Keegan Smith of Knoxville Catholic dipped under the 15 minute mark for the third time this season to win the Division 2-AA state championship in a time of 14:59.1 to give him two cross country titles for his career. Smith was 10 seconds faster than senior Jack Bowen of McCallie School (15:09.4) and nearly 30 seconds faster than third-place finisher Jack Wallace of Montgomery Bell Academy.

 

Smith, a University of Colorado commitment, has won a total of seven state championships (five outdoors), and his personal best of 14:39.5 from the Jesse Owens Classic last year ranks fifth in state history. He was third at last year's state meet before finishing seventh at the NXR Southeast regional.

 

In a meeting of regionally ranked teams, Smith's Knoxville Catholic crew and Bowen's McCallie School ran an identical team score of 62 points. Knoxville Catholic prevailed on a sixth-man tiebreaker, with Toniel Ortega Jr (25th) and Gonzalo Vega (29th) both finishing ahead of of McCallie's sixth scorer.

 

Montgomery Bell, the NXR Southeast Regional runner-up in 2023, finished third and has five upperclassmen in their top seven.

In Division 2-A, it was the Abby Faith Cheesman Show.  The Webb School Of Bell Buckle senior and UVA commitment cruised to an easy victory with a time of 17:22.4 and added an exclamation point to a Tennessee cross county career that has seen her win five consecutive state championships.

 

Although shy of her personal best of 16:48.7 from the Virginia XC Showcase, the New Balance Indoor Nationals 5,000 meters champion is a threat in the postseason and road to nationals.

 

Columbia Academy placed three runners in the top 10, led by eighth grader and runner-up Gracie Orton (19:39.2), Presley Miller (fourth), and Janie Reames edged out The Webb School of Bell Buckle 44-59 for the team championship.

On the boys side, Davidson Academy twins Eli Wharton and Isaac Wharton did what twins do and that is stick together. The pair crossed the line 1-2 with times of 16:08.7 and 16:15.5. It was the first state championship for Eli, who transferred with his brother from Bessemer Academy in Alabama. Yianni Sinis of Tipton-Rosemark Academy was third in 16:38.9. The Davidson Academy boys led by the Wharton twins and Luke Trout (sixth) to win the team title with 47 points and a team average of 17:01.

Another set of twins dominated the Division 2-AA girls race. Juniors Calysta and Jazzlyn Garmer and teammate Carolina Areheart went 1-2-3 and the team scored 33 points, with a team average of 18:31, and their top five in the top 15 spots.

One of the closest races of the meet was in the Division 1-AAA boys final where Asher Oates of Independence crossed the line in 15:03.5 ahead of Brentwood senior Callahan Fielder in 15:09.2. It was the fifth win on the season for Oates, and an improvement on his fourth place finish at state last season.

 

Hardin Valley Academy won the team championship (88 points) with a fight for second between Nolensville  (117), Farragut (127) and Brentwood (131).

Nolensville senior and University of Florida commitment Claire Stegall didn't open her 2024 cross country campaign until mid October when she placed third at the VA XC Showcase with a blazing time of 16:57.1. Two meets later and Stegall brought home her third cross country state championship, to go with four on the track. She was fourth at Foot Locker South last season.

 

Behind Stegall in the D1-AAA girls race was a pair of Summit High teammates, freshman Lorelai Whitten in 17:47.4 and junior Sienna Anderson, who ran 17:51.3.

The Brentwood girls dominated the team race with a 1-5 split of 41 seconds, a team average of 18:29, and 38 points. The squad was led by junior Lauren Banovac (fifth in 18:08.2), Lydia Cromwell (eighth in 18:24.6), and senior Abi Cobb in 10th.

Junior Ava Moody of Anderson County won the D1-A/AA race in a time of 18:17.3, while Brynn Balturshot of Station Camp and Sydney Tackett of Liberty Creek rounded out the top three with times of 18:34.1 and 18:49.2. Moody was the 1,600-and 3,200-meter champion outdoors and finished third at the state cross country meet in 2023. Tacket was the state champion a year ago while Balturshot was third.

 

Maxine Richards of Signal Mountain finished fourth and led her team to the team title with a score of 62 points. Signal Mountain placed their top five in the top 25 with a 19:40 team average.

In the D1-AA/A boys race, Ridge Bruce of Camden Central was the only runner to break 16 minutes with his time of 15:58.2. Signal Mountain senior DiAngelo Cisto was second in 16:04.4 followed by Martin Luther King's Wyatt Boling,  who rounded out the top three in 16:10.2. Central Magnet followed up with Ty Brown and Vinny Peck, who placed fourth and fifth, but it wasn't enough to give their team the title as the finished runner-up with 129 points behind Signal Mountain's 55 points.

Team champions - 
Division 1-AAA - Hardin Valley Academy boys 88 points, Brentwood girls 38 points - RESULTS

Division 1-A/AA - Central Magnet boys 84 points, Signal Mountain girls 67 points - RESULTS

Division 2-AA - Knoxville Catholic boys 62 points (tiebrearker), Webb School of Knoxville girls 33 points - RESULTS

Division 2-A - Davidson Academy boys 47 points, Columbia Academy girls 44 points - RESULTS