MEMPHIS – On Friday afternoon on the opposite end of state Trey Bailey made sure the last time he laced up his running shoes for the Greeneville cross country team would be a special race.
The Greene Devil senior ran his fastest race ever, and he needed every second to capture the Class AA State Championship for the second year in a row.
“I knew coming in that I wanted to win the state title again. It means so much to win this,” Bailey said. “This started in June after the state track meet. It’s been a lot of sweat and long hours running in the summer heat. For it to finally pay off feels amazing. To have this kind of race while wearing this jersey for the last time means a lot.”
Bailey knew going into Friday’s state championship meet that all eyes were on him and every runner in the field was going to do their best to stay on his heels. Avery Young of Montgomery Central was up to the task and stayed within an arm’s length of the leader until the very end.
By the midway point it was a two-man race, but it was not until the final the 500 meters when Bailey turned on the burners that he found a way to separate. In his repeat effort Bailey sprinted down the home stretch and won the state championship by seven seconds.
“Last year I had a taste of it as the top returner, but when you come in as the defending state champion you have that pressure to keep being the guy,” Bailey said. “Avery Young is a phenomenal runner and I knew he was on me the whole way. I knew it was going to come down to the line. With about 800 meters to go someone yelled at the kid behind me ‘You’re stronger than him’. In my head I said, ‘no he’s not’. I believed in myself and gunned it. I knew I worked hard to get here. I wanted to make my coaches and teammates proud, and I’m really happy I did that.”
The Greeneville senior crossed the finish line of the five-kilometer course in 14:54.8, his fastest run ever and the first time he has ever crossed the 15-minute barrier.
“The secondary goal was to run sub 15 minutes for the first time. I came in and ran a great race, to get that done” Bailey said. “At the halfway point I was on pace, and to reach that goal felt phenomenal. Honestly I have to credit (Young), if I didn’t feel him on my tail I would not have run that fast.”
To Young’s credit his time of 15:01.38 would have been good enough to win three of the five state championship races that took place on Thursday and Friday at Shelby Farms Park in Memphis. The only time better than Bailey’s came from Andrew Beroset of McCallie who won the Division II-AA title in 14:45.57.
Friday’s was Bailey’s fourth overall individual state championship. in addition to last years’s cross country title, Bailey has won the 3,200 meters during track season in 2025 and 2026.
Led by Bailey’s first place finish the eighth-seeded Greeneville boys finished in fifth place as a team. Jules Richard was 19th in 16:53.65, Grant Tunnell placed 68th in 17:58.83, Mason Boatman was 93rd in 18:43.11, and Jesse Reneau was 112th in 19:03.45.
The Devils finished ahead of Volunteer (10) and Unicoi County (7) who beat them last week in the sectional race.
“We ran well today. The goal was top five, but we knew that was a reach. We did it and that is a good day for us,” Greeneville coach Larry Blalock said. “We have the individual champion and four guys ran PRs. They did what we came here to do. We beat both teams that beat us last week, and that’s awesome. I can’t ask for anything else.”
Bailey was not the only Greene Devil to finish on the medal stand on Friday. In the Class AA girls race freshman Maggie Moore stayed with the lead pack and earned an eighth-place finish, turning in a time of 19:26.66.
Ashlynn Ranly was 46th in 21:48.07, Bethany Knight came in 82nd in 23;08.65, Leigha DeAngelis was 117th in 24:35.96 and Willow Aiken was 150th in 26:33.69.
The Greeneville girls finished 11th out of 24 teams
South Greene also had a pair of state medalist on Friday in the Class A race.
Chelsea Metcalf ran the best race in Lady Rebels’ history to earn a sixth-place finish. Her time of 19:57.74 broke Cheyenne Upton’s school record.
“I’m really proud of Chelsea. She got under 20 minutes, which is a big deal. That was an unreal race. She has worked to so hard and it was nice to see her run well on this stage,” South Greene coach Joe Case said.
After finishing in sixth place as a sophomore Case is excited about what the future could hold for his top runner.
“She can run in the 18s before she leaves here if she can stay healthy. She has the work ethic to do that. And if we can keep this group together, they are good enough to finish top three as a team down here,” Case said.
The Lady Rebels came in 10th place as a team. Ava Leasure was 43rd in 23:23.87, Kinzlee Darnell was 66th in 25:44.16, Riley Walters was 80th and Aubrii Gregg 103rd.
In the Class A boys race South Greene senior Noah Case finished in 13th place with a time of 17:09.76.
“Noah ran great. That first mile was a really fast pace, and he was top seven at the halfway point,” coach Case said. He was throwing up the last 200 meters and got passed by a couple of guys. But he ran his second-best time of the season, and you can’t be upset with that. He ran his guts out. He has worked really hard to get better and to get to this point.”
West Greene’s Julian Greenlee finished 38th in a personal best time of 18:12.55
Declan Murphy of University High, Nashville won the Class A boys state championship in 15:52.44. Gatlinburg-Pittman won the Class A boys team championship.
Holden McDaniel of Dresden won the Class A girls individual state title in 18:59.19. University School, Johnson City won the Class A girls team championship.
Chaiti Ainapure of Liberty Creek won the Class AA girls individual state championship in 18:49.81. Signal Mountain captured its fifth straight Class AA team state championship.
Murfreesboro Central Magnet won the boys Class AA team championship.
