Updog Opener

Liberty Creek Wolves

Located in Gallatin, Liberty Creek High School opened this school year with three grades and is set to compete in Region 5 Class AA/A for cross country and Middle Class AA for track and field. The campus is a stone's throw away from Station Camp drawing students from the Bison and Beech High School. It is the first high school to be built in Sumner County in 20 years (the last was Station Camp in 2002) and will serve the ever growing developments branching off of the Long Hollow Pike (HWY 174) Corridor. On Friday the school made it's debut at the Updog Opener and we caught up with the Coach Bridges and Coach Josh shortly before the first race. 

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Immediate Impact

The allure of a shiny new campus always seems to draw in talent that can make an immediate impact on the state. Take Ravenwood for instance. The school opened in 2002 and before the first freshman class graduated, they won the football state championship for class 5A in 2005. I'm not guaranteeing a similar trajectory for the Wolves, but I'm also not ruling it out. 

While there are no times that will be reported from the meet, there was still a winner of the 1.65 single loop race and just last year he was wearing blue and orange. As a freshman, Jaden Hillis ran JV for a Buccaneer squad that entered the season with a boat load of talent and depth. He's now donning the Red and Blue of Liberty Creek and won the mixed varsity event on Friday evening. 

His best for 5k is 17:40 but I don't see that time holding up for very many races. Hillis talked to us after the race and he has lofty goals for this season to say the least. 

If he's able to hit his goals, he'll be in position to win a medal on this course in November. The leader of the girl's team, though she didn't race on Friday, may win the whole thing. 

Running for Station Camp as a freshman, Abi Cobb finished 11th last year in the AAA race for Division I with a time of 19:02. If you compare her time on Sanders Ferry to that of Kaitlyn Fisher, the top returning finisher from last year's AA/A Division I race, she betters her time by 5 seconds. With all but two returning from the top 10 of this division this season, that lead pack will be crowded but expect to see Cobb in it. 

Continued Success

While Liberty Creek will turn some heads this season, there is still enough talent remaining at the legacy programs in Sumner County that for at least this season Beech and Station Camp will still have an impact. 

Beech Girl's return #2 overall in our preseason team rankings for 2022.

Station Camp Middle Boy's swept the top three places on Friday evening.

After time you may start to see effects of attrition seep into these programs especially when it comes to depth but with the amount of new residents moving to the area, the likelihood of four programs in Sumner County (include Merrol Hyde) affecting state outcomes on a yearly basis is high.