Cross country team competes at state meet in Hendersonville

After countless hours of practicing and competing at numerous meets, the Tennessee High Boys Varsity Cross Country team and female teammate Jenna Reecher competed at the state meet in Hendersonville, Tennessee on November 7, 2024.

“It was super fun to be there in that environment; there were a lot of people there,” said sophomore runner Andrew Sells.

The course was a total of five thousand meters for both boys and girls. The boys competed and received 13th overall as a team, with Ryder Poole competing as the top runner and finishing with a time of 17:31.97.

Alongside the boys’ accomplishments, Jenna Reecher competed as an individual and received 15th place with a time of 19:59.4, earning a spot on the podium.

“We all did our work and put in that time; we all worked really hard this season,” said junior runner Gavin Lamie. “It’s a really good [team] and we are all dedicated.”

The last time the boys competed as a team at the state meet was in 2022. The top 4 teams from regionals get an invitation to state. The boys received 5th last year, barely missing the invitation to the championship.

“We missed [qualifying for state] by two points,” said senior Noah Broglio. “If one of our top five runners had passed 2 people, we would have gone.”

Even though they fell short, Reecher says that, in a way, this motivated them, and the boys’ team “came in [this season] with more drive because they knew they wanted to go.”

“We all knew that one person could let the whole team down, so we all had to work hard enough to let the whole team go,” said junior Ryder Poole. “Getting to race one more time as a team was awesome.”