The past 12 months saw a mixture of traditional high school sports powers continue their dominance and new faces stepping into the spotlight. Whether it was teams winning state championships or talented individual players, the Chattanooga area produced a year full of memorable storylines. Here are our staff's top 10 prep sports memories from 2019.
1. McCallie winning its second football state championship
The Blue Tornado defense dominated throughout and the offense wore down Montgomery Bell Academy in the second half on the way to a 28-7 victory in the Division II-AAA BlueCross Bowl at Tennessee Tech.
In snapping a 14-game losing streak to MBA, McCallie not only claimed its first state title since 2001 but also became the first team not from Nashville to earn the crown in the state's largest private school classification in 10 years.
Senior cornerback Thompson Byrd returned an interception 32 yards for a touchdown late in the first quarter, and the Blue Tornado defense set a championship-game record with nine sacks. MBA managed just 42 rushing yards on 30 attempts as McCallie also registered 12 tackles for loss.
The MBA defense had not allowed more than 14 points in a game all season, but Tornado senior quarterback DeAngelo Hardy, who scored two TDs, was named the game's offensive MVP after rushing for 103 yards on 17 carries and completing five of seven passes for 59 yards to help his team finish 11-2 overall.
"I'm so happy for our kids," McCallie coach Ralph Potter said after the game. "You like to tell them you're the same people whether you win or lose, but the fact is when you win it you have a greater legacy and it stays with you."
2. Baylor's Spring Fling dominance continued
Baylor claimed six total state championships - individual and team - during the weeklong spring-sports event in Murfreesboro. None, however, were more impressive than the softball and baseball teams extending championship streaks as the Lady Red Raiders won their fifth consecutive Division II-AA state title and the baseball team won its second straight.
With six starters who had not been a part of the previous year's title team, the Lady Red Raiders won a pair of one-run decisions over Chattanooga rival GPS for their eighth in the last nine years to finish 42-3 overall. In the finale, freshman Sydney Berzon, a 6-foot pitcher who already had committed to LSU, scattered five hits, shutting out the Bruisers over the last four innings, including working her way out of two jams with runners in scoring position. She also drove in both Baylor runs, and Makayla Packer, who won the 200-meter dash and finished second in two other sprint events a day earlier, recorded the final putout on a fly to center field.
"It's really unbelievable to think we've won this five years in a row," said Baylor coach Kelli Smith, who has been a part of each of the program's 13 state titles - two as a player and 11 as coach. "It seems like every year we have somebody new that steps up and comes through for us. That's just a testament to the way our kids work."
The scariest aspect of Baylor's baseball program is not the level of talent that existed up and down the lineup. Although the Red Raiders had eight players who had either signed or committed to college programs by the start of the state tournament, by far the most impressive aspect is that no Baylor senior set foot on the field until the seventh inning of the championship game.
By that time, Baylor's youth brigade had built a comfortable lead on the way to a 4-2 win over Christian Brothers for the program's repeat state title. It spoke volumes about that level of talent that Colin Ahearn, a Mr. Baseball finalist who has committed to Tennessee, did not step on the mound to pitch until the third game of the state tournament.
Ahearn, a junior left-hander, did just what the two sophomore starting pitchers the first two days did by keeping the opposing bats silent, scattering five hits, allowing one run and striking out 10 batters.
The five pitchers Baylor used during its three-game run at state had more strikeouts (26) than hits allowed (17) over 19 innings. That included a 17-inning scoreless streak as the team finished 27-6.
Three players from that state championship team - juniors Daniel Corona, Cooper Kinney and Nick Kurtz - later were selected to participate in USA Baseball's 16-under National Team Development Program. Only the top 36 prep players in the country are selected to that team.
3. Bradley Central girls' basketball returns to the summit
Senior Hannah Lombard ended her prep career with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer that lifted the Bearettes to a 46-44 win over Houston in the Class AAA state final at Middle Tennessee State University.
Sophomore guard Jamaryn Blair, who was named tournament MVP, dished a pass to Lombard, who then nailed the game-winner with 1.2 seconds remaining. Bradley's defense then forced a five-second call on the ensuing inbounds play to seal the program's sixth state title but the first since 1976.
"For our group to have a banner going up soon that says '2019 state champions' is amazing and surreal," Lombard said after the game. "I will always remember this moment. If my children play basketball, I will tell them about how I hit a buzzer-beater to help win state. It will stick with me forever."
Bradley, which is the winningest girls' basketball program in state history, held its opposition to 40 points per game and set a state-tournament record with 22 blocked shots, led by 6-foot-1 junior Anna Walker, who totaled 12 blocks and 34 points in the three-game title run.
Blair scored 25 points in the final for the Bearettes, who were making their first appearance in the championship game since 1995 and finished the season 34-3 overall.
4. Area wrestlers extend impressive run
Baylor and Cleveland swept both the state duals and traditional wrestling tournaments in their respective classifications to cap yet another stellar season in the sport for the area.
Baylor 170-pound senior Mason Reiniche capped off a stout career and helped the Red Raiders become double state champions in Division II for the first time since 2011 by edging rival McCallie. The three-time individual champ and Cornell signee left the mat with a bloody mouth along with a gash on his forehead and under his eye to finish off a season in which he went 35-1.
