They did not win their district tournament. They had no one finish in the top four Monday. And they have no seniors.
But McMinn County's boys' golfers do have the TSSAA Region 3-AAA championship and a berth in next week's state tournament at Willowbrook in Manchester.
Led by Ryan Thompson's 39, which left him tied for fifth individually, the Cherokees totaled a 327 at Valleybrook and edged Cookeville (330) and Walker Valley (331) in yet another struggle among teams that have swapped out getting the best of each other in 2009.
"We found a way to finish," said third-year McMinn County coach Jerry Quirk, who was coach of two region-championship teams at McMinn Central. "Cookeville, Walker Valley and us have battled all summer and fall. Who could finish was whoever was going to win."
Cookeville led McMinn County 153-160 at the turn, but Quirk said he was encouraged by the consistency his team was showing in the blustery conditions with Thompson and Will Zabo carding 4-over-par 39s and Drew Mays and Hunter Hensley posting 41s. Walker Valley played the back nine two strokes better than the Cherokees, but it wasn't enough.
"On the back nine we just held it together," Quirk said.
Trio ranked overall
The Redmond Tennessee 11 polls, which rank the top soccer teams regardless of classification, came out recently, and three area girls' teams received top billing.
Baylor, which moved up to 23rd in the latest ESPN Rise National Rankings, is ranked second in the state behind Knoxville Bearden. The Lady Red Raiders (11-0-1) top the Division II-AA poll.
Soddy-Daisy (15-0), second to Bearden in Class AAA, is sixth overall. The Lady Trojans recently wrapped up the District 5-AAA regular-season championship and will host all of their games in the upcoming tournament.
Notre Dame (4-7-1) is 10th. The Lady Irish, who are third in Class A/AA. can make moves with upcoming games against Bearden and Baylor. Also in A/AA, Chattanooga Christian (7-5-2) is fourth, Signal Mountain (10-3-1) eighth and East Hamilton (9-3-1) is ninth.
Walton wins at Owens
While McCallie finished 14th as a team in the Gold Division of the Jesse Owens Classic cross country meet this past weekend in Oakville, Ala., two McCallie runners were first and second in the Red Division: Gil Walton in 16 minutes, 51.88 seconds and Ryan Schumacher a minute behind.
Bradley Central's Paul Patterson was second in the Silver Division, finishing in 16:10.78, while Cleveland's Grant Currin was 10th. Led by Patterson and Harold Smith, the Bears finished ninth as a team.
Cleveland's Beka Day has the best area girls' performance, fourth in the Silver Division.