Streaks have their beginning and they have their end. That is the theme for this year’s KYA-Tennessee Runner Tennessee Elementary and Middle School State Championship. The first elementary state champion will be crowned on October 19th issuing a new era that will showcase the next great line of Tennessee stars for years to come. The level of Tennessee talent in the high school ranks has risen to an all-time level since the start of the middle school state championships. Seeing that meet reach new heights from the increase in Elementary participation will be exciting! This serves as a general breakdown of what each of the varsity races hopes to offer as well as predictions for the top 10 individuals and top 5 teams.
Elementary School Girls Race
While this is the first year this race has been offered, that does not mean that it will not take off in terms of competition. 5 regions have poured their best into this meet and can be expected to start the state meet off with a bang. Macy Caldwell (Knoxville Region, Abigail Welch (Chattanooga Region), Julianne Dodson (Tri-Cities Region), Hope Ilias (Mid-State Region), Felicity Boit (Memphis Region) were the region champs and stand as the favorites to finish top 10. This race will take a sub-6 minute time and course record to win as there is so much competition the cream will rise to the top as the cliché goes. Team favorites coming in appear to be Knoxville Ambassadors and Sequoyah (Knoxville) rehashing the team battle from their area championships.
Individual Predictions: 1. Hope Ilias (Friendship Christian), 2. Macy Caldwell (Campbell Co.), 3. Abigail Welch (Homeschool), 4. Felicity Boit (Unattached), 5. Julianne Dodson (Cornerstone), 6. Julianne Fox (Greenback), 7. Cathryn Jardet (Hardin Valley), 8. Sequoyah Maynard (Memphis Jaguars), 9. Reese Hudson (A.L. Lotts), 10. Lilly Roskind (Cedar Bluff)
Team Predictions: 1. Knoxville Ambassadors, 2. Sequoyah (Knoxville), 3. A.L. Lotts (Knoxville), 4. St. Agnes Academy (Memphis), 5. Sacred Heart (Knoxville)
Elementary School Boys Race
This race could be one of the hottest races of the day. There is a course record holder for Victor Ashe Park (Jackson Dempster), the top returner from the elementary open race last year (Riley Faulkner), and four other region champions who all dominated their competition (Lucas Odle, Declan Ryan, Jeremiah Shelton, Henry Brooks) . The race will be won by the person who, being used to running alone in their region, can run comfortably with people around them. The team race seems to be a tight with Farragut (Knoxville) , Rocky Hill (Knoxville) and St. Louis Catholic (Memphis).
Individual Predictions: 1. Jackson Dempster (Knoxville Ambassadors), 2. Jeremiah Shelton (West End), 3. Riley Faulkner (Campbell Co.), 4. Lucas Odle (Memphis Jaguars), 5. Declan Ryan (Unattached), 6. Henry Brooks (Rogersville), 7. Lance Simpson (Farragut), 8. Joshua Whitaker (Berean), 9. Miles Ally (West End), 10. Joe Neglia (Washington)
Team Predictions: 1. Farragut (Knoxville), 2. Rocky Hill (Knoxville), 3. St. Louis (Memphis), 4. West End (Nashville), 5. Sequoyah (Knoxville)
Middle School Girls Race
If the new streaks on the elementary side are set to begin, the middle school must possess the streaks that are destined to end. Taylor Cuneo (Oakland) is set to become the most decorated middle school athlete in state history. She finished runner-up as a 6th grader, won while setting a course record as a 7th grader and now makes her return to Knoxville to drop that mark further and defend her title. She has a deep field coming up behind her and could even pull an upset. Loral Winn (Dresden), Addison Smith (Webb), Kathryn Vrandenburgh (Homeschool), and Sasha Neglia (John Sevier) come in as region champs and should be honored as favorites for the title and top 5 finishes. The team race features returning champs Webb School of Knoxville and with two top 10 returners from last year’s race and at least one more all-state athlete, they will be tough to beat.
Individual Predictions: 1. Taylor Cuneo (Oakland), 2. Addison Smith (Webb), 3. Niki Narayani (Webb), 4. Loral Winn (Dresden), 5. Sasha Neglia (John Sevier), 6. Kathryn Vrandenburgh (Homeschool), 7. Ella Baran (Houston), 8. Claire Peters (St. Matthews), 9. Sydney Tabor (Unattached), 10. Breanna Roy (Jr. Pioneers)
Team Predictions: 1. Webb School of Knoxville, 2. Harpeth Hall, 3. Houston, 4. Robinson, 5. West Valley
Middle School Boys Race
The top three returners from last year’s state meet finished 4-5-6 in the 2012 state championship separated by 3 seconds. Coming into this meet they have come through unscathed and are ready for a close race up front. Carter Coughlin (Webb School of Knoxville), Titus Windars (Henry Co.) and Jordan VanDruff (ORMS-Jefferson) finished in that order but a year later Jordan VanDruff comes in as the favorite to win his first state title. VanDruff took down Coughlin a week ago at their region in a hard fought race to set the course record by 11 seconds (11:17). A history lesson of athletes who he beat on that all-time list: Brock Baker, Quintin Mckinnish, Alec Thomas, Aaron Thomas, Conner Thompson. On the team front, Webb comes in as the 4 time defending champion and are coming around at the right time. McCallie and Farragut along with Maryville, West View, Shilling Farms and Henry County appear to push the top 5 in what should be a very wide open race.
Individual Predictions: 1. Jordan VanDruff (Oak Ridge), 2. Carter Coughlin (Webb), 3. Titus Windars (Henry Co), 4. Davis Holliday (Nashville Youth), 5. Seth Bowden (Maryville), 6. Nate Smith (TA Dugger), 7. Jeb Jones (University School-JC), 8. Will Bordash (Our Lady of Perpetual), 9. Andre Smith (Unattached), 10. Patrick Urey (Baylor)
Team Predictions: 1. Webb, 2. McCallie, 3. Farragut, 4. Henry County, 5. Maryville
With the 4 varsity races and 2 JV races, this is going to be the biggest state meet in its history, there are 100 individual trophies and all-state designations along with 16 team plaques up for grabs. Look for the competition for those few awards to be intense as some athletes end their streaks while others look to continue or start their own.