Division II Large Schools State Preview

The Division II Large Schools State Championship is the only meet that didn't have regional qualification last weekend.

So these athletes have fresh legs and are ready to compete for a title.

On the boys side, Tennessee's top-ranked team will feature in this race. Brentwood Academy has been the No. 1 team in any classification this season thanks to a tight group of frontrunners.

The Eagles are led by Matthew McMillan, who has consistently been near the front of every race he's competed in this season.

But BA is deep. It has all seven runners under 17:30 this season. That top seven has run together for much of the season.


The Eagles are searching for their fourth straight state championship at the Division II-AA level. Until McCallie's title in 2013, no team had ever won back-to-back championships in this division. Now, BA is looking to do it twice in four years.

Not to mention the fact that the Eagles' top two runners transferred elsewhere this season. Carter Cheeseman moved to Texas. And all he's done this year is run 14:42 at Fort Worth Christian. Last year's state runner up, Davis Holliday, has competed unattached this year at Franklin High School.

But behind the leadership of its strong junior class, Brentwood Academy should win its fourth title in a row.

The battle for second should be a close one.

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Christian Brothers and McCallie are separated by five points going into the season's final race. CBHS has four runners under 17 minutes this season. McCallie has its top five runners within 30 seconds of each other.

2Christian Brothers High School 88
1) Zach Hammack16:31.108
2) Tyler Casey16:38.4013
3) Constatine Campbell16:44.0014
4) Thomas Shallow16:53.4318
5) Gabe Roberts17:25.0035
Average Time: 16:50.39 Total Time: 1:24:11.93 1-5 Split: 53.90
6) Sloan McHugh17:30.1640
7) Baker Springer17:38.0045


Every team competing in this division II race has tight front groups. That should make the tactics pretty interesting. You'll see a lot of red, purple and blue running together in this small field.

In the girls race, Wake Forest commit Meredith Helton is looking to secure her second straight state championship. And she'll try to break Brentwood Academy's state championship record in the process.

Briarcrest's Megan Underwood, who won the Division II-AA 800 meter championship back in May, will also be a contender here. If Underwood is in the race with a mile to go, she'll use that mid-distance speed to her advantage. Helton is built for longer distances, so she'll likely try to take this race out quickly from the gun.

Her BA team has been the favorite all season long, but a few injuries make this team competition a little closer. The Eagles could be missing two of their top runners, which gives Baylor an opportunity to challenge for the championship.

2Baylor School78
1) Grace Pippin20:08.538
2) Janie Pippenger20:15.9110
3) Emrick Garrett20:31.9713
4) Sydney Cansler21:04.7719
5) Merrit Newton21:29.0828
Average Time: 20:42.05 Total Time: 1:43:30.26 1-5 Split: 1:20.55
6) Emmy Davis22:26.0449
7) Rosa Anderson-Barrera22:58.3155

When healthy, BA has four of the top ten runners in the division. But Baylor should give them a good challenge on Saturday.

The Division II Large Schools meet kicks off at 11:30 AM CT with the girls race. The boys will run at 12:05 PM CT.