BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – As Baylor senior Becca Greenwall crossed the finish line at the TSSAA Cross Country Championships on Saturday at Percy Warner Park, an observer was heard saying, “Man, another one?”
Such showed the dominance of the Baylor girls’ team, which had the top four finishers and totaled 20 points in winning its sixth Division II state championship and third consecutive title.
The team employed a “See the B” approach to the race, with the game plan being for each girl to be closer enough to a teammate to read the “B” on the back of her jersey.
Baylor senior Hannah Jumper covered the 5-kilometer event in 18 minutes, 20.88 seconds, winning her second straight Division II-AA individual title. She was followed by seniors Tenley Godfrey and the Greenwall twins, Rachel and Becca.
Haley Chandler was 15th, giving the team’s five counters all-state honors.
Coach Heather Ott was overwhelmed by the team’s success, combined with the fact that her team’s senior class meant so much to her.
“I’ve tried not to let the emotion of the season coming to an end,” Ott said, “But I never want to let this senior class go. Not just because they’re good, but because they’re great girls.”
Jumper led from the opening gun and never trailed in getting a seven-second victory over her teammate.
“This win feels even better than the last,” she said. “I didn’t mean to come out as fast as I did – and I felt the last part – but I didn’t want to turn this into a tactical race.
“I knew if I could stretch the lead out, my team would be with me.”
Signal Mountain’s boys finished third in the Class A/AA division, led by seventh-place Matthew Marshall. Notre Dame’s and Chattanooga Christian’s girls were fourth and fifth.
“We came into today with a game plan and ended up coming as close as we could to getting it,” Signal coach Les Hegwood said. “This is definitely the best we’ve ever done, and the best part is that the core of our team is coming back.
“I’m pleased with their effort.”
Three Chattanooga-area girls were all-state in Class A/AA: Notre Dame’s Alex Mullin, who was fifth, seventh-place Dianna Eddington of McMinn Central and Arts & Sciences’ Payton Smith, who took 13th.
Red Bank’s Robert Bridges and East Hamilton’s Nick McCormick also took all-state honors in A/AA, with fifth and 15th-place finishes, respectively.
McCallie was third in the Division II-AA boys’ race, with 99 points, and had three all-staters: Thomas Walters (seventh), Matthew Jones (14th) and Derek Barnes (15th). Baylor’s Andrew Oellerich finished 10th.
Rhea sophomore Madalyn Garland finished ninth in the AAA girls’ race, while GPS’s Johanna Gartman was eighth in Division II-AA. St. Andrew’s-Sewanee’s Keeley Stewart placed fourth in the Division II-A race.
Dalton girls ninth
At Carrollton, Ga., Dalton’s girls finished ninth in the AAA state meet while Dalton’s boys and Northwest Whitfield’s boys were 20th in AAA and AAAA. The fields in each classification consisted of about 230 runners, according to Northwest coach Tom Sell.
Becca Houston had the best finish for Dalton’s girls, placing 15th in 20:30. Carina Nieto was 19th, Paxton Plunkett 61st, Santa Ibarr 69th and Amiviny Vidana 86th.
Northwest’s Bruins got a 69th from Jordan Jones (17:50), a 71st from Brody Cook, a 76th from Parker Cook, a 137th from Brandon Harris and a 149th from Nathan Ward. Dalton’s Grant Snyder and Miguel Alcantar were 99th and 100th. Noel Salaices, Jonathan Hernandez and Andrew O’Neal were 106th, 111th and 124th.