2023 Moments Of The Year
To finish off 2023, we're going to count down the MileSplit TN Top 10 Moments of the Year. "Moments" will be a loose term this year as some will be collective performances from the entirety of a season or the entirety of a career. Nevertheless, you'll see thoughout that 2023 was filled with incredible drama, can't miss races, and record breaking performances. Check Back in between now and January for everything that made last year unforgetttable. Enjoy.
Unexpected Winners And Qualifiers
When I started listing out this year's moments, the initial Top 10 omitted cross country entirely. The things that happened on the track last winter and spring were so numerous it was hard to make room. After some consolidation and reassessment, I think when you look back on the 2023 Cross Country season the outcomes that no one saw coming to me, defined the fall.
Columbia Academy Boys
In 2022, the Columbia Academy boys didn't even qualify for the state championship as a team and their highest individual finisher placed 10th. In 2023, they placed four in the top 10 and won the Division II Class A title with just 31 points. With no runners graduating, there's no sneaking up on anyone next season.
Brunner Wins As A Freshman
As an eighth grader, Lydia Brunner placed runner up in the KYA Middle School State Championship positioning her as one of the top incoming freshman for the next season. In her first high school race, she placed 16th in the Gold Division at Saturday Light Fever behind several Division II Class AA opponents. That 19:33 would be her slowest 5k of her freshman season. Quietly, the times kept getting faster and in the state championship, she ran her fastest race of the season a full minute and forty one seconds better than her debut and won the state title. She became just the second state cross country champion in Father Ryan history.
Eckerman Sets State Meet Record
Let's just do some level-setting to put into perspective how unexpected Colin Eckerman's senior season was. After his junior season his best 5k was 15:54, his highest place in a cross country meet was 6th, and he hadn't qualified to state for any event in track and field.
At the end of his senior season he has the fastest time in state meet history, he qualified for both FootLocker (Placed 12th) and NXN (Placed 25th), and his fastest 5k is now 14:49. There's not much more to say. I can't wait to see how his presence this spring raises what was already a Murderers' Row to qualify in track in some of these distance events for Division II Class AA.
Montgomery Bell Closes In Cary
I started as a contributor for MileSplit Tennessee in 2017 and from that time to this season, Montgomery Bell as a team has finished anywhere from 3rd to 7th in Division II Class AA without any individual champions. It became apparent pretty early this fall that this season would be different. After an early season trip to Chickasaw and and one point loss to McCallie, MBA quickly moved from 8th in the preseason polls to third and on the cusp of legitimately threatening to dethrone McCallie off the top of the podium. Though they fell just eight points short of doing so, their tightly knit pack one to five gave them an advantage heading into the larger field they'd race at Team National Southeast and were able to place second overall ahead of State #1 Farragut (who won Division I Class AAA) and McCallie (who just beat them two weeks prior) and earn an automatic bid to the National race in Portland.