When you look at the Knoxville Youth Athletics (KYA) web site for the Elementary and Middle school state championships, it states "Athletes from all over the state descend on Victor Ashe Park to determine who is the best". KYA has been the host of these state championships since its inception in what seems decades ago. The state is broken down into six regions for this event and that's where the qualifiers come from. A couple of years ago, TMSAA added their state meet and KYA added the top teams from there to be included in the list of qualifiers.

For years, there have been discussions on where do the best cross-country runners come from. Is it the hills around the Chattanooga and East TN side of the state. Or is it from the sheer numbers out of the middle slice of this long state. Or could the speed out of the west be the deciding factor. Well, if we were talking about a track comparison, that would be easy... 400 meters is pretty much 400 meters no matter where you go. Cross Country... well let's see... how exact is the course measured... are there hills... are there huge hills... how many turns on the course... any of it run on asphalt... what about mud, or rain, or sleet, or even snow... you get the picture... there's no best way to measure one athlete against another when it comes to cross country other than a head-to-head contest. That's where this meet comes into play... everyone is running the same course. Elementary runs the 1 mile and Middle the 2-mile course. It's head-to-head from across the stat, so again, as the KYA web site says... "...to determine the best".

Taking all that into consideration here's a bit of a rundown of some of the top finishers in each of the regions and who just might find themselves standing on the podium this Saturday in Knoxville.  For the purpose of comparison only, I've used times as a measure... but remember, it's the head-to-head contest that really decides - and there you have it, that's why they run this race!

Middle School

Knoxville Region

I'll start with the middle school division and since Knoxville is the host, they go first. The Knoxville Region winner was Haylee Gasparic of Karns Middle School. She ran a 13:15 that was over twenty seconds ahead of the second place runner (Gideon Bradford, 13:38). Haylee has been very consistent this year and winning the Knoxville Region on the Victor Ashe course will give her an edge coming into the state meet Saturday. Following Gideon's second-place run were three girls just a fraction of a second apart. Maggie Mewett (Episcopal School of Knoxville) was third in 13:41.22, Ava Brinley (Farragut) next in 13:41.46 and the fifth runner was Ella Tyler (Norris) in 13:41.97. Tightly packed like that just means anything can happen once Saturday's race comes around.

The boy's side of the middle school contest showed again how the Knoxville Region tends to crank out some pretty solid distance athletes. Owen Bannister currently sits on the top of the Middle School 2 mile ranking with a time of 10:23 that he ran September 17^th at the KYA - Tommy Schumpert Park race. He ran 11:37 to win the Knoxville Region on the Victor Ashe park course and that may put him in as a favorite Saturday on what is probably a home course. Nathan Jurbergs of Gresham Middle was just behind Owen in 11:47 and Mason Shell (Maryville) finished in 11:57 to round out the top three that all went under 12 minutes.

Mid-State Region

Moving over to the Mid-State Region, the Cookeville girls seems to have a hold on the top spots there. Three of the Cookeville girls ran sub 14 with Camryn Maynor getting the only sub 13 in 12:54 at their Region meet. Camryn's time last season were in the mid to low 13's but ran a 12:45 at the state meet, so it seems she really does show up to the big meets. That makes her another one to keep an eye out for on Saturday. Camryn's teammates, Finley Simpson (13:37) and Payton Johnson (13:53) rounded out the other girls that broke 14 at that Region. You may also want to watch out for Mt Juliet's Sawyer Bates and Stewarts Creek's Lucy Scobey who were in the top 5 in the Region and have had some solid races this season so far.

Evan Porter of Mt. Juliet ran an 11:51 at the Mid-State boys region to take the top spot just ahead of a tight race with Tennysen Webb, who ran it in 11:54. It appears that race had several close contests. Evan and Tennysen only three seconds apart was one, but the third and fourth place finishers were only one second apart from each other at the end of the race. Lucas Jones (Providence Christian) and Ace Meador (Macon County) ran to 12:16 and 12:17 at the finish. Having someone right next to you to push through a race can sometimes make for an advantage as far as pacing through a race. That could come in handy on the big stage Saturday, we'll see.

Chattanooga Region

Ok, I'm not going to sing a rendition of the famous Glenn Miller Orchestra tune about Chattanooga, but I can certainly say there's some locomotives coming out of the Chattanooga Region (yea, had to throw in that pun). Ella Day Piersant of Chattanooga Christian was the winner of that Region in what ended up being a State best time of 11:39.20. I've said it before, Cross-Country is tough to compare by times alone, but that's still a blistering time on any course. Ella Day has her share of top 3 finishes all season and would look at her to be at or near the front of this race Saturday. She also has been chopping off seconds on her time the last three meets and that brings a lot of confidence to State!

