Cornelius comes just short of state berth: Lady Pioneer finishes fourth in sectional high jump finals

By ROB NUNLEY / Sports Editor for the Southern Standard

Warren County’s Linsey Cornelius clears the bar in the high jump competition at the TSSAA sectional finals Wednesday at Chattanooga Red Bank.

In her first year competing for the Warren County High School track team, junior Linsey Cornelius came literally inches from a spot in the state championships Wednesday.

Competing in the TSSAA sectional finals of the high jump at Chattanooga Red Bank, Cornelius set a school record in the event, leaping 5 feet, 1 inch. The mark bested her own record, set a week ago at the sub-sectionals, when she cleared five feet.

But Cornelius, who also holds school records in the shot put and in the pentathlon, had to settle for fourth place, as two athletes competing in Wednesday’s meet cleared 5-2.

A standout on the girls’ basketball and soccer teams during other parts of the athletic year, Cornelius didn’t miss a mark up until 5-2. If she had cleared the bar at that height, she would have finished with no worse than a share of the sectional title based on her lack of missed attempts.

The top two finishers in each sectional event moved on to the state championships, which begin next week in Chattanooga.