High School Cross Country State Meet Results

Congratulations to University High School Cross Country runners, Isabelle Johnson and Braden Williams, for their performance in the TSSAA State Cross Country Championship.  Braden finished 46th with a time of 17:58.1 and Isabelle finished 78th with a time 22:41.56.  Meet results can be found on the TennesseeRunner website. The following article and the banner photo was printed in the Johnson City Press:

Volunteer boys place sixth in Class A-AA XC
Tanner Cook
Nov 5, 2021
 

HENDERSONVILLE — The girls were the stars of the show again on Friday at the TSSAA Class A-AA state cross country meet at Sanders Ferry Park.

The top 15 in each race earned all-state honors.

Tennessee High junior Zoe Arrington was the highest local finisher for either the boys or girls as she covered the rolling 5-kilometer course in 19:27.5, which was good enough for seventh overall.


The Lady Vikings finished 10th overall as a team with 331 points.

   
“Considering all that I went through, I’m glad I didn’t shy away from the season,” Arrington said. “I kept going when I could’ve quit and I’m proud of myself for that. I did have big goals for this season and to not meet them is disappointing, but it fuels the fire for next year.”

 
Sullivan East’s Mandy Lowery finished with honors as well, crossing in 11th with a time of 20:06.6. Lowery has been on the tough end of not making it to state in her career, but she was able to finish off her senior year of cross country with a bang.

“I was fighting for my life at the start and before we even got a quarter of the way in, I ate it,” Lowery said. “It took me a minute to recover from that.

“It’s super-exciting to be all-state and I don’t really know if it’s registered yet.”

Volunteer’s Jacie Begley also had a good finish, placing 25th with a time of 20:57.5. She helped lead the Lady Falcons to a 15th-place finish.

Murfreesboro Central Magnet’s Samantha Ouellette won the individual title with a time of 18:31.3.


“The girls finished 15th out of the 32 teams entered and I was pretty pleased,” legendary Volunteer coach Jim Ailshie said. “That’s quite an accomplishment and Jacie Begley had a personal best in the race by over 30 seconds.”

Central Magnet also won the team title, prevailing by three points (55-58) over defending champion Signal Mountain.

VOLUNTEER BOYS PLACE HIGH
The Volunteer boys placed sixth overall, the highest finish for any local team in any division over the two-day state event.

The Falcons netted 220 points and were led by Ethyn Council’s 27th-place finish as he crossed the line in 17:31.6. He was the highest local finisher for the boys.

“We had five that came in the top third of the entire field and I would anticipate somewhere in the neighborhood of sixth,” Ailshie said. “For our first time being here and finishing in the top 10 is great. We’re going to keep working and continue to progress.

 
“Overall, I’m extremely pleased with how things went today.”

Cherokee’s Henry Brooks also had a notable high finish, placing 38th with a time of 17:51.9. University High’s Braden Williams crossed the line in 46th with a time of 17:58.1.

Jackson Martin of Creek Wood was the individual champion as he broke away from runner-up Will Douglas (Camden Central) with just over a kilometer to go. Martin’s final time was 15:41.6.

Central Magnet again edged out defending champion Signal Mountain in the team race, but it was closer on the boys side as Central Magnet only won by two points (74-76).