Duncanson, Vesser claim KIL titles
Yet out of all the competitors in the Knoxville Interscholastic League (KIL) championship meet on Saturday, Oct. 17, only two runners finished at the top in their respective categories.
Knoxville Catholic’s Cade Duncanson timed out at 15:24 on the course at Sequoyah Hills Park, leading an Irish team that took first overall with Hardin Valley Academy in second, Farragut in fourth and Christian Academy of Knoxville in fifth with Webb School of Knoxville in seventh.
Duncanson’s finish was followed by that of Catholic teammate Reid Bannister (15:41.2), two of four Irish runners to finish in the top seven. HVA’s Stephen Bell (15:50.2) and Aiden Rufi (16:02.7) were the Hawks’ top two finishers in third and sixth, respectively, with Farragut’s Chase Temples (16:07.2) in eighth overall.
On the girls side, HVA’s Alexandra Vesser finished first at 18:15.7, followed by CAK’s Sophie Lee (18:27.2) and Hardin Valley’s Zarah Enbom (18:40). Farragut’s Zoi LeCours (19:09.5) took ninth overall.
Vesser led a Lady Hawks program which finished first to beat out Catholic (second), CAK (third) and Farragut (fourth) with Bearden in sixth.
While both top runners were proud of their finishes, they reflected even more on the team-wide first-place results.
“Yeah, it feels awesome,” Duncanson said. “That was the game plan from the start, blasting from the start and holding on. It’s something we’ve been working for all season, and it was great to turn around and see my teammates coming down because that was the main goal today.”
“I’ve been running here in Knoxville since fourth grade, and we do workouts and runs here overall so I’m super familiar with it,” he added. “Last year we had a heartbreak getting a loss here, but the main goal was racing smart. Not going out super fast and die like we did last year, so everyone just stuck together and raced as a team.”
Vesser reflected similarly, calling this win — her first in this race — “a long time coming.”
“It definitely felt really great,” she said. “I have always been behind such talented upperclassmen, and this year, it was something I knew I wanted to go get. Today was mostly a team thing, and we’ve been looking forward to building that momentum toward state. It was a really mental race for me, but I’m glad I stuck it through for the team. To win here in Knoxville and have this team with me, it’s something to cherish for this last year.”
