farragutpress

Ringing in 2026

Championships highlight Year in Review

December 31, 2025 by

The Farragut baseball team is quite familiar with jewelry. The Admirals collected the rings from their 2024 state title in January of this year, then assured themselves more bling by winning a fourth-straight state championship in May.

That impressive run is one of several notable achievements featured in Part I of our 2025 Year in Review, which includes plenty of sports news from across west Knoxville. On May 24, the Admirals defeated Clarksville 11-3 for their fourth straight state championship and 14th in program history — a new TSSAA record. It was a fitting way to wrap Garrett Copeland’s first year as head coach and the spring semester as a whole.

In another Spring Fling twist, the Farragut boys track and field team won a Class AAA state championship on May 22. That historic victory came by just one point, as FHS took home first team title in 25 years. The Farragut 4x400 relay team of Evan Beeler, Chase McAvoy, Noah Eaker and Lucas Spadafora clinched the win with a time of 3:20:50 — just ahead of Whitehaven’s 3:21.03. Beeler specifically won the state title in the 800-meter and 1600-meter events. As a team, the Admirals’ finish also helped secure a picturesque ending for FHS track coach Chelsea Osborne, who retired at the end of the season. She since has been replaced by Garrett Jones in cross country and Charles Bell in track and field. Both previously served as assistant coaches for Osborne.

The Farragut Middle School dance team also found success, claiming its fourth straight national title on Feb. 2 at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports in Orlando. Under coach Macy Brink, FMS earned the title of National Dance Team Champions in Junior High Pom with a runner-up finish in Junior High Jazz.

While Osborne’s final meet was a nail-biter, the Webb girls won handily in Division II-AA. They racked up 130 points to finish 43 ahead of second-place finisher Harpeth Hall. Meanwhile, Hardin Valley’s Madison Huffman clinched state runner-up as the program notched a school record 25 wins in a season.

In wrestling, 24 area grapplers qualified for the sectional round of the postseason. Only six of them, however, made the state tournament at the Williamson County Ag & Expo Center in Franklin on Feb. 21-22. Bearden junior Deameion Levell placed third in the 165-pound class at the Class AA state meet, totaling a final record of 28-2. Farragut senior Dylan Rohn placed sixth in the 144-pound bracket in the same classification, coming out with a final record of 53-5. Fellow Admiral Phillip Stafford-Hedge finished with a 44-8 record in the 165-pound class after reaching the state meet, and FHS junior Jonathon Laney tallied one victory in the 138-pound class to wrap up Charlie Rohn’s first year as head coach. Two Hardin Valley Academy seniors also reached the final weekend of the season, as HVA’s Brock Connatser won one match at 132 with Jacob Laws claiming a victory at 126. Webb’s Jack Quigley placed sixth in Division II-AA at 144 pounds.

In swimming, there was plenty of notoriety at Tennessee’s Allan Jones Aquatic Center on Feb. 7-8. The Farragut area fielded state champions from Hardin Valley Academy, Bearden and Webb at the 2025 TISCA High School State Championships. Hardin Valley junior Hayden Hall led the Aqua Hawks to victory, becoming the state champion (1:37.45) in the 200-yard freestyle. Also, he placed fourth in men’s 100-yard freestyle, pacing the team in a top-10 finish at eighth place overall. Bearden sophomore Sarah Griffith claimed gold in 1-meter diving, earning a state title with a 480.45 mark in her performance at UT. Webb senior Brooks Barber won a state title in the same event, taking home a 479.10 score. As a team, the Farragut girls squad finished seventh — good for best across classifications for East Tennessee. Also, Concord Christian School notched a seventh-place finish on the boys side with eighth place overall.

Moving from the pool deck to the hardwood, the West Valley Middle School girls claimed a TSSAA middle school state championship on Feb. 15. WVMS defeated Mt. Juliet 40-27 in the semifinals, which occurred on Valentine’s Day. But there was no love lost between the Wolves and Woodland the next day, as WVMS won the title by a score of 41-30 under head coach Josh Ballard.

This year also saw a pair of state championships for Webb, as both trophies featured a hint of Spartan green. On the boys side, the Spartans snapped a six-year title drought with a 54-45 win over Briarcrest to claim the Division II-AA crown on March 8. The same day, the Lady Spartans defeated Christ Presbyterian Academy 61-47 to avenge a title game loss to Catholic the year prior. CAK baseball coach Tommy Pharr picked up the 1,000th win of his career on May 6 as the Warriors stormed past Lakeway in the Division II-A East region semifinals.

The Hardin Valley boys soccer team also claimed a state title by edging Bartlett 4-3 on May 23 for a Class AAA state championship. The Webb girls team was not as fortunate, losing in the Division II-AA title game for the second consecutive year.

Knox Catholic tennis standout Lillie Murphy claimed her second singles state title on the same day while Hardin Valley junior Madison Huffman finished as the state runner-up to mark the lone blemish on a 25-0 record. Also, the CAK boys tennis team finished as a runner-up in the Division II-A state tournament with freshman Tate Campbell going 12-2 to advance to the state quarterfinals. The Warriors made the deepest run of any area team, reeling off an 8-0 record during the regular season.

