Division I Class AA/A Girls
Top 5 Ranked Individuals
Runner | School | 2022 PR |
| Abi Cobb | Liberty Creek | 18:35 |
| Kacey Holliday | Alcoa | 18:53 |
| Kyrian Sychareune | Hume-Fogg | 18:59 |
| Maxine Richards | Signal Mountain | 19:04 |
| Zoe Arrington | Tennessee | 19:12 |
Full Division I Class AA/A Individual Rankings
Top 3 Ranked Teams
Team | Projected Points |
| Signal Mountain | 62 |
| Central Magnet | 150 |
| Alcoa | 153 |
Full Division I Class AA/A Team Rankings
Preview
This is the second iteration of this new revamped classification and it's hard to imagine a scenario with more drama than last season. While our ranking system at times can be a little inaccurate, for this classification is was dead on. Heading into last year's state meet, Central Magnet was favored by two points over Signal Mountain. When the dust settled, the Tigers had dethroned the Eagles who had won the previous four lower classification titles by three points. Signal returns all five scoring runners from that squad while Central only returns three and the two that are not were very important to say the least. While it appears as though Signal returns to the top of the podium this season, I don't think the projection will be off by one point like it was in 2021.
Maxine Richards placed 5th in 2021 at the state meet and took the victory at Region on Tuesday, her first first of the season.
The Tiger that graduated from last year's team were Samantha Ouelette and Emma Kate Hamby who finished first and second overall and though the remaining runners in the top ten were underclassmen, none of them are the favorite to win. Abi Cobb, who was running for Station Camp at the time, finished 11th in the AAA division. She's now a sophomore at Liberty Creek and has run under the nineteen minute mark more times this season than the entire field of competitors. Though she may only be a sophomore (which as I pointed to in yesterday's preview may be a disadvantage), the runners immediately behind her are even younger. Kacey Holliday, Kyrian Sychareune, and Maxine Richards are all freshman. So while everything may point to a runaway victory, I'll make the case for the case for the other's pathway to victory. Kacey Holliday is a defending middle school state champion so she has big race experience. As I observed at Coleman Midgett, Kyrian Sycharieun likes to set the pace and is not afraid to run from the front. Maxine Richards had to miss time in the middle of the season for illness and while that may seem like a bad thing, her legs are likely fresher than others. Even Zoe Arrington, the lone senior in the top ten who won a state title in AAA as a sophomore, has the potential and experience to possibly race her way into contention.