Spring Fling roll call: Columbia Central soccer joins party

SM-Tn Sports

Columbia Central’s boys soccer team became the latest area squad to punch its ticket to Spring Fling, and did so in dramatic fashion Saturday – surviving a Class AAA sectional contest at Ooltewah that was decided on penalty kicks after going scoreless through regulation.

The Lions converted four of five attempts, to Ooltewah’s three, with Alex Freyre’s boot on the fifth try providing the difference.

Central (18-3-1), which had to travel for the sectional round after falling 2-0 at Oakland in the Region 4-AAA finals Thursday, got saves from goalkeeper Dane Holley on the Owls’ first and last tries, with Brandon Carrascoza and Brewer Wall converting on back-to-back attempts. Ooltewah hit three straight, the last after Mason Hollandsworth found the back of the net for Central, to even the count at three each.

After Freyre tallied, Holley stopped the Owls’ final try to seal the victory.

The Lions played without junior midfielder Victor Ramirez for nearly half the contest, as he was carded twice. He will play, however, on Tuesday as Central faces the Franklin Admirals (12-3) in a 4:30 p.m. state quarterfinal contest at the Richard Siegel Soccer Complex in Murfreesboro. Following sectional losses in 2018 and ’19, it’ll be the first state tourney appearance for the program since 2012.

Joining Columbia Central boys soccer at Spring Fling – the TSSAA spring sports championships, held in and around Murfreesboro – will be Columbia Academy softball, Loretto softball and Summit softball. Summertown will have its baseball, softball and girls tennis programs in team competition, as well as the tennis duos of Ella Konig/Gracie Kelly and Turner Perry/Aniken Johnson in girls and boys doubles play.

In state track and field at Rockvale, Mt. Pleasant’s Jacob Randolph (discus) and Jackson Gary (800 meters, 1600 meters) will compete in the Small Class championships Tuesday, with Columbia Academy’s Presley Miller (3200 meters), Collins Malone (300-meter hurdles) and Connor Henson (800 meters, 1600 meters, 3200 meters) in Wednesday’s Division II-A championships.

The Large Class track and field championships on Thursday will include Columbia Central’s Roni Bailey (triple jump), Kyla Rohling (triple jump) and Lillian Moore (100-meter hurdles, 300-meter hurdles) – who placed eighth in the Large Class pentathlon Thursday.

Also on Thursday, Independence will have Sarah Tang (discus, shot put), Jayne Halterman (1600 meters) and a couple of relay teams – Nyla Bell, Ava Renner, Georgia Deeds and AnnaCate Proctor in the 4×100; Bell, Renner, Deeds and Presleigh Harvey in the 4×200 – competing, along with Summit’s Georgia Cockerham (100-meter hurdles, 300-meter hurdles) and Spring Hill’s 4×100 relay of Joel Herring, Brett Hughes, Kemonta Frye and Dante Prowell.

Field events will begin daily at approximately 8:30 a.m., with running events set for 4 p.m.

Here’s a quick look at how each area team reached Spring Fling, and what awaits: