Latest / The Gill Athletics Track and Field Connections Podcast / BONUS: Tennessee State Meet featuring Drew Matthews from Franklin Road Academy

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BONUS: Tennessee State Meet featuring Drew Matthews from Franklin Road Academy · The Gill Athletics Track and Field Connections Podcast

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  It's bonus time here on the Gill Connections podcast.
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  In an effort to increase communication, empathy and
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  understanding around the country, we're going to be
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  running a new episode every day interviewing a coach, a high
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  school coach from every state, and yes, even you, Washington,
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  DC with explaining how the state qualifying system works in their
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  state. We'll be talking with a local
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  state expert on how many classes, private versus public
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  schools, what events and what is the process?
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  Is it areas, districts, regionals, state meet?
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  Is it a descending order list? Are there fun things that you do
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  a little differently? Like maybe you, I don't know,
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  maybe you do double points for relays looking at you Texas.
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  And then we're also going to get to the bottom of is it the state
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  meet or do you qualify for states?
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  So check us out every day here at April and May of 2024 as we
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  run through each state with a local state expert.
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  So let's get started right now. All right, here we go.
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  We are continuing our state series here.
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  Hopefully you are following along.
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  We started back in April with Alabama.
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  We're going alphabetical all the way to Wyoming 51 outdoor state
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  championships. We're even including UDC.
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  So we've got you in there coming up here soon as well.
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  So today we're going to learn about the great state of
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  Tennessee. So help me welcome from Franklin
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  Rd. Academy.
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  Mr. Drew Matthews. Drew, how are you Sir?
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  Hey, Mike. Thanks for having me.
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  Oh, man. You know, the The thing is for
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  me to you, you know, to do this type of, you know, 51 interviews
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  every day for two months. It doesn't happen without
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  servant leaders like yourself stepping up and representing the
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  whole state. No pressure.
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  So thank you for being here. And you are one of the very
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  first quick ones to to volunteer.
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  So I'm very grateful for you. And thank you for being here.
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  OK. Yeah.
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  I appreciate it. Why don't we start with an
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  introduction? Why don't we get to know you a
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  little bit better? Give yourself some St. cred?
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  Why should a coach from Alaska listen to Drew from Tennessee?
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  Tell us a little bit about Give us a 32nd version of your
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  experience there as a Tennessee high school coach.
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  Yeah, so I've been a a coach at Franklin Rd.
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  Academy here in Nashville, TN for the past four years.
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  Heading into my my fifth season now, I just started coaching
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  cross country as well, so I just finished up my first season in
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  cross country. So shout out to all the the
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  cross country folks out there and over these past four years
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  I've specialized in sprints and relays.
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  So that's kind of been my speciality.
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  But over the course of my running career and coaching
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  career, I've been involved in a lot of different events.
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  So just have a whole love for all of track and field.
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  I think that's the definition of high school track coach, right?
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  Like all events, most events, some years it's distance and
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  other years it's throws. So yeah, that makes a lot of
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  sense. A lot of appreciation and
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  empathy for our high school coaches out there.
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  Love you guys and gals to death. All right, Drew, let's get into
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  Tennessee. Some States and we're learning
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  not many, but some states have a separate private school
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  association. They go on to their own state,
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  meet different qualifying system, etcetera.
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  And then a separate one for public schools.
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  They go over here, they go towards their own state
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  championship series and most commonly though both private and
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  public are going at it for the same state team opportunities.
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  What are we doing in Tennessee Public and private schools?
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  Yeah, in Tennessee we we do have it separated.
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  So we have three classes, Division 1-2 and three.
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  Franklin Rd. is in is a private school in Division 2A.
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  So there are sub classifications below that, and the public
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  schools do have a separate separate state championship, but
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  both private and public school systems are.
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  Governed by the same body, so they're put on by the same state
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  state body. So each state championship is
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  the same, just divided by private and public.
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  So private, So same rule set, but private schools have their
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  route and public schools have their route and never shall the
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  two mix. No, no.
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  Not during qualifications. Perfect.
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  OK. So the next question is how many
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  classes you started getting into that there, I think on the
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  private school. So in private school we have
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  D1D2D3, yes, but you mentioned 2A.
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  Yes. So within those 3
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  classifications, there are some sub classifications and those
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  are for the the private school versus public school.
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  So Class A or division two Class A that would be private.
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  If it was Class B that would be public.
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  OK, so all of Tennessee is D1D2D3 correct?
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  And then so in the D2 where Franklin Rd. lives, Division 2A
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  is your private schools. Division two BS, are your public
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  schools correct? Can I assume then that therefore
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  there's a 1A and 1B and therefore 3A3B?
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  Yes, correct. Perfect.
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  OK, All right. I thought you were going to get
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  real complicated there, but so far we're OK.
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  There's no CS, correct. It's just because it's just
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  private and public is what A&B. Yes, No CS.
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  All right, perfect. OK.
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  So and you, you help us navigate this next question because of
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  the private and public split here, how do we qualify?
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  We've got 3, yeah, we got three boys state championships on the
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  private side, 3 girls on the private side, so team titles and
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  the public. We have the same three boys and
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  three girls team titles. So are they different in how
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  we're going to go to those state meets or are those the same as
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  well? Talk us through, yeah.
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  Actually they they are different.
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  So for for private schools, for example, the classification
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  we're in, we'll have three regional meets.
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  So they'll be a regional meet. In East Tennessee, Middle
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  Tennessee and West Tennessee. So think you're Memphis,
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  Nashville and Knoxville if you like to think of it that way.
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  And out of those two regional meets we take the two top marks
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  or times, OK don't go there just yet on me, let's let's go
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  through the whole is it regional and we're we're staying private
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  school track here right now. So regional, what's the next
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  round called? The state meet.
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  OK, perfect. Now, so before we get to how we
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  qualify for state, talk to me about how do I enter regionals?
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  And what I mean by that is do I get 3 per event?
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  Is there a qualifying time or distance standard?
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  How do I get my kids into the regional meet?
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  Yeah, for almost all events outside of the pole vault, there
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  is no standard mark or time that you have to hit.
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  There is one for the pole vault, I think, just for safety reasons
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  and. I'm sorry, what was your initial
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  question? So there's no qualifying
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  standard etcetera to get into regional.
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  So does that mean if I have a a whole group of stud sprinters,
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  if I have 5 I want to enter into the hundred I can enter 5?
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  No, there is a maximum. So yeah, there is a maximum of
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  three. OK, perfect.
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  So three per event. All right, so I get 3 per event
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  to go to the regional meet. Now I'm at the regional meet.
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  I I have the goal. I want to make it to the next
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  week to the state meet. What do I got to do?
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  You have to place either top two in your region, so either win
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  your event or finish second in your region.
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  So the top two from each region will be taken to state.
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  Beyond that there are two at large bids, so the next two best
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  marks or times from any of the regions.
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  So they could be both from the middle region, they could be
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  from the middle and West region. Really any.
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  Any region can can. Fill those two at large bids, so
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  top two in the event I punch my ticket, I'm going to the state
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  meet and then they take all the rest of the results from all
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  three, put them in together kind of a descending order list and
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  the top two in that descending order list also make it to the
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  state meet. So I'm taking 8 athletes.
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  So we're we're kind of seeing what the state meet is.
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  We're finals, only state meet. Yes, correct.
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  Does that eight also carry over for relays and field events?
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  So 8 pole vaulters, 8 shot putters, 8.
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  Four by one teams. Correct.
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  Got it. Perfect.
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  All right, So I get to the state meet.
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  OK, I think we're good there. Let's go ahead and do the venue
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  actually. And then we'll come back to
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  public and go that same question set.
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  Does that sound OK? Sure.
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  OK. So talk to us about the state
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  venue for the private schools. We've got three boys team state
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  championships and three girls. Are we doing all six meets at
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  the same venue, same week? Do we split it up?
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  Does that venue rotate year to year?
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  Tell us about the state meet. Yeah, so the venue is the same
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  for both public and private. It's at Middle Tennessee State
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  University, awesome facility in Murfreesboro.
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  It has rotated in the past but generally always stayed within
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  the Middle Tennessee region just because of the shape of
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  Tennessee it makes makes sense to meet in the middle travel
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  wise. So it has rotated to other
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  facilities. When I first got to Tennessee,
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  it was at Rockville High School, but almost always is at Middle
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  Tennessee State. So is our is the private school
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  state meet and public school state meet at the same weekend?
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  Within the same week. So for example, our
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  classification for a private school will take place on a
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  Wednesday and everything will take place on that day and then
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  the next day the next classification will go.
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  So it all takes place over one week and weekend.
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  Got it? So because we're doing a finals
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  only it's a one day meet and that one day is dedicated all to
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  that division. So Division 2A is all Wednesday.
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  There's no other divisions coming in that day.
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  They have, They have done. Typically it's like that some
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  years they have had it where they've done 2 divisions in one
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  day. So maybe the first heat will be
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  division two, the second heat will be Division One.
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  So they they have played around with that a little bit, but
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  typically do one or two divisions a day.
