In 2006, when the first official Tennessee Middle School State Championship was run (pun intended), 222 athletes and 8 girls/9 boys teams competed for rights for a state title. The meet has grown substantially in terms of numbers with 483 Varsity boys and girls along with 27 girls/23 boys teams vying for that championship plaque. Those numbers do not include a growing JV race as well as Elementary competitors in their own open race. As we turn to this year’s installment this Saturday, October 20th at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville, there are some individuals as well as teams that hope to cement their place in the only race where one can state that they are truly State Champion.
This preview will begin in the West at Shelby Farms as Logan Eskin of Houston MS and Titus Winders of Henry Co. MS led the way on the boys side with Henry Co. MS winning a tight team race 98-106 over Grace St. Luke’s Episcopal MS. Logan also has his team here and looks to push them into a top 5-10 team ranking. Titus and his brother Javan led the west side of the state last year at this meet finishing 15th and 17th respectively. Javan is not here this year so it’s up to Titus alone to solidify himself as a top 10 performer. Coach Steve Wills (west regional director) and his St. Agnes Academy ladies look to continue their sterling record at this meet as they won going away by 69 points and look to carry that momentum to a top 5 team performance. Individually, Loral Winn ran away from the Baran sisters Amelia and Ella (Houston MS) winning the race by 43 seconds and seems to be a competitor for the state title. She has experience here as she was 25th last year and just missed All-State designation (top 20). She seems poised to put herself in a position to get that certificate.
Now we move our way on I-40 east and go to Smyrna which was the site of the MSCCA MS Championships. On the girls side is the top returner on either side as Taylor Cuneo of Oakland MS finished 2nd last year in Knoxville as a 6th grader. She won by 10 seconds over Olivi Hetherington from Sovereign Grace MS. Being that close to someone who has already proven she can compete for a title at the state level means that Hetherington is certainly capable of a top 5 ranking as well. The team race has two teams leading the way as it came down to the wire with Cuneo-led Oakland finishing a narrow second (93-96) to Christiana MS who ran a very good team race 2-5 with their low stick Emma McClellan leading the way finishing 5th. The boys race was won by Charles Bennett beating John Elrod (top state returner 7th place last year). These may also be two of your top 5 finishers based on that performance. Oakland boys won by a healthy margin over Central Magnet boys 96-124. Neither team was here last year so they both look to set their mark on the state and a top 10 performance will surely do that.
Head south on I-24 and you will find the Chattanooga Area MS Champs where the theme was the team races as McCallie won a tight race 35-40 over Cleveland in the boys race and Girls Prep School narrowly defeated Cookeville MS 30-42. Both teams in the boys race had their top 2 boys go 1-2 (George Arrowsmith and King Jemison of Mccallie) then 3-4 (Casey and Toren Beck of Cleveland) while GPS was led with 3 girls in the top 6 as well as the individual champion Margaret Martin outkicking Kathryn Vrandenburgh from Chattanooga Home School. George has certainly improved in a year as he was 83rd last year while King led his team to 2nd place with his all-state 20th place performance. Toren comes in this race ready to make a huge jump as he was 130th last year at this meet. Neither of the top 2 girls were here last year but Cookeville did come as a team and will look to break in the top 10 as they finished 12th in 2011.
A drive up I-75 sends you through Knoxville and the site of this year’s championship which is also the site of the Knoxville Area MS Championship. Last year both individual champions came from this meet (Madeline Christian and Louis Morris) so it can be an excellent indicator to see if there is anyone here who can take the title. Rebecca Story (CAK) has stepped up this year running as close to what Madeline ran as you could hope running 12:55 to win (that would be 3rd in last years race). The 7th grader defeated maybe the deepest field this region has ever seen. She has to be the favorite along with Cuneo for state champion based on her experience with the course running it here twice during this fall. Every one of the top 5-10 has All-State potential and several are also on top 10 teams. The team that looks to possibly defeat the 3-time defending champions (will cover them below) is Webb MS. Dominating the area despite injuries to some of their top 7, last year’s 4th place finisher looks to take the next step and possibly take the state title. On the boys side, the Webb Spartans look to continue their stranglehold on the state title for the past 3 years. No member of this team was on that 2009 team which speaks to their ability to develop runners. Individually, Austin Bihlmeyer (Farragut) looks to be one of the favorites for the state title as he won by 10 seconds in 11:40 (time would have been 2nd last year). He has won a couple races but throughout the year several runners have also won the league races (Carter Coughlin (Webb), Taylor Drake (Maryville) and Tanner Witsell (Karns)) and all look to be top All-State contenders.
Finally, this preview travels up I-40 and I-81 to Daniel Boone High School and the site of the Trailblazer Invitational which qualified the Northeast teams/competitors for the state meet. On the boys side, Jordan Lewis (Ridgeview) and Elijah Chapman (Cornerstone-Abington) pushed each other to the finish separated by 2 seconds. Elijah led his team to the team title defeating close competition from Sullins Academy and West View. All 3 teams are top 10 potential to be sure and hope to come away as one of the deepest regions at this meet. Two potential state contenders went to the line with 6th grader Harper Russell of Rogersville City outleaning Maci Shell of T.A. Dugger. Harper won the elementary race her last year and has been waiting for her debut on the state middle school level. Maci is a different runner than last year when she finished just 80th here. A top 5 performance for both is a certain possibility here Saturday. We wrap up this preview with the girls team race and one of the most dominant programs in the history of this meet. Winning every team title at the state meet since 2009 (matching Webb boys), no one on this team has lost a state title race and look to continue that tradition this weekend. They will have a heavy challenge from several teams but it’s impossible to bet against a team with that history. They lost several of their girls who are in the top 5 for Morristown-West HS who looks to be heavy favorites for the state title in Nashville on November 3rd and replacing them is impossible. Led by Jessica Lord (9th last year) and Abby McKinnish (36th last year) they will certainly be tough to be beat.
All a preview can do is guess what will happen come time for the event and this one is exactly that. In that way it is also a preview for what they can do when they move up to 5k and the high school ranks, many of their future coaches will have an eye on this meet. It is just a preview and nothing is set in stone as teams/individuals can surprise everyone including themselves by having a special day once the gun goes off. With weather expected to be nearly perfect (clear skies and 63 degrees) times are certain to be fast as there is nothing to hold anyone back from performing their best as long as they run their own race and overcome the pressure of 250+ runners around them and throngs of screaming fans/family/coaches/teammates in their ears the entire course.