After winning a fourth straight TSSAA Division II-AA State Championship the McCallie cross country Team competed at the Nike Southeast Regional Championship in Cary, NC. The race featured the 27 top teams from the states of Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, Georgia, Kentucky, West Virginia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida, Tennessee and the District of Columbia.
The elite field included state championship teams from each state from both public and private school divisions. The top two teams advance to Nike Team Nationals in Portland, OR with expenses paid by Nike.
McCallie was ranked fourth going into the race, and finished third, just missing qualifying for nationals by four points. Farragut High School won the race with a score of 105 points, followed by pre-meet favorite and Florida state champions Miami Belen Jesuit with 111 points. McCallie finished third with 115 points.
McCallie’s top five runners averaged a time of 15:43 per man for the rolling 5K course. McCallie was led once again by sophomore Jack Bowen in 11th place with a time of 15:22. Jack was named a 2nd team All-American. Senior Hugh Carlson ran 15:39, followed closely by junior Harry Carter in 15:44.
Junior Garrison Corley closed with a time of 15:49 and senior Nate Armstrong ran 16:03 to complete McCallie’s top five scorers. All-State runners Evan Simpson and Grady Outlaw were under the weather but gave it a go with Evan running 16:11 and Grady 18:45.
“This is an incredible group of young men who have had a record-breaking season. It was fun to knock off a couple of nationally ranked teams and beat all the state champions from bordering states” said McCallie coach Mike Wood.