FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
UNION CITY SCHOOLS
CONTACT: Mike Hutchens
Communications Director
KNOXVILLE – On Day 1 of his bid to repeat as Class 1A state decathlon champion, Adrian Crawford did Adrian Crawford-type things.
That means the rest of the field is chasing the most decorated track athlete in Union City High School history.
The Tornadoes’ five-time state champion took a major step toward back-to-back Single-A decathlon titles on Wednesday by winning four of five events and taking a commanding 448-point lead over his closest competitor heading into Day 2 of the Olympic-style competition at Hardin Valley Academy.
The odds-on favorite entering the competition, Crawford set a new personal best with a time of 50.93 in winning the 400 meters, and also claimed first place in the 100 meters, the discus, and the pole vault against a field of the best athletes from across the state. In the only event he didn’t win (triple jump), the gifted UCHS senior was narrowly edged and placed second.
Tornado head coach Wade Maddox was impressed with Crawford’s stellar effort, though not necessarily surprised.
“He came out focused and stayed that way all day,” claimed Maddox, who has coached Crawford his entire prep career and led the UC boys’ program to the state team title last year. “He basically just came out and performed like we expected him to, really.
“He got himself in a good frame of mind this morning, and he stayed there. And he’s put himself in a position to do something (back-to-back decathlon titles) that very few people ever do.”
Tom Jernigan (1964) is the only other Union City track and field athlete to have won a state decathlon title.
Crawford, who finished as the state runner-up in the event as a sophomore, totaled 3,147 points on Day 1. Kohl Ward of Tyner Academy is a distant second after ending up with 2,699 points, while Darius Gates-Johnson of Memphis Rise Academy is third with 2,588.
Crawford opened the day on Wednesday by winning the 100 meters with a time of 11.19. He closed it with his aforementioned best-ever showing in the 400.
In between, he easily won the discus by more than 24 feet with a toss of 112 feet, 10 inches. His leap of 44’1” in the triple jump was just nine inches off the first-place effort.
A year ago, Crawford led the field by 222 points after winning three of five events on his way to a 392-point victory with a total of 6,166 points – a score that also would’ve netted him the Class 2A championship.
His repeat chances appear high considering that of the five events scheduled for Day 2 of the competition on Thursday, Crawford has qualified for the state in three of those (300 hurdles, high jump, and long jump). He’s already won back-to-back high jump titles and brought home gold from the long jump in 2025.
Outgoing and popular with his competitors and opposing coaches, Adrian continues to be right at home on the biggest of stages, according to Maddox.
“He likes the audience, and he likes the crowd,” the Tornado coach claimed. “As soon as we walked up this morning, there were four or five kids from other schools and four or five other coaches who sought him out and started talking to him.
“He’s always been able to put all that aside and perform, though. That’s one of the things that makes him special. The other thing is that he’s just extremely consistent. He goes out on days that are not his best, and he’s still pretty-darn good.
“You’re not going to come up here and set 10 personal bests over two days. It comes down to who can focus when they’re tired, when their legs are heavy, and they don’t have much left in the tank. And he’s been able to do that more than most everybody every day.”
Day 2 of the competition will begin on Thursday at 9 a.m. EDT.