Tegan Lewis is another Chattanooga region athlete finding herself ranked in the top 4 of the state for the 2 mile distance. She ran just behind Ella Day to get second in her Region and also posted the other sub 12 time at the meet for middle school girls in 11:48.51. Both these girls should be easy to spot since they'll likely be near the front on Saturday.

The Chattanooga region had a very tight race between the CSTHEA Patriots and McCallie Middle boys. Those teams were just 3 seconds apart after everyone crossed the finish line. Finley Ethridge and Jax Pas of CSTHEA were the top harriers for that team running 2^nd and 3^rd overall at the Region meet. McCallie's group didn't make the top 5 but they basically ran as a pack and took the 8^th, 9^th, 10^th, 11^th and 12^th place spots in that race. That's five boys finishing in a row! They were all under twelve minutes at the end and all less than 18 seconds apart. Of course, I won't leave out Hudson Wingield of Chattanooga Christian who took the top spot at the Region in just about eleven flat.

West Region

Now to the other side of the state for the West Region. West Collierville's Maya Lang has a CC PR of 11:41 that was run on the championship course at Shelby Farms in Memphis. She's been the top runner in the West Region all season long. That time she ran, by the way, was almost a 40 second improvement from what she ran last season. She has been a powerhouse this year and hasn't lost a race yet. Something interesting as well - and not sure how it would have an impact on her cross country running, but she's also a 4-10 high jumper!  You can almost be certain Maya will be easy to spot in the front of the pack racing to the finish Saturday.  ECS's Anderson Cummins is another West TN athlete running under the 12-minute mark. Anderson just came off a Shelby League championship win and brings a lot of confidence with her to this State meet. Both Maya and Anderson are ranked in the top 5 of the state so should be ones to watch as the race reaches the finish line.

On the boys side of the West Region there were three guys that went under 11:20. Houston added a couple at the meet with William Pressler taking first in 10:27 and Barrett Waddell third in 11:08. The 2^nd place finisher in 11:06 was Alister Wallace (unattached). Houston was the overwhelming team favorite and with only 30 points, won in dominating fashion for sure!  Liam McNeil (11:31), Rook Handa (11:35) and Dylan Acton (11:36) rounded out the top five for that team.  By the way, William is currently ranked the number two runner for the boys 2-mile middle school division. These guys have wheels!

Tri-Cities Region

The Tri-Cities Region had probably one of the lowest team scores by the girls with Providence Academy Middle scoring 22 points. That was thirty points ahead of Rogersville City in second place. Providence's fastest girl is Ryan Belt who has run low 12's all season and was 21^st at last years State Championships.  Providence and Rogersville City's teams made up the first 9 team finishers at the meet. No wonder those team scores were so low. 

Providence Academy was also the top qualifying team for the boys at the Tri-Cities Region. Their top two runners, Tyler Jensen (11:51) and Jake Robinson (11:54) came in neck and neck to lead off that team. Travis Wade of Rogersville won the Region in 11:37 and University School of Johnson City's River Smith came in runner up in 11:43. Towering Oak's Caleb Scott (11:47) rounded out this trio at the top and are sure to be near the top on the Victor Ashe course Saturday.

Nashville Region

The Nashville Region girls middle school was won by the St. Matthew Catholic team. They scored 32 points with a solid showing by Grace Richter and Caroline Puryear who came in second and third respectively. That Region was won by Gracie Orton of Columbia Academy and was also a new PR for her. She dropped almost 40 seconds getting that PR and that seems like a good way to head into the State championships!

St. Matthew Catholic boys made the Region a sweep as they also took the top team title. Having all their top five runners finish in 13^th place or better, including a 1-2 sweep by Peter Perri (11:13.89) and Wyatt Bradley (11:22.54), is certainly a heck of a way to make a statement. Columbia Academy was second in the team competition with Kolton Withrow and Gunner Huffman leading the way for that team.

Cross country is a difficult (understatement) to predict the outcome of a race, let alone a State Championship race. There's a lot to consider... the preparation process, dedication, fitness level, course condition, weather, are your laces tight enough, is the race bib bothering you, is your warmup good enough.... Oh, and it all must come together at exactly the same second the starters gun goes off... yea, that exact second!! Ok now... lace 'em up... it's going to get exciting!