Meanwhile, Cleveland finished a season sweep of the Class AAA team titles, led by four individual champions, including 40-0 106-pounder Trae McDaniel.
The Chattanooga area had 16 state champions at the TSSAA event, including Signal Mountain 113-pounder Daniel Uhorchuk, who went 41-0 and pinned all four of his state tournament opponents for his second state title.
While there are 79 wrestling team state titles among Baylor, Bradley Central, Cleveland and McCallie, last season marked the first time in TSSAA history the four all wrestled in duals finals on the same day.
In Georgia, Sonoraville's Trevor Burdick and Dalton's Tyler Hunt each claimed his fourth individual championship.
5. Dalton's Gibbs runs into All-America honors
Dalton running back Jahmyr Gibbs had a breakout senior season, setting area records along the way to earning a spot on Sports Illustrated's inaugural All-America high school team.
The 5-11, 195-pounder began the season by setting a Chattanooga-are single-game rushing record with 420 yards and eight touchdowns on 23 carries against Ringgold - the ninth-best performance in GHSA history. The Georgia Tech commitment had 270 rushing yards and four scores on 11 carries by halftime.
Gibbs, who has more than 30 Division I scholarship offers - including from Southern California, LSU, South Carolina, Mississippi State, Missouri and Texas A&M - finished the season with 2,358 yards and 39 TDs.
"He's just special," Catamounts coach Matt Land said. "Jahmyr is someone who comes along just every so often."
6. Calhoun's region win streak comes to an end
All good things must come to an end, and this season it was one of the most eye-catching win streaks in area prep sports history that was halted. Calhoun's football team entered the season having won 18 consecutive region titles, the longest in Georgia history.
However, on Sept. 20 North Murray handed the Yellow Jackets a 31-7 defeat, snapping a streak of 139 straight wins over region opponents. North Murray, which played its first full varsity season in 2010, went on to earn its first region title and advanced to the Class AAA state quarterfinals.
7. Boyd Buchanan football bounces back
For 20 years Boyd Buchanan was one of the most successful programs in the city, averaging nearly 10 wins per season, producing more than 20 all-state players, winning a state championship and finishing as runner-up three times.
However, after falling on hard times - the Buccaneers went 2-18 in 2017-18 - first-year coach Jeremy Bosken guided the biggest turnaround in the state.
The Bucs not only went 0-10 in 2018 but were outscored by a total of 492-52, finished that season with just 17 players on the roster and had not won a home game since late in the 2016 season. They were picked to finish last in theiree region in a preseason coaches' poll, but Bosken took them to an 8-3 finish that included a No. 2 state ranking in Division II-AA.
Junior quarterback Eli Morris, who has amassed more than 2,400 total yards and 27 touchdowns, earned recognition as a Mr. Football semifinalist.
8. Madison Hayes earns national recognition
Within a seven-month span, East Hamilton's gifted multisport star Madison Hayes put together one of the most spectacular resumes any Chattanooga athlete ever has.
As a junior she averaged 25.2 points, 12.2 rebounds, 4.0 steals, 3.6 assists and 3.1 blocked shots a game to lead her team to 21 wins, earning the state's Class AAA Miss Basketball award. Also an all-star selection in volleyball, she was named overall female athlete of the year at the annual Times Free Press Best of Preps banquet.
In June the 6-foot Hayes played a big part in the United States winning a gold medal in the FIBA 3x3 U18 World Cup in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, and three months later, having been ranked the nation's No. 29 women's basketball recruit by espnW, she committed to sign with Mississippi State.
9. Gordon Lee softball still reigns
No other high school softball team in Georgia has more state titles in the past decade than Gordon Lee. The Lady Trojans added their fifth consecutive GHSA Class A championship, and 10th since 2004, in late October with a 9-1, six-inning decision over rival Trion.
The Lady Trojans finished 33-1, with the only loss coming to Class AAA champion Ringgold, and the five senior starters ended their prep career with a 129-4 overall record.
"With this program's legacy, you want to live up to it," said junior Addison Sturdivant, who led the team with a .539 batting average, 30 stolen bases and 46 runs scored. "Everybody wants to beat us, but we just keep on winning."
10. CSAS's Sims sprints past the competition
With one more season remaining in his prep career, Arts & Sciences star Brevin Sims is already one of the most accomplished track athletes in Chattanooga history. Sims capped his junior season by winning his eighth Spring Fling state championship and owns state records in the 110-meter hurdles and 60-meter indoor hurdles.
His time of 13.68 seconds in the 110 hurdles last season ranked as the sixth-fastest time in the nation among high school runners. He won both the 110 and 300 hurdles state events in May, having also qualified for the state's 100 and 200 dashes, then represented the United States in a junior national event during the summer in Cuba, winning the 110 hurdles and helping the 4x100 relay team finish second.
Sims, who signed with Syracuse University earlier this month, has not lost an individual event since his eighth-grade year and said his goal is to one day earn a spot on the U.S. Olympic team.
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.