Alcoa finished state runner-up in the 2019 TSSAA State Cross Country Meet. (photo: Charles Pulliam).
The underclassmen-la
Here’s the skinny on how teams and runners from the 5Star Preps coverage area fared:
Farragut girls third
The Lady Admirals totaled 123 points to finish behind team state champion Dobyns-Bennett (60) and Brentwood (95) in the girls’ team race.
“We’re very pleased with third place,” said Farragut coach Chelsea Osborne.
“The girls ran strong. We knew D-B and Brentwood would be tough and we knew it would require a perfect kind of day (for us) to crack into the top two.”
Hardin Valley (273) was 11th and defending state champion West (340) took 13th.
D-B standout Sasha Neglia captured the individual state title as she toured the 5K Steeplechase Course at Percy Warner Park in 17 minutes, 22.90 seconds.
The top individual finisher from the 5Star Preps coverage area was Andie-Marie Jones of Maryville.
The Lady Rebels’ sophomore took fifth place in 18:17.48.
Farragut had two runners earn all-state honors for top-15 finishes.
Junior Cathy Hu was 11th in 19:03.13 and sophomore Lexi Foley (19:17.99) was 15th.
Also for Farragut, sophomore Camryn Johnson was 37th, freshman Kennedy Reynolds 52nd and junior Caroline Carr 62nd.
Osborne said the future looks bright given the number of young runners for the Lady Admirals.
“Out of our seven that ran today we only had two juniors,” she said.
“I think they’re fired up and see their ability. They’re only going to keep getting better. Today they saw their potential.”
Two other local runners cracked the top 20.
Julianne Dodson of Morristown West was 17th in 19:24.36.
William Blount’s Jara Marei Auf dem Berge was 18th in 19:33.19.
Hardin Valley boys fifth
Sophomore Kaden Keller completed a late-season charge for the Hawks by earning all-state honors.
Keller, fresh off a Region 2 victory, took 11th place Saturday in 16:09.62.
His finish spurred HVA to a fifth-place finish with 161 points – just 31 points off second-place Bartlett (130).
Siegel scored 80 points to run away with the team championship.
“Kaden had a good race,” said Hawks coach Bryan Brown.
“He was in contention for the top 10 the whole way. For Kaden, it was a 10-second PR (personal record). He was ready to roll.”
So were the Hawks, who had four sophomores and a junior in their first five.
The next four finishers for HVA were Nathan Hillis (38th, 16:54.90), Mitchell McCown (47th, 17:03.85), Nate Lawson (53rd, 17:10.34) and Issac Legault (58th, 17:17.18).
“I’m real proud of the way they ran,” said Brown.
“Our top five will all be back (next season) from today.”
Farragut (251) was ninth and Maryville (301) took 12th.
Pacing the Admirals were senior Joshua Ebbert (16:44.67) in 28th and freshman Trevor Coggin (16:49.27) in 34th.
“Coggin really came on at the end of the season,” said Osborne.
Silas Winder of Henry County was medalist in 15:28.98.
Tucker, Jinks take state titles
Callie Tucker of Catholic and Seth Jinks of L&N Stem Academy were the big individual winners locally on Saturday.
Tucker ran 18:56 to cross the finish line first in the D II-AA girls’ race, 22 seconds ahead of runner-up Be Guillamondegui of Harpeth Hall.
Jinks ran away with the individual state crown in the Small School boys’ division.
He won in 16:39.27 to finish well ahead of second-place T.J. Martin (17:03.70) of Alcoa.
The Tornadoes (152) were second to Signal Mountain (47) in the team race.
Webb streak ends
The long streak of state championships ended for Webb’s girls in the Division II-A meet.
St. George’s took the team title with 25 points to unseat the seven-time defending champion Lady Spartans, who took second with 81 points.
Kamryn Krishnan was the top Webb finisher, placing 12th in 21:20.10.
On the boys’ side, Webb was also second with 62 points behind champion University School of Nashville (49).
Bannon Evans’ seventh-place (17:22.11) effort sparked the Spartans.
Notebook
Gatlinburg-Pittm
Catholic’s boys finished seventh in the D II-AA team race as Riley Smith took sixth (16:57.63) to lead the Irish.