OAK RIDGE – Despite cold rain and muddy conditions Wednesday was a good day for Greene County runners at the Class A Section 1 Cross Country Meet.
At The Mounds in Oak Ridge the South Greene boys finished in fourth place as a team to earn a trip to next week’s Class A State Championship Meet in Memphis, and in the girls race three local athletes earned individual spots in the state meet.
“Our teams ran great today. They have improved all year long,” South Greene coach Joe Case said. “One of the goals for our boys team all year has been to qualify for state, and they pushed all year to reach this point. I’m really excited for our kids, and I’m really excited that we’ll have them all back next year.”
The South Greene boys were led by Noah Case who finished in 13th place to earn All-Section honors. He ran the five-kilometer course in 19:13.79. Jayden Laycek placed 18th in 19:34.30, Gabriel McKinney was 31st in 20:50.79, Andrew Lacey was 35th in 21:04.04, and Aiden Hawk was 48th in 22:39.8.
As a team the Rebels finished with 118 points, 12 points ahead of fifth place Chattanooga School of Liberal Arts. They qualified for the state meet as a team for only the second time in program history, the previous time coming in 2020.
“Noah and Jayden did a great job of finishing. They fought at the end to get to the top. Then Andrew has been sick for a couple of weeks but he ran a great race. I’m proud of all of these kids. This group has been together for a long time, since middle school, and it’s great to see them set that goal and achieve it together.”
University High earned the section championship with 22 points. Gatlinburg-Pittman (54) was second and Chattanooga School for Arts and Science (77) was third.
Happy Valley’s Jackson Smith won the individual section championship in a time of 17:01.56. Brody Pratt of Polk County, Jeter Ruehling of Grundy County, Gabriel Hodges of Sale Creek and Jax Rowe of Ivy Academy earned individual spots in the state meet.
West Greene’s top finisher was Jacob Morris who placed 26th in 19:55.79. Dakota Cassidy was 79th.
In the girls race, cold, rain and a slippery track was no problem for South Greene’s Chelsea Metcalf and Ava Leasure as they turned personal best times while qualifying for state.
Metcalf finished seventh overall to earn All-Section honors with a time of 22:29.83. Leasure placed 17th in 24:10.33.
“Chelsea and Ava were both on a mission today. They both PR’d today, which is pretty remarkable considering the conditions,” Case said. “You had kids slipping and sliding all over the place today. They ran amazing. Ava beat her best mark by over 40 seconds. I’m really excited that they get to go to state next week.”
West Greene freshman Ella Norris also earned a trip to state with a 20th place finish. She ran the 5K course in 24:34.33.
University High ran away with the girls team championship, claiming five of the top six spots on the podium for 20 points. Chattanooga School for Liberal Arts (66) was second, Chattanooga School for Arts and Sciences (69) was third, and Gatlinburg-Pittman (103) was fourth.
South Greene just missed out on advancing to state as a team and came in fifth place with 114 points. Riley Walters was 31st, Mackenzie Johnson 36th and Barbera Costa-Santos 44th.
West Greene was sixth as a team with 142 points. Clair Crews was 24th in 25:38.57, Sarai Galarza was 41st, Natalie Beeler 42nd and Prisila Vance 45th.
Kyrianna Aiello of Washburn (8th), and Addison Perkins of Jellico (10th) also earned individual spots in the state meet.
The Class A State Championship will take place at Shelby Farm Park in Memphis on Thursday, November 6. The Class A boys race will begin at 11:30 a.m. central time and the girls will run at 12:20 p.m. central time.
South Greene’s cross country runners had a successful day at sectionals as the boys qualified for the State Championship Meet for only the second time in school history and two girls qualified individually. Coach Joe Case spoke about how happy he was with today’s performances pic.twitter.com/kaXJEXfbEN
— GreeneSportsZone (@GSportsZone) October 30, 2025