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  And you said it's all week. So is it literally like this?
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  I call it a state champion week. Is it like Wednesday is the
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  state championship Thursday's the state championship, Friday's
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  the state championship, Saturday's the state
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  championship? Yeah, they go to Tuesday through
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  Friday, so every day is a state meet.
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  Yeah, love it. Very cool.
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  Oh, very cool. All right, let's go over to the
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  public school side. How are we qualifying for this
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  state? Meet at Middle Tennessee State
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  on the public school. Yeah, so a little bit different
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  on the public school side, they have area meets.
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  I'm not exactly as familiar with their qualification process, but
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  do you know they have an initial area meet that allows them to
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  qualify for a regional meet before they they make it to
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  state. So they're going a three round
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  system, so they're going area first.
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  Some qualifying of top two or top three are going on to
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  regional, regional same thing. And then we're going on to the
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  state meet, which is happening there at Middle Tennessee State
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  during this state championship week.
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  Yes, correct. Perfect.
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  Very cool. We've learned some states, you
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  know, because we know, here's what we know, we know track and
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  field is the most inclusive sport in the world.
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  Short, tall, big, small. There is some event for you to
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  have success with in our great sport states that we're
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  learning. We're learning a lot that are
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  adding some type of adaptive unified wheelchair events at
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  their state meet. Anything like that going on in
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  Tennessee? Yeah.
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  No, not at the moment. I've seen other places, but we I
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  haven't seen that in Tennessee yet.
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  So OK, perfect. Now we've got all these state
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  meets here Drew. So we've got you know six boy
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  teams are winning a state 400 meter title and six girls are
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  winning a 400 meter state title. Some states, whether it's
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  officially through your association or unofficially
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  through like maybe a coach's association, will do a meet of
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  champions. They'll get the top 2-3 from
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  each division and in each event put them all together, let them
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  race and figure out air quotes here.
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  The true state champion. Anything like that going on?
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  No, not at the moment. I wish, but not at the moment.
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  All right, well, you may get that.
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  And you know, we got got the the magic wand coming up.
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  We'll see if that's what Drew's Magic Wand's going to be.
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  All right, let's talk about events, Drew.
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  So let's go group by group here. We can assume you're doing the
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  124 and the eight for boys and girls in the next two events.
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  Are you doing the 1632? The fifteen 3000?
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  The mile? Two mile.
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  What's the next two here? 1632 Most common perfect 110
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  high hurdles 100 high hurdles for boys and girls.
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  Correct. Yes, 300 hurdles for boys and
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  girls. Yes, correct.
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  Let's go to the relays. We know you're doing the four by
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  one and four by four because if you weren't, you are not really
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  doing track and field and you wouldn't be on this podcast.
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  What other relays might we be doing?
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  The four by 200m relay and the four by 800 meter relay.
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  Awesome. No Sprint medleys, distant
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  medleys, shuttle hurdles, anything like that.
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  No. So 4 by 1, four by two, 4x4, 4
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  by 8, Correct. Perfect.
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  Let's go over to our field events.
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  Long jump and triple jump, boys and girls.
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  Correct. Yep, shot put in discus.
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  Boys and girls. Yes, povault, high jump Boys and
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  girls. Yes.
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  Anything steeplechase, javelin, hammer, multis, anything like
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  that at the state meet? We do have a multis which has
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  actually has its own separate meet to to.
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  I love when there's Multis at the state meet.
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  Sorry and it happens so infrequently.
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  To set up my next question, do those multi points count towards
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  the team title? Yes, they do.
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  OK. So how, when it's a separate
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  meet, how do we do it then? That's what I wanted to know.
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  Yeah. So FRA actually hosts our Our
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  State Decathlon, So we hosted the week before the state meet.
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  So that gives them enough time to hopefully rest and be ready
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  for their other events. It's the week before State meet,
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  but that's also the I assume I didn't ask about time frame, the
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  week of regionals. No, there's a weak gap in
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  between actually. Got it.
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  So regionals next weekend is multi state meet, next weekend
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  is state meet, correct? What multi are we doing?
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  Are we doing heptathlon and decathlon?
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  Yes, both heptathlon and decathlon.
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  Yeah. Oh, is that, you know, again,
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  that's very unique. I love that as far as you know,
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  Has that been around for a long time?
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  Is that something new? Yeah, that's been around quite a
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  while. Some some of the coaches I've
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  worked with have been coaching here in Tennessee for a long
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  time and it's it's been here as long as they have.
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  So and and I just want to make sure not for clarification but
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  for point of emphasis that that meet that you're hosting for the
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  hep and deck the week before state meet when I win the
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  heptathlon those 10 points are going.
