On Saturday morning, when the rumble begins at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville, it won't be Zeus who's bringing down that thunder, nor Thor or even good ol' Notre Dame.  It won’t even be the drum section of the UT Volunteer Marching Band warming up for halftime of the game against Mississippi State.  

The shuddering of the ground will be from a stampede of middle school runners the likes of which should have (many) high school coaches salivating about their own future squads and offer hope to fans about the future of distance running in both Tennessee and the United States.  New faces and old – old being a relative term in this age group – will lace ‘em up and line ‘em up as they race for the title at the 2008 Tennessee Middle School Cross Country State Championship Meet.  Already, both the team and individual competition look to be fierce.