Week 9 Highlights: Division II Spotlight, MSCCA, Blount Co.

Ben Thompson

Division II Boys

While every other division/classification will have to compete in a regional competition to qualify for state, this one does not which means these schools can either start shutting it down prior to or try to stay sharp for state. Most continued to race this weekend and on the boys side, three key players started hitting their stride.

Here's a snapshot of how McCallie, Father Ryan, and Christian Brothers performed this week.

Team

Meet

Team AVG

Split 1-5
CBHS

MYA Championships

 16:48 1:05
McCallie

Randolph Invitational

 16:15 1:15
FRHS

Clemens Last Chance

 16:38 0:35


McCallie

Evan Simpson appears to be recovered from whatever was ailing him early in the season. After running Number 1 all season last year for the Blue Tornadoes, Simpson started this season off running 8th, 6th, and 6th for the team. On Thursday he placed 2nd with a season's best time of 16:10 which is a two minute improvement from his opener of 18:10. Overall McCallie scored 40 points on their way to victory at John Hunt Park.

Christian Brothers

A month ago Christian Brothers tweeted this after being the only school in Tennessee to go north to Kentucky instead of south to Alabama.

Reading between the lines, there wasn't much to say after posting a varsity average above 17 minutes. On Saturday though, they went toe to toe with one of the state's best teams Houston taking second by a mere 12 points in the team overall standings and their social media post after had a different tune.

If the team can make another jump, things could get interesting with McCallie.

Father Ryan

Father Ryan went under the lights for a second week in a row running at James Clemens. Senior Aidan Nix dipped under the 16 minute mark for the first time in his career taking the overall victory with a time of 15:58 but the Irish fell by four points to the host high school. What stands out to me about this team when you compare it to the rest of the classifications landscape is the is the most experienced team regarding grades. While a school like McCallie and Brentwood Academy and have no scoring seniors, Father Ryan has four in their top five with a junior accompanying them. If there were any Cinderella storybook ending on the horizon, them somehow pulling a state championship out to end their careers would be it.