XC boys earn consecutive state champion title, girls place 3rd
The boys cross country team won its sixth team state championship in program history and repeated last year’s title. This win is the harriers' third title in four years.
By George Flatau, Cross Country Coach and Josh Scouten, Athletics Director
The 2022 cross country teams concluded their season in fine fashion Friday, November 4 at the state championships.
Led by three All-State runners in Austin Cason '23 (3rd), Ryder Ortner '26 (6th), and Jack Fruin '27 (12th), and then the team’s depth showed, as Elijah McKnight '23, Eli Galentino '24, Clay Payne '25, and Frederick Rudolph '23 all finished within 25 seconds of each other — in positions that no other team could come close to matching. That grew the slim lead through three runners into a 30-pt blowout, earning the boys the state championship.
The girls’ team placed third, finishing one spot above their seed and were led by the All-State efforts of Auldyn Plant '23 (3rd) and Liv O’Hara '25 (13th), then used a host of personal records by Morgan McAteer '26, Grace Boero '24, and Olivia Hess '24 to run above their pre-race seed and conclude the team’s scoring, while Chloe Cmelak '24 and Cléo Gauthier '24 ran fine races in the important 6-7 spots.
Meaningfully, the support from administrators and more than 40 students on the spirit bus undoubtedly made a huge difference in the runners’ performances. And we very much appreciate your support of both the runners and their cheering squad.
Congratulations to our cross country teams as they wrapped up their seasons at the state championship in Memphis and to the boys bowling team for defeating Ensworth.
This tour of beautiful fall leaves is part of USN Evening Classes, a series of adult classes open to the Nashville community with proceeds benefiting the school's K-12 need-based scholarship endowment.
HS English Teacher Michael Hansen was recently recognized by the National Association of Independent Schools for a new initiative that uses video game storytelling to help students engage in literary analysis.
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