Performer Of The Week

Every week this season we will be conducting a poll from beginning Monday and ending Thursday to highlight performances from the previous week. This will give us an opportunity to showcase the best talent in Tennessee. Though some athletes will likely run times every week that are worthy of being in the poll, our goal is to cast a wide net and showcase a vast array of athletes from all parts of the state. 

Jordan Rayl - Ravenwood 

As a sophomore, Jordan Rayl won the Large Division I State Championship in the 800m but as a junior decided to transition up to the 1600m and 3200m races. Rayl put together quite a season in the longer events placing 4th and 7th in the mile and two mile respectively at state. The extra laps she took in the spring paid off on Saturday as we transitioned back to the course. Jordan won the Gold Division with a new personal best of 18:37 which was over a minute improvement compared to her fastest time at Sanders Ferry last year and a 43 second improvement in the 5k overall. 

Rayl's time would've placed 6th at last year's state meet where she finished 68th. Prior to Saturday, the Ravenwood senior's highest finish in a cross country meet was 2nd. 

Kyrian Sychareune - Hume Fogg

When we do our previews for the season, the one thing we have little to no knowledge of is where all these standout freshman are going to pop up. While I'm sure we're going to see more throughout the season, we at least know of one so far. Kyrian Sychareune won the Silver Division of the Coleman Midgett Invitational just barely missing the twenty minute barrier by .4 seconds. Her 20:00.4 would've placed 11th at last year's state championship for Class AA/A and is faster than any Hume-Fogg Knight ran at Sanders Ferry in 2021. As you'll see in the race below, she went straight to the front and stayed there the entire race. Aggressively confident for a runner so young. 

Brenley Little - Greenfield 

Brenley Little defended her home course earlier this week notching the second win of her career at the Greenfield HS Invitational. While her time of 21:32 is not a PR and it likely won't rank in the Top 50 of the state overall, when you consider where she was this time last year and how she finished the season it is worth noting. Through two races last season, Little had not run faster than 23:30 for 5k. By the end of the season she would run 19:52 and finish 9th overall in AA/A. If she can progress with a similar trajectory with this baseline time, she's in a good position to improve on her placement in November. 

Emily Coonce - Cookeville 

The last time Emily Coonce ran at the Macon Bank and Trust Invitational was in 2020 and she placed 23rd with a 23:45. On Saturday she won with a 20:07. It was the second victory of her high school career and when I say career I mean that literally. The senior from Cookeville has logged almost thirty 5k races in the first three years of high school and has documented times dating back to 2015. She's qualified for state every season with her best finish being 57th. With this opener, I imagine she'll make it four for four.