh in the long jump, eighth in the high jump, 10th in the 100-meter hurdles, and 11th in the final competition – the 800-meter run.
“Ca’Lae had a solid day in a field that was much tougher than it was last year,” Maddox said. “Obviously, what she was able to do in winning the shot helped her cause, and she had several events in which she posted season-bests. I thought her effort in the long jump was really good.
“We’ll focus next year on getting her some extensive experience in some of the events that she didn’t compete in during the regular season to prep her to get back here. I have no doubt she’ll work hard to improve, and she stands a great chance of making it back a third straight year and getting up there in the Top 3 or 4 in the state.”
Maddox went on to say he’ll likely add more focus on the decathlon and pentathlon next year during his program’s training regimen.
“This is back-to-back years of us having two kids reach the state, and that’s pretty good for a program that hasn’t focused on the two competitions,” he claimed. “We did make an effort this year to get some of our kids more involved in events other than their specialties, and we had two guys other than Adrian who competed and gave a good account of themselves in the qualifying meet.
“We’re going to continue to get more kids involved so that they can see how this process works.”