Sports
October 14, 2026 by Jake Nichols
On Saturday, Oct. 3, the Farragut Intermediate and Middle School cross country teams put together top finishes at the Knoxville area regional cross country championships.
The Farragut Intermediate girls won the elementary title for the second consecutive year, as the Lady Admirals’ top five runners took home awards for top-40 finishes. The Farragut Middle School boys won the middle school title with their girls team taking third overall.
Also, the Farragut Intermediate boys team saw two state qualifiers in Robert Dunehew, who finished fifth overall, and Nicholas Pacitti, who took 43rd.
With the state championship meet set for Saturday, Oct. 24, at Victor Ashe Park, both teams’ coaches detailed how their programs reached this point.
“Coming into the race, to be honest, the way we trained all year — it’s been so hot,” Farragut Middle School cross country coach Kevin McDonnell said. “And every day after school, these kids would show up with atrocious heat indexes, ready to push themselves. And breaking down the pain of a race into those bite-sized chunks helps you become battle-tested, like you’ve done that 100 times. The key to running is getting comfortable with being uncomfortable.”
“The people we raced, it’s basically the same 500 kids every week,” he added. “On the girls side, it’s Hardin Valley and West Valley, and on the boys side, it’s been the (homeschool team) Knoxville Ambassadors. It’s been a dogfight with them all year, and the boys just barely beat them at regions. We’re pushing each other as a team and as a region, too.”
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October 14, 2026 by Jake Nichols
In his tenure as the golf coach at Christian Academy of Knoxville, Donnie Cooper has seen a lot of wins.
None of them have been as impressive as what occurred Tuesday, Oct. 6, at Sevierville Golf Club.
Despite trailing by as many as 11 strokes, the Warriors rallied past First Baptist Academy for their first Division II-A team title since 2022. CAK posted a two-day total of 25-over 601 to defeat Jackson Christian School (606) and FBA (608).
“I’ve been lucky enough to win a few, and I’ve never won one like this,” Cooper said. “This team, they did not look like they were going to win.”
So furious was the comeback that Cooper did not witness the core surge since he had gone to check on the CAK girls’ participants.
“I was with the boys for the front nine and was close to the tunnel going toward the girls on the back,” Cooper said. “When I went to see the girls, we were somewhere in the neighborhood of eight or nine shots back.
“I looked down, and we were four back. I wanted to get over for a par three at the end and bolted back to the River Course, and by that time, we were one shot ahead.”
Tyler Stafford finished with a 2-over 74 to lead CAK while Aiden Cooper shot a team-best 71 for CAK as part of 11 birdies for the team on the back nine.
“They were in fourth place with nine holes left, then won by five or six,” Cooper said. “They’re just a really resilient bunch. Even in the region, we were not playing well and we had to play well to even make it and did.
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October 14, 2026 by Jake Nichols
On Tuesday, Oct. 13, the Farragut Lady Admirals took on the Bearden Lady Bulldogs in the region semifinals.
The match results were unavailable by press time. But three days
before that, the Lady Admirals took down Maryville 1-0 in the region quarterfinals to reach this point in the 2026 campaign.
Sophomore Meghan Shimeall found the back of the net in the fourth minute of the contest, putting Farragut in a lead it would not relinquish in the next 76 minutes.
“Shim, she’s all heart and passion,” Farragut coach Jessica Burkhart said of Shimeall. “That kid is small but mighty. She works her butt off to create something and stay busy and cause chaos around the ball, and she continues to grow as a player and work as hard as she can work.”
“She pushes the ball, will try to run anything down. Defensively, she gets back. We ask her to play end line to end line, and that’s been her biggest attribute, that she can do that. She doesn’t ever stop and has an engine that keeps going.”
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October 14, 2026 by Jake Nichols
Heidi Allen — formerly De La Rocha — has seen plenty of successful gymnasts through her years owning Heidi’s Gymnastics - Philippians 4:13.
In August, that success continued at the 2026 AAU Junior Olympics in Des Moines, Iowa, Tuesday, Aug. 4, through Friday, Aug. 7.
Allen’s gym sent eight gymnasts to the event. Incredibly, six advanced to event finals, which requires finishing in the top four for each event.
Ariyah Smith earned bronze all-around champion in her respective level as she also was a named All-American and won the vault title with a 9.9. Ultimately, she claimed the highest all-around score out of competitors in the bronze division.
In the silver division, Saniya Gaikwad was the all-around champion both days in a row. She earned two perfect 10s on uneven bars and posted two 9.9s on beam.
Moreover, she advanced to the finals in two events, “which is very difficult since you have to place in the top four on an event,” Allen said.
Autumn Mahoney was an all-around champion on her day, capturing the balance beam title, and Ayslyn McCreight was second all-around and won uneven bars and floor. She advanced to the bar finals with a 9.9.
“Consistency and beautiful technique really stood out in our athletes’ performances,” Allen said. “Technique is the foundation of gymnastics. It’s much like a tree — without strong roots, it can’t grow into all that it’s capable of becoming. You could really see the results of the girls’ technique training in the way they competed, and it showed in their success.
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October 14, 2026 by Bill Howard, Correspondent
In the Region 2, District 4-AAA volleyball tournament last week, Farragut High School didn’t make the championship match, and therefore didn’t advance to the regional tournament.
But the Lady Admirals made their presence felt and set the stage for what might well be a strong season next year.
As reported last week, FHS lost in four sets to rival Hardin Valley Academy in the first round. In the second round on Tuesday night at West High School, the fifth-seeded Lady Admirals defeated eighth-seeded Lenoir City 3-0, setting up an elimination match against third-seeded West, who had lost to William Blount.
In their regular-season match, the Lady Rebels swept FHS 3-0 on Thursday, Sept. 10. Oh, how sweet revenge can be.
Last Wednesday, Oct. 7, at Lenoir City High School, the Lady Admirals beat West 3-2 and kept their postseason hopes alive. After dropping the first set 25-23, FHS won the next two by scores of 25-17 and 25-16. The fourth set went to WHS 25-16, leading to a do-or-die fifth set.
At 10-all, Farragut promptly took five of the last six points to win the set 15-11, and close out the match.
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October 14, 2026 by Jake Nichols
In the spring of 2026, the Farragut girls flag football team finished one win shy of its first ever state tournament appearance.
In 2027, the Lady Admirals appear intent on changing that — at least if the preseason work is any indication.
On Wednesday, Sept. 30, third-year head coach G.W. Curtin patrolled Eddie Courtney Stadium in the team’s “Blue and White Game” ahead of the 2027 campaign.
The white team won 15-0, courtesy of scores by returner Kambree Fontenot and newcomer Heidi Remensperger, while the blue team saw three interceptions on the afternoon.
Beyond the matchup itself, though, it was the sideline additions that stood out most.
New coaches instructed equally new players while Curtin oversaw the action for a program that is looking to expand on what has been done thus far.
“We’re taking it seriously, because we’ve got girls with scholarship offers already on this team,” Curtin said, “Colleges are bubbling, so we want to match that. We’re the largest school in our region, so we should be at the forefront of our region in getting girls looked at by colleges, having film, having a full staff. I think it’s the right step.”
The first aspect of that step comes in roster additions, and Farragut has that covered with more than 40 girls set to take the field in the spring.
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