Division II Class A Boys
The Team Race
I pointed this next runner out in a previous article but there's really no way to discuss this race without bringing attention to it again. I said in the preview for Division II Class A that "If Trace Alexander of BGA runs 30 seconds worse, he still scores 2 points but if Eli Galentino runs 30 seconds better, he shifts USN's team score by 11 which is enough the difference between runner up and champion." Now USN won by 31 points so it wasn't as close as the projections predicted but Collin France's improvement had a lot to do with that margin of victory. His seeded time going into the meet was 18:01 which was fifth best for the Tiger team but at state he was the second across with a new PR of 17:33. Without anyone from BGA to match this type of performance leap, it was more than enough for USN to reclaim the title. If he runs equivalent to his PR going in, 18:01, USN still wins but his point total for the team shifts 10 points. If he runs 30 seconds the other way, which a lot of runners did at the state meet, his point total shifts the 30 points needed for BGA to lock up the title.
With USN graduating the least of the top five scoring teams, it's hard to imagine anyone with their current roster dethroning them next season but with the constant influx of out of state migration to Tennessee nothing would surprise me.