Hawks, Ads punch state XC tickets
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Hardin Valley’s Alexandra Vesser (9769) won her third-straight region title last Wednesday, Oct. 28, at Victor Ashe Park. HVA swept the team and individual results, clinching first in each category. - Jake Nichols
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Farragut’s Chase Temples (9749) finished second in the region championship race last Wednesday, Oct. 28, pacing a FHS team that will make its return to the state meet this weekend in Memphis. - Jake Nichols
Leaves crunched underfoot at Victor Ashe Park while fall foliage appeared in oranges and deep reds.
Yet even amidst those beautiful seasonal colors, shades of light and navy blue were most prominent in the TSSAA regional cross country championships Wednesday, Oct. 28.
Hardin Valley Academy swept the event, taking first place in individual and team results for the penultimate boys and girls races in the 2026 season.
Allie Vesser (18:50.88) claimed a third-straight region title for HVA, finishing a full 30 seconds ahead of teammates Ana Berkheimer (19:20.67) and Zarah Enbom (19:22.81), who finished second and third, respectively.
On the boys’ side, Aiden Rufi (15:57.02) led the Hawks in first place, finishing just ahead of Farragut’s Chase Temples (16:00.77).
As a whole, Farragut High School finished runner-up in and third place in team results for the girls and boys races, respectively, with Zoi LeCours (19:17.24) taking fourth in the girls individual portion to go along with Temples’ second-place finish.
In the girls’ race, FHS claimed a tiebreaker win over Oak Ridge since its sixth-place runner finished higher than the Wildcats’ counterpart.
“We were a little banged up on the girls’ side, missing one of our top runners, so we wanted to compete,” Admirals coach Garrett Jones said. “We were projected second and wanted to come home with that. Oak Ridge gave us a good battle; that’s a tough team. But really happy with how we ran there.
“For the boys, we wanted to get the individual win, and Chase ran about as best he could; really proud of him and the work he’s done. And the boys battled hard. West put up a pretty good performance today. But we will try again next week at state, and survive and advance is the name of the game. We punched our ticket and were competitive, so it was a good day for us.”
With the result, FHS advances to state for the 39th time in the boys program’s history and makes the 45th state appearance in the girls team’s annals.
The boys will be looking for their first team title since 2023 in their ninth straight state appearance, while the girls will hope for their first team championship since 1990 in their 14th straight state berth.
For Hardin Valley, this will mark the Hawks’ eighth-straight trip to state and their 16th appearance overall, while it will be the Lady Hawks’ 17th state berth and 17th appearance at the final TSSAA event of the season.
“This was a build-up to our state competition, so we wanted to be sharp here to be sharper next week,” HVA coach John Witsell said. “They’ve just got to bear down, be them and run like they do.”
To do that, Hardin Valley will rely on runners like Vesser, who cracked a smile as she completed her third consecutive region championship.
“It felt great,” she said last Wednesday. “I think this is the third year in a row where I’m a region champ for cross, and I’ve been running here since I was about five. It’s a good full-circle moment. We have state next week, so I wasn’t trying to go full effort. Just trying to help my teammates out, pacing them, and doing my own thing.”
For his Farragut teammates, Temples said the advice for state is simple: “We’ve been training hard and put in the work. The times will come if you just try to have fun.”
