Garza Law proudly presents the 2026 All-5Star Preps Track & Field Athletes of the Year.
BY JESSE SMITHEY
Picking the 5Star Preps Track & Field Girls Athlete of the Year and Boys Athlete of the Year turned out to be no simple task.
But after digging through the results and nominees, Webb’s Lacy Young and Halls’ Brody Foster proved to be the clear choices.
Here’s why each earned the nod …
Lacy Young (left) during the TSSAA Division II State Track & Field Championships on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, at Tom Black Track at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. (Photo by Elliot Walker/5Star Preps)
LACY YOUNG, WEBB SCHOOL OF KNOXVILLE
5Star Preps 2026 Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year
Entering her sophomore season of track at Webb School of Knoxville, Lacy Young already had the comforts of being a state champion. She won Division II-AA 100-meter and 200-meter individual titles as a freshman in 2025, and Young helped Webb win an overall team TSSAA Division II-AA Track & Field championship.
After a dominant team win in 2025, Webb needed every point it could muster to top Harpeth Hall in the 2026 meet May 20 at Tom Black Track on the campus of University of Tennessee.
That magnified Young’s efforts all the more. And she responded.
She won the girls’ 100-meter in 11.59 seconds, good enough for a win by 0.32 of a second.
Young claimed the 200-meter in 24.40 seconds, a win by 0.34 of a second.
Young ran legs for Webb’s 4 x 100 and 4 x 200 that also garnered critical points thanks to solid finishes.
The Lady Spartans posted a winning total of 101 team points, which cleared Harpeth Hall by just 12.
“It feels good,” Young said of the fruits of the labor so far. “Honestly, I just think most of it is because my coach and my teammates and everyone pushing each other every day — and the bond we all have.”
Young hails from a family of athletes, most notably being her older brother Shavar Young — a multi-sport standout at Webb who is now a freshman football player at Clemson. Lacy Young tried a variety of sports — tennis, basketball, track and even gymnastics — until she settled back into track in sixth grade.
“Honestly, it was just the sprint that I became best at,” Young said. “And so, I feel like my coach saw my potential in that.”
So did Young do really well in her first meet?
“Yes, I did,” she said.
Did she win?
“Yeah,” she said with a sheepish laugh. “I was just naturally gifted at it.”
And it snowballed from there. Young began taking track really seriously as a freshman at the behest of Webb coach Jerome Romain.
Running in college is now a goal of Young’s and she’s doing everything she can to cross that finish line, whether that’s reviewing film of her meets or whether that’s on-track work.
“I just want to stay in shape and focus on my technique more,” said Young, “and get better and stronger so I can drop my times.”
Halls senior Brody Foster competed in the Class AAA state track & field meet Thursday, May 21, 2026 at University of Tennessee’s Tom Black Track in Knoxville. (Photo by Elliot Walker/5Star Preps)
BRODY FOSTER, HALLS
5Star Preps 2026 Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year
After leaving the 2025 Class AAA decathlon field in his wake, Foster came back to put on an encore this past May.
The question wasn’t just ‘Would he win another state title?’ It was: ‘by how much?’
Foster posted a TSSAA career-best 7,506 points on May 13-14 at Hardin Valley Academy to repeat as Class AAA state decathlon champion, his total clearing runner-up Clayton Blanton of Ravenwood by 1,215 points.
A year ago, he logged a total of 7,229 points and won by roughly 1,000 points.
But, as a senior, his level of dominance was extra emphatic.
A Virginia signee, Foster won eight of the 10 events in the 2026 state decathlon meet. He finished second in the 400-meter dash and fourth in the 100-meter.
His mental maturity mattered just as much as how much he’d grown physically during the course of his high school career.
“Being able to train with some of my coaches and some of my friends made a big difference for me,” Foster said. “Just doing it year by year, I get a little bit more comfortable with it each time with being able to control how I do in the events and not let my mindset get the best of me. If you don’t do the best in the event, you can regroup and go on to the next one.”
His prep career didn’t conclude, though, after his repeat in the decathlon.
The next week, Foster competed in the TSSAA Class AAA State Track & Field meet at Tennessee’s Tom Black Track.
He won the state championship in the pole vault, posting a winning mark of 15 feet, 0 inches — which was six inches clear of his closest competitor.
Going to college on a high notes definitely was a rewarding conclusion to his high school days.
“I definitely think it is a very positive feeling,” Foster said. “It’s nice that I have the ball rolling going into college.
“I’m really looking to progress from here.”
The progress kept progressing. Foster won the U20 Nike Outdoor Nationals on June 20 in Oregon with 7,604 points.