Division II Class AA Boys
Four In A Row
As expected, McCallie completed the four-peat last Thursday scoring 34 points over runner up Christian Brothers' 89. Throughout the streak, it was their largest margin of victory of any previous championship. Take a look at their stats at state since 2019.
Year | McCallie | Runner-Up | Scoring Average |
| 2019 | 38 | 65 | 17:04 |
| 2020 | 58 | 68 | 16:51 |
| 2021 | 54 | 69 | 16:16 |
| 2022 | 34 | 89 | 15:47 |
It should be noted that 2019 was still at Steeplechase which is a notoriously slow course however there's no denying the steady progression for the last three championships and it does not appear to be stopping. Five of the seven runners from last Thursday's team will be returning next season with only one, Hugh Carlson, graduating from scoring position.
At the beginning of the season, one of the storylines we were tracking was "Can a boys team from Division II definitively be the best team in the state?" The case currently is leaning in the Blue Tornado's favor. Their 15:47 team average broke the previous team average record at Sanders Ferry Park of 15:53 that was set by Farragut earlier this season at Saturday Light Fever. Farragut, on Friday, would run a 16:00 team average en route to their Class AAA state championship. While temperature and field size can affect how a collective team runs, we fortunately won't have to argue about it much longer. McCallie, Farragut, Brentwood, and Beech are all slated to run at Team Nationals in Cary, NC towards the end of the month.
Behind the Tornadoes, the next three teams were separated by just nine points as Christian Brothers tightly-knit five runners under a minute spread to edge Brentwood Academy who scored 97. Right behind the Eagles was Knoxville Catholic who scored 98. Three of the top four teams will return at least four from their scoring five with Brentwood Academy graduating just two.
3rd Times A Charm For Thompson
As the quality of team race has increased over the past couple of seasons so has the individual race. These are the last four winning times over that same timeframe.
- 2019 - 16:28 (Edimo Ninterestse)
- 2020 - 16:18 (Jack Cottrell)
- 2021 - 15:29 (Keegan Smith)
- 2022 - 15:16 (Luke Thompson)
Luke Thompson placed runner-up in 2020 and 2021, and came into the race with again the second fastest time on the season. He found himself in a pack with defending champion Keegan Smith, Jack Bowen, and teammate Carter Johnson heading into the second lake loop. Bowen made a strong move into the lead going up the final hill where Thompson overtook him going down. The two can be seen side by side in the quiet corner as the the camera cut away to where Thompson emerges from the tree tunnel with a slight lead that he holds onto through the finish. You can skip to the 11-minute mark of the video below to watch these final moments.
Thompson's 15:17 was the fastest time of all racers throughout the competition.
Seven of the top ten will be returning next season. Going to be a must watch race yet again.
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Name Year School Finals Points
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1 #1026 Thompson, Luke 11 Brentwood Academy 15:16.09 1
2 #1155 Bowen, Jack 10 McCallie School 15:18.38 2
3 #1156 Carlson, Hugh 12 McCallie School 15:25.65 3
4 #1138 Smith, Keegan 10 Knoxville Catholic 15:31.78 4
5 #1024 Johnson, Carter 11 Brentwood Academy 15:33.88 5
6 #1160 Simpson, Evan 11 McCallie School 15:42.63 6
7 #1136 Molchan, Radek 9 Knoxville Catholic 15:44.50 7
8 #1077 Smith, Kaleb 11 Christian Brothers 15:46.50 8
9 #1067 Radbill, Jack 12 CPA 15:47.83 9
10 #1009 Knight, Christophe 12 Baylor School 16:00.08 10 Congratulations to Luke Thompson and to McCallie on your state championships.