By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Ten Union City High School track and field athletes participated in the prestigious Knoxville Youth Athletics Classic indoor meet in Louisville over the weekend.
More than 1,000 athletes from all over the country participated in the event, including last year’s national champion, according to UC head coach Wade Maddox. The Tornadoes also had entries in last year’s field, which was held at Vanderbilt.
Senior Aiden Reid, in his first athletic competition since undergoing surgery on his non-throwing shoulder last fall, had the best showing for the Union City contingent. Reid, who won a state championship last spring as part of the Tornadoes’ team state title run, finished fifth out of his division of 22 performers with a shot put toss of 50’8”.
Owen Waggoner and Andrew Beard each posted strong showings for UC in the 800-meter run. Waggoner posted a personal-best time of 2:13, while Beard, in his first race in more than a year after ACL surgery, came in with a time of 2:16.
Another Tornado senior, Shontorius Fuller, placed in the top half of 120 entries in the 60-yard dash.
“It was a tremendous experience for our kids to measure themselves against some of the best in the country who participate in track year-round,” UC head coach Wade Maddox said of the two-day event. “There were simply no bad athletes there.
“Our main objective was to see how close we were to our times and distances at the end of last year. That will be a good base as we prepare for our outdoor spring season, and hopefully, compete for another state title.”