2021 Spring Fling Track and Field… HV’s Cochran earns All-State with 7th place finish in discus
Published 12:17 pm Wednesday, May 26, 2021
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Happy Valley's Cameron Cochran releases the discus during Tuesday's Spring Fling in Murfreesboro.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Cameron Cochran from Happy Valley and the other competitors listen in to instructions before their flight takes to the discus pad.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Happy Valley's Cameron Cochran prepares for one of his three throws in the finals of the 2021 Spring Fling discus competition in Murfreesboro.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Union City's Taylan Tribble left no doubt who would be the state champion in the discus when his second toss traveled 168-04. Tribble's toss was 12 feet better than second place and over 30 feet better than the third-place finisher.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Cameron Cochran and his Happy Valley track coach Matt Estep discuss strategy during the 2021 Spring Fling discus competition at Rockvale High School in Murfreesboro.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Happy Valley Warrior athlete Cameron Cochran awaits to hear his name called to the awards podium at the 2021 TSSAA Spring Fling Track and Field competition. Cochran finished seventh in the state for the Small Schools Division discus competition.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Happy Valley's Cameron Cochran stands on the award podium as he claimed seventh place in the 2021 TSSAA Spring Fling Small Schools Division discus competition with a throw of 114-09. He also earned All-State status with his effort.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Cameron Cochran takes his spot on the awards podium after finishing seventh in the TSSAA Small Schools Division Track and Field competition at Rockvale High School. For his efforts, Cochran also earned All-State in his first year of tossing the discus.
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BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR SPORTS EDITOR
ivan.sanders@elizabethton.com
ROCKVALE – Happy Valley junior Cameron Cochran didn’t come out for track until about a couple of weeks before the start of the Warriors track season according to Happy Valley head track and field coach Matt Estep.
After Tuesday’s Small School TSSAA Track and Field State Championships held at Rockvale High School in Murfreesboro, both athlete and coach were glad that Cochran did as the Warrior discus thrower earned All-State honors with a seventh-place finish out of 16 competitors in his first trip to the state championships.
With the throwers separated into two different groups, Cochran was in the second group and elected to step away from the pad while the first group took three rounds of tosses in the opening round.
Tkai George of Alcoa led the first group with a throw of 126-05 to set the mark to beat for the second group of competitors.
Union City’s Taylan Tribble brought a loud cheer from the large crowd gathered for the field events when he unfurled a mammoth throw of 168-04 on his second attempt in the round to basically make it a run for second through an eighth place for the remaining contestants.
Cochran recorded his best heave on his first throw putting the discus down 114-09 from the pad. His other two throws in the round were measured at 114-00 and 98-03.
After his last throw, Cochran had to await the announcement of the final nine throwers who would be competing for a spot on the medal podium at the end of the final round.
The junior took a deep breath and fist-bumped Estep when he heard that he had made the cut.
All throwers would have three attempts and if any of the other three throws that they made previously had a better distance, they would be able to count that throw and not lose it.
Out of his three throws in the finals, Cochran’s best was 112-05 which meant Cochran would ride his first-round throw of 114-09 to see if he was going to get to step up on the podium.
When all numbers were calculated, Cochran’s throw stood strong enough for seventh place and an All-State campaign.
“My day was really rough – I didn’t throw good,” Cochran said after the award ceremony. “I wanted to throw a lot higher than what I did but it was good enough for seventh place.
“It means a lot to me to be here because I have had a lot of people who have helped me get here. It was more than what I expected and honestly, I hope that I can take in a lot more next year.
“Coach Estep has worked his tail off to help me get down here and is a hard worker for the whole team.”
For Coach Estep, just the fact that Cochran came out and to finish the 2021 season as he did was a big deal for his athlete.
“For him to come out here his junior year is very impressive that he got a top eight and his picture on the wall at school which he is very excited about that,” Estep said with a big smile. “We are looking for bigger and better next year.
“These kids are unsung heroes because they are out there after school whether it’s hot or cold working their tails off. It’s great for them to make it here and I hope that it’s something that they will remember for a long time.”
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2021 Spring Fling Track and Field
Small Schools Division
Discus – Top 8 All-State
1. Taylan Tribble – Union City 168-04
2. Corey Moseley – Pearl Cohn 156-02
3. Braxton Baumann – Alcoa 135-08
4. Kornelious Brown – Union City 132-04
5. Tkai George – Alcoa 126-05
6. Parker Jermaine – Mem. Middle College 119-10
7. Cameron Cochran – Happy Valley 114-09
8. Ty Dutchess – Upperman 113-08
