Lorraine Rainie Hunter locked in as she approaches the finish line.
CLARKSVILLE -- Over the weekend, Northeast Tennessee cross country teams flocked to Weakley Park for the TMSAA middle school state championships.
Locals fared well with several outstanding performances across four races. The top eight finishers earned all-state honors.
Liberty Bell Has Strong Showing
The highly-touted Liberty Bell girls team finished fourth in the Class AA team standings with 122 points. Brentwood Middle won the title with 73.
The Lady Patriots were led by Lorraine Rainie Hunter's runner-up finish as she covered the two-mile course in 12:06.19.
The scoring for Liberty Bell was rounded out by finishers Avery Whitson (ninth, 12;48.83), Ava Nutter (19th, 13:11.27), Allie O'Neal (13:57.62) and Isabella Candee (65th, 14:07.79).
The only other local to finish inside the top 30 was T.A. Dugger's Arvella Nave (eighth, 12:47.65), who won the conference meet a few weeks ago in convincing fashion.
John Sevier finished 11th (278) and was led by Emma Brickey's 39th-place finish (13:39.81).
New kid on the block Indian Trail was 12th (290) and was led by Caroline Hale's 43rd-place showing (13:42.11).
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On the boys side, Liberty Bell again showed the way for local teams by finishing fifth. Jalen Welch was the top finisher for the Patriots as he crossed the line in 11:57.12, which was good enough for 22nd.
The top local was Indian Trail's Adam Kelley (pictured above), who was fourth with a time of 11:17.81. Greeneville's Trey Bailey was not far behind, finishing fifth (11:24.70).
John Sevier's Elijah Williams was also a high finisher, crossing in 11:32.52, which placed him seventh.
The only other local finisher in the top 30 was Liberty Bell's Eli Jenkins, who nabbed 24th in 11:58.62.
Rogersville Nabs A Trophy
The Lady Warriors finished as Class A runner-up with 115 points. Legacy Middle won the title with a low score of 40.
Elizabeth Coward spearheaded the attack for Rogersville City by finishing ninth and covering the course in 13:20.49.
The scoring was rounded out by Kenady Deal (18th, 13:56.53), Lilla Harrell (23rd, 14:03.14), Brooke Nelson (32nd, 14:21.05) and Elin Bryant (47th, 14:58.49).
Unicoi County Middle's Braydin Baresel led the way for the locals with a fourth-place finish and traversing the course in 13:01.70.
The other local finishers in the top 30 included Lamar's Darcy McKinney (15th, 13:49.99), Grandview's Savannah Piazza (21st, 14:01.80) and West Greene Middle's Autumn Carter (29th, 14:14.96).
Unicoi County Middle led the way in the Class A boys with an eighth-place showing, led by Curtis Todd's eighth-place finish as he meandered his way around the course in 12:05.83.
Rogersville City's Kaleb Turner (16th in 12:25.80) was the only other local finisher inside the top 30.