On the lacrosse field, multiple area programs made the state tournament for the first time ever. Both Farragut programs reached the final weekend of action in Division I-AA, as the Admirals lost to Nolensville 15-9 in the semifinals with the Lady Ads losing 17-3 to Cookeville in the quarterfinals. One round later, that same Cookeville team ended the Bearden Lady Bulldogs’ season, 19-6. On the boys side, HVA boys lost to Nolensville 17-12 in the quarterfinals in its first state tournament action, and Catholic saw its first state run end in a 1-0 loss to Montgomery Bell Academy in the Division II-AA bracket. The Webb Lady Spartans went 0-1 at state with a loss to Evangelical Christian while the boys program narrowly missed on a second-straight state title with an 8-6 loss to Christ Presbyterian Academy.

In more hoops news, the Farragut area featured some notable names among Miss Basketball finalists for 2025. On March 18, Webb senior Meeyah Green won Miss Basketball for Division II-AA for her efforts in the 2024-25 season. In the process, the Clemson commitment beat out the Hutchison School’s Tyler Jones and Chattanooga Christian’s Kamora Moore. Green averaged 14.4 points, 6.9 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2.2 steals per game last season. Bearden’s Natalya Hodge was a finalist in Division I-4A, and CAK’s Maddie Braden was a finalist in Div. II-A. Having topped the 2,000-point mark in her career, Hodge averaged 25.7 points, 3.9 steals, 3.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists during her 2024-25 season. Meanwhile, Braden posted 19.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.7 steals and 2.2 assists per game during the 2024-25 season.

Bearden football saw quite a shakeup in February, as head coach Josh Jones was fired on Feb. 18. There was no official reason given for the move, though a state Comptroller report and investigation emerged regarding “deficiencies” in the Bearden

Booster Club shortly before Jones’ departure. Bearden brought former football coach and BHS alum Brad Taylor out of retirement to replace the departed Jones, who is now the assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach for Catholic.

Speaking of Catholic, the Irish saw a change in hoops leadership with longtime girls coach Travis Mains moving over to lead the Irish on the boys side. Mains previously had led the KCHS girls to five straight state tournaments, winning state titles in 2023 and 2024. His shift filled a void left by former Tennessee standout JaJuan Smith, as Smith and Catholic parted ways after one 21-win season.

Earlier in the year, FHS added to its staff in January with new assistant athletic director Whitney Lee. Lee played four years of college volleyball at Limestone University in South Carolina, and she teaches in the Farragut High School special education department. Notably, she also is a certified personal trainer, having taught physical education for 10 years in Florida, Myanmar and South Korea.

The early portion of the year also saw CAK standout Maddie Braden hit and surpass the 1,000-point mark in her career on Jan. 15.

A couple Farragut standouts managed to pin down some unique awards this season, too. Fellow Admirals KJ McNealy and Jaci Neubert each eclipsed the 1,000-point mark, as well, doing so just a week apart. McNealy hit that point on Jan. 28 while Neubert totaled four figures on Feb. 4.

Four days later, on Feb. 8, senior basketball manager Ethan Kern was awarded the inaugural Jack Tate Award, which is given to a student chosen by Farragut’s longtime assistant AD. The student who wins the award is said to hold qualities that also apply to Tate: dedication, loyalty, consistency, a positive attitude and is a highly valued member of the community. Later in the same night, Farragut senior guard Dominic Vanacker was recognized after becoming fourth all-time in scoring in Farragut basketball history. He also surpassed 1,500 career points and 500 career rebounds.

FHS also saw number of signings in February, with Kaitlyn Redwine (tennis, Maryville College), Landon Collins (football, MTSU), Robbie Jacobs (football, Tennessee Tech) and Caris Landis (rowing, Jacksonville University). Bearden saw 14 student-athlete sign National Letters of Intent: Evan Cope, baseball, Cleveland State Community College; Isaiah Whited, baseball, The University of Alabama-Huntsville; Olivia Hailey, bowling, Cumberland University; Millie Lovett, cross country and track, Georgia Southern University; Ethan Couvertiere, football, Dartmouth University; Isaiah Harvey, football, Wilmington College; William Pendergrass, football, Furman University; Reid Rowland, football, Emory & Henry College; Boston Yeager, football, Southern Virginia University; Bryce Harmon, golf, UT-Martin; Noah Price, soccer, Tennessee Wesleyan University; Cole Stopka, soccer, Carson-Newman University; Chloe Brown, volleyball, Pellissippi State Community College, and Makiyah Greenlee, volleyball, Johnson University. Feb. 5 signees from Webb School of Knoxville were Lennox Langham, beach volleyball, Florida State University; Jeneva Mitchell, softball, Miami University-Ohio, and Ella Morton, cheerleading, Carson-Newman University. National Letter of Intent signees that day from Christian Academy of Knoxville were Lincoln Rich, football, Maryville College; Amelia Wedemeyer, track & field, Lee University; and Graham Lloyd, cross country, Roane State Community College.

The Farragut area also saw a number of All-State hoops awards, amounting to 13 in total across the schools. One such selection was Bearden’s Leavell, who earned All-State in basketball after a third-place finish in wrestling. Lacrosse also started strong in the area this year with Farragut claiming a region title. Of their 11 wins last season, seven came by 10 points or more.

For Part II, see next Wednesday’s edition of farragutpress.