Keegan Smith of Catholic
BY MIKE BLACKERBY
If you run in cross-country circles, get used to the name.
Catholic’s Keegan Smith figures to be a tour de force on both the statewide and national scene for years to come.
The highly touted freshman was a smashing success in his debut at the TSSAA Division 2-AA state meet Friday at Sanders Ferry Park in Hendersonville.
Here’s a look at Smith’s big day plus all of the other results from Day 2 of the state cross country meet.
D2-AA boys: Smith cruises to 24-second win
Smith finished the 5K course in 15 minutes, 29.09 seconds to easily win the state individual crown, well ahead of runner-up Luke Thompson of Brentwood Academy (15:53.37).
Smith’s race profile was pretty much standard: he went out really fast, was never challenged and won by a landslide margin.
“We weren’t sure what anyone else would do, so about 400 meters in he (Smith) already had a gap and just went for it,” said Catholic coach Sean O’Neil.
“He dared anyone else to come close. When you’re out there by yourself it’s hard to keep the pedal down.”
But it wasn’t a problem for Smith, who ran a blistering 4:39 first mile to take command.
Smith has won five of the six races he has been entered in this fall.
His only blemish, if you call it that?
Smith earlier finished second in the Southern Showcase in Huntsville, Ala., to Notre Dame commit Sam Rich of Catawba, S.C.
Rich, a senior, is the No. 1-ranked runner in the country.
Smith is the top-ranked freshman in the nation.
Smith takes the leap onto the national high school scene on Nov. 27 when he runs in the Eastbay South Regionals in Charlotte, N.C.
The top eight finishers there advance to the Eastbay Nationals in San Diego in December.
O’Neil said he believes Smith is ready to make his mark nationally.
“The measure of a (great) runner is how they perform in national meets on the biggest stage,” said O’Neil.
“Keegan has really lofty goals. He wants to be a national player and maybe give the Olympics a shot.”
Smith is the sixth Catholic runner to win an individual state cross country title under O’Neil since 2009.
Previous Catholic XC state champions were Megan Ferowich (2009), Joanna Thompson (2010), Georde Goodwyn (2016), Jake Renfree (2018) and Callie Tucker (2019).
Catholic, with 132 points, claimed fifth in the team race, which was won by McCallie (54).
Irish senior Spencer Stovall also earned all-state honors by placing 15th in 16:34.14.
Top-15 finishers earned all-state designation.
Catholic’s third finisher was freshman Tony Ortega, who was 26th in 16:55.01.
Webb was eighth with 201 points.
Top finishers for the Spartans were Zach Vickers (16:37.97) in 18th and Cooper Wood (16:52.07) in 25th.
D2-AA girls: Webb girls second
The future looks bright for Webb’s Lady Spartans.
Led by two eighth graders and a pair of sophomores, Webb finished second to Harpeth Hall in a tightly contested Division 2-AA team race.
Harpeth Hall totaled 69 points to edge out the Lady Spartans (73) and Girls Preparatory School (80).
Be Guillamondegui of Harpeth Hall claimed medalist honors in 18:22.80.
Webb’s tandem of eight-graders Jazzlyn (18:36.30) and Calysta Garmer (18:50.70) were third and fourth, respectively.
Webb sophomore Anna Graves also made the all-state checklist. She was ninth in 19:42.70.
Lauren Davis, another 10th grader, was 27th for the Lady Spartans in 20:59.90.
Freshman Eileen Loebner of Catholic was 23rd in 20:37.
D1-A/AA boys: Alcoa’s Jaber fourth
Senior Abdul Jaber of Alcoa was the top finisher from the 5Star Preps coverage area in the Division 1-A/AA race.
Jaber crossed the line in 16:11.10 to take fourth place individually.
Alcoa (249) was seventh in the team race. Murfreesboro Central Magnet (74) edged out Signal Mountain (76) to take the team title.
Sam Bridges, in 32nd, was the No. 2 finisher for Alcoa in 17:36.55.
Other top local finishers included Sam Fulton (16:51.10) of Gatlinburg-Pittman in 13th and Dwayne Morris (17:36.07) of Austin-East in 31st.
D1-A/AA girls: Fisher in third for AC
Sophomore Kaitlyn Fisher of Anderson County topped the list of local finishers as she garnered third place in 19:07.12.
Samantha Ouellette of Central Magnet was state champion in 18:31.37.
The Gatlinburg-Pittman tandem of Lily Stinnett and Stefani Johnson led the Lady Highlanders to a fifth-place (211) showing in the team race.
Stinnett ran 20:43.02 to take 21st. Johnson was 24th in 20:50.
Lily Bridges (21:09.84) of Alcoa was 29th.
Central Magnet (55) squeaked by Signal Mountain (58) to win the team crown.
Anderson County (279) was eighth and Alcoa (292) ninth.