Division I Class AA/A Boys
Top 5 Ranked Individuals
Runner | School | 2022 PR |
| Will Douglas | Camden Central | 15:24 |
| Jackson Martin | Creek Wood | 15:32 |
| Joshua Pote | Signal Mountain | 15:33 |
| San'Darius Coleman | Covington | 16:08 |
| Jaden Hillis | Liberty Creek | 16:09 |
Full Division I Class AA/A Individual Rankings
Will Douglas won the state championship in the Small Classification in 2020. That same year, Jackson Martin placed 5th in the Large Classification. After the cycle ended, the two found themselves on the same start line in 2021 and in my time as contributor have not seen a head to head match as evenly matched as this since Sasha Neglia and Jenna Hutchins.
Martin pulled away from Douglas after the final uphill claiming his first state championship in his career. The two find themselves as the favorites again this season and under eerily similar circumstances. In 2021 they both raced Jesse Owens where Douglas beat Martin by 12 seconds. This year they both ran Southern Showcase where Douglas bettered Martin by eight seconds. While they're likely focused on each other again, they both may need to have one eye over their shoulder to see if they have company. Signal Mountain's Joshua Pote on paper appears to be within striking distance of the pair. Given where his team is projected, it may however be in his best interest to secure third, rather than possibly slipping to 4th or 5th overextending himself to keep up with the leaders. Every point is going to be critical as you'll see here.
Top 3 Ranked Teams
Team | Projected Points |
| Signal Mountain | 136 |
| Central Magnet | 137 |
| Hume-Fogg | 332 |
Full Division I Class AA/A Team Rankings
As stated with the individual preview, the team matchup is just as similar as it was last year. Going into the state meet, Signal Mountain was projected to score 92 points to Central Magnet's 113. After the dust settled, the Tigers beat the Eagles by a score of 74-76. With all the non-scoring runners embedded in the finishers, it was impossible to know who won until official results were posted. That appears to be the case again. I almost don't even want to "report" as this race is occurring. I'd rather just stand back and enjoy it as a fan of the sport. There's always next year though and I mean that literally. Among the top seven runners for each team contributing to these point totals above, only four are seniors. Here's the current make-up of each:
- Signal Mountain: 2 Seniors, 2 Juniors, 3 Sophomores
- Central Magnet: 2 Seniors, 1 Junior, 4 Sophomores
This is going to be a fun/intense 18 or so minutes.