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  I assume it's 10 points are going.
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  You know the multi should be double that, that we shouldn't
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  move that. But those points are going to
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  the next weekend, so some team is already starting off with at
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  least 10 points in their state title search. 100% awesome.
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  That is very cool. I love that.
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  Some of these other events, Javelin, Hammer, Steep, yeah,
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  Steeple, etcetera. Some states kind of like this
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  Meet of Champions will do an unofficial state meets because
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  it's not held at the state meet. You know, it's usually a coach
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  who has a lot of passion for the hammer or something like that.
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  Anything like that that you're aware of?
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  No, nothing like that that I'm aware of.
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  OK, now before we get to a couple of fun questions here,
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  Drew, anything else that we should know, Anything that I
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  didn't ask that makes Tennessee Track unique?
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  You you double point your relays, although you should in
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  the multis, you only score 6 places.
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  You run the four by four at midnight because that's a
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  Tennessee tradition. I don't know anything unique
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  that we should be aware of. No, Other than the running, the
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  heptathlon, decathlon. That really is the one unique
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  thing I've noticed. As I say, you're pretty
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  straightforward until you really take a hard left and go to both
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  eyes. That's awesome.
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  That's a good left to take. All right, Drew, help us settle
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  a debate, at least in your culture, your area, your bus
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  ride to the meet. When we're talking about this
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  state meet down there at Middle Tennessee State University, are
• 15:55
  we qualifying for the state? Meet states state?
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  How? Help us settle this debate.
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  Which one are we saying? Qualifying for the state meet
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  but with a southern drawl. So I heard no S but I heard some
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  long alphabet. All right, so state meet.
• 16:12
  Put that in the state meet column.
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  No no states here in Tennessee. At least in in Drew's neck of
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  the woods. All right man you've done a
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  great job Really do appreciate you love learning about that
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  multi state meet part of your state meet there so you win the
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  magic wand my friend. If you could change one thing
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  and please only one thing. That would make the athlete
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  experience, the coach experience, the sport better for
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  track and field high school in Tennessee, what would you maybe
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  change? Yeah, I I have thought about
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  this a lot and I think the one thing I would change is I would
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  make it just one automatic qualifying spot per region in
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  our state. So the winner of the East, West
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  and Middle would automatically qualify and we would just take
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  the next five fastest or best marks.
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  Is that because you have a concern that we're not maybe
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  getting all the best athletes because of, you know, we don't
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  have a choice of who all moves to the West side of Tennessee
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  and we could be in a stacked region there?
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  Yeah, I can understand the, the idea behind, you know, trying to
• 17:13
  get folks from different regions.
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  I can definitely understand that.
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  But I've run into instances where, hey, you know, maybe an
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  athlete's finished fourth in our region, but they've got.
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  You know, maybe the 4th, you know, you know the time faster
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  than some of the other times in the east and West regions or or
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  or could be the middle region. So yeah that that makes a lot of
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  sense. That has been the number one use
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  of the magic wand is how do we get the the right athletes to
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  the state meet that we don't penalize them for you know again
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  living in in a wrong region that they didn't choose to live in or
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  they you know get sick that weekend or false star.
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  How do we, you know, get get them all to the state meet, then
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  let all the cards lying on the table And who gets first, Who
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  gets second at that point? So it makes a lot of sense.
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  Yeah. Hi, Drew, man, thank you so
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  much. You know, we're continuing this
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  journey on through the entire country.
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  And this has been an amazing stop at Tennessee.
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  Like I said, you guys were pretty straight and narrow, you
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  know, nothing funny, No business going on here in Tennessee.
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  And then you do the multis, which puts you, I want to say
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  here at Tennessee, maybe it's a second or third state right
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  around that has some type of multis at the state meets.
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  I love that. And we, we started this series
• 18:23
  in the goal of creating communication among states.
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  So if there's a state of coach, if you're listening right now
• 18:28
  and you're like, man, I've always wanted the multis at our
• 18:31
  state meet, but we just can't figure it out.
• 18:33
  Well, here we go. Bunch of coaches in Tennessee
• 18:35
  have figured it out. Let's start that conversation
• 18:37
  and bring those events to your state or all the other events
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  that you're learning throughout our whole 51 state travel here
• 18:45
  throughout the country. So Drew, thank you so much.
• 18:47
  We're very, very grateful for you to be here today, join us
• 18:50
  tomorrow. We're going to go to another
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  state. And if you haven't, listen to
• 18:53
  the other ones before Tennessee, let's get to go on and listen to
• 18:56
  those. Thanks everybody.