2021 TSSAA Cross Country State Championship Previews

Here are the current projected team scores based on the Rankings: 

Since 2013, Signal Mountain has won every Team Championship except for one. The only one that evades them is in 2016 when Central Magnet won. It was the last year before the Tigers moved up to the Large Division and this is the first year they're back and they look to be in position to pick up where they left off and possibly sweep both the individual title and team title. They'll be led by Seniors Samantha Ouellette and Emma Kate Hamby who spent the first three years of their career racing against the like of Hutchins, Neglia, Wilcox, and McCarthy and that big stage experience has them in position to finish 1-2. The problem is the value of those single digit scores may not be enough to overcome the flurry of Eagles from Signal Mountain and Knights of Hume-Fogg (who is also back in the smaller division this season) that may be able to put seven in before Central's fifth. Previously at Saturday Night Lights, Central beat Hume-Fogg 188 to 232. 

The Individual Race

Now while it looks like Ouelette may win unchallenged that isn't what stands out to me. It's the quality that reclassification has brought to this division. The entire Top 10 is comprised of girls who just last year were competing in Large Division-I with the two time defending state champion of Small, Alyssa Andrea, sitting at 13th now. The times the winner of Small Division I ran during the previous cycle are 20:04, 20:26, 19:37, and 20:02. It's safe to say moving forward this classification will require Sub-18:30 to win in the future. Looking to do so after the Central Magnet Seniors graduate is Anderson County's Kaitlyn Fisher. After spender her first season in Region 2 with Farragut, Hardin Valley, and Maryville, she and the Mavericks looked prime to capitalize on the new classification. She caught up with us this past weekend to discuss her expectations for the state meet and her season so far.