Clinton’s Butz clears final hurdles
Senior track standout wraps career with two top-four state finishes
Lucas Butz finished his Clinton Dragons track career on a high note. The senior hurdler made back-to-back appearances at the TSSAA state championship meet in Murfreesboro, finishing in fourth place in both the 110- and 300-meter hurdles.
Butz participated in both the 110-meter and 300-meter hurdles Tuesday, May 20, at Middle Tennessee State University’s Dean Hayes Stadium.
After placing fifth in the 300 hurdles in 2024, Butz closed out his high school career on a high note at this year’s Spring Fling. He finished fourth in both events, clocking 15.53 seconds in the 110 hurdles and 40.93 seconds in the 300.
“We’re going to celebrate what Lucas has done and then we’re going to move forward,” Dragons Coach Tim Kumes said. “We have a great coaching staff, and we’re going to start looking ahead to next year.”
Butz was Clinton’s lone state qualifier in 2025, but Kumes said several other athletes — boys and girls — were close to making the trip to Murfreesboro.
“We had a great year; we had a lot of kids make it to sectionals,” he said.
While the Dragons have much to build on, they’ll do it without Butz, who returned to Florida with his family after the season.
His father, formerly a dean at Crown College in Powell, accepted a position as head pastor at his previous church in Florida.
“Lucas is gone; he’s on his way back to Florida with his family,” Kumes said. “We only had two years with him, but they were a great two years.
“He’s a great competitor, a great student and a great kid. He’s going to study engineering and already has an internship with a firm down there,” he said. “So, he’ll get a chance to work before starting college.”
