Spring sports season ends with podium finishes, trophies
The girls lacrosse team ended its season in overtime to become state runner-up. Tennis players Carter Kojetin '29 finished as a state quarterfinalist, Sophie Oliver '26 and Mary Kate Adler '28 finished as state semifinalists, and Veer Kodali '29 and Max Parker '29 finished as state champions. Meanwhile, eight runners competed at the state track and field meet in Knoxville, where Griffin Davidson '27, Caleb Freifeld '28, Drew Zwerner '28, and Jack Fruin '27, sprinted to first in the 4x800m relay and Jack also placed first in the 800m dash.
Girls Lacrosse
Saturday, the Girls Lacrosse team headed to their final game of the season, the TSSAA DII-A State Championship versus Evangelical Christian School. Both teams traveled to Ravenwood HS to play, and USN fans came out in droves. Faculty, staff, students, and families filled the stands to cheer on the Tigers in the Championship for just the second time in school history, the first being 2025.
The game started with ECS taking the lead, but that didn’t last for long. Celeste Green, Sydney Lasher, Johnsie Dawkins, and Kenzie Burke all scored goals to tie the score up 4-4 halfway through the second period. The game was physical, intense, and the Tigers were not backing down from any challenge. We won some key draws and made quick passes down the field to continue our scoring streak, and Lyla Ross made the fifth goal to put the Tigers in the lead. After this, Aria Little scored with Elisabeth Crane quickly following with two back to back goals.
ECS was matching up, but USN continued to lead. Kenzie Burke scored another goal to lead 9-7, but ECS began to catch up. Johnsie Dawkins and Elisabeth Crane both scored two more goals, but at the end of the 4th period ECS tied up the game 11-11. The game went to overtime with the golden goal rule of the first team to score being the winner. We battled hard on defense, but with ECS winning the draw and gaining first possession, they broke through and scored the final goal, ending in a score of 12-11.
The Tigers ended their season as the 2026 DII-A Girls Lacrosse State Runners-Up for the second year in a row. They have had an incredible season, and we have no doubt that we’ll be cheering them on again in next year’s championship.
Tennis
The Girls & Boys tennis teams finished up their time at the State Tournament late last week. Sophie Oliver & Mary Kate Adler won their first doubles match 2-0 against Silverdale, sending them to the semifinal match. Thursday afternoon, Sophie & Mary Kate went on to play two tough sets against Trinity Christian. Though they fell 2-0, ending their time in the tournament, they finished strong as State Semifinalists.
On the boys side, Carter Kojetin began Thursday with a singles match versus a student from Providence Academy. He played two difficult sets resulting in a 2-0 loss, but gained great experience playing at a high level.
Max Parker & Veer Kodali won their first doubles match 2-0 against Northpoint Christian, leading them to an afternoon match versus Notre Dame. Both teams battled it out, but USN came out on top after winning the first set 6-0 and the second set 6-2. After getting some rest Thursday evening, Max and Veer headed to the DII-A Doubles championship on Friday morning. They had familiar opponents, facing two members of the Christian Academy of Knoxville team that the USN Boys team had defeated earlier in the week. CAK did not go easy on the Tigers- Max & Veer won the first set 6-4, but lost 3-6 in the second set, making the score 1-1. In an intense tie break set, Max and Veer left it all on the court to win the set 10-4 and the match 3-2, crowning them the TSSAA DII-A Boys Tennis Doubles State Champions. This is the first time that USN has held the title since 2014. What a season for the Tigers!
Track & Field
Eight athletes from the USN Track & Field team traveled to Knoxville on Wednesday to finish out their season at the TSSAA D-II A State Meet- Griffin Davidson, Jack Fruin, Binyam Dunne, Pera McMillian, Caleb Freifeld, Drew Zwerner, Braylin Davis, and Meade Kelley. Caleb Freifeld kicked things off at 8AM, running the 3200. He finished in 6th place with a time of 9:56.29. Afterwards, the field events began with Braylin Davis competing in the high jump after tying for first place at the Region Meet. He finished in 2nd place overall, with a max height of 6’2.
After a short break, long jump & triple jump began. Binyam Dunne jumped his farthest distance of 19-11 in his first attempt, earning him a 5th place spot on the podium. Pera McMillian then PR’ed his triple jump with a distance of 42-1, earning 5th place overall.
The rest of the running events began later in the day with the 4x800m relay. A typically strong event for USN, the state meet was no exception. Griffin Davidson kicked off the relay, immediately in the lead before handing the baton off to Caleb Freifeld. Caleb kept things steady when handing off to Drew Zwerner, who maintained the pace the team needed to stay on top. Finally, Drew passed the baton to the anchor Jack Fruin, who immediately took off, leaving a gap that didn’t allow any other team to catch up. The team finished in first place, earning the State Championship title with a time of 8:13.09.
With only a couple events left for USN, Binyam Dunne took to the track to run the 400m dash. With just .06 seconds separating 3rd and 4th place, Binyam edged out the competition to place 3rd overall with a time of 50.344 seconds.
After a long weather delay, the Tigers had their last event of the night- the 800m. Jack Fruin has been crushing this event all year, so he was a clear favorite for the win. He put his all into the race and came out on top as the 1st place DII-A Boys 800m State Champion with a time of 1:56.99.
The Track & Field team’s hard work and efforts have paid off and there has been so much improvement for all athletes. What an amazing end to the season for the Tigers!
More USN News
List of 3 news stories.
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Spring sports season ends with podium finishes, trophies
The girls lacrosse team ended its season in overtime to become state runner-up. Tennis players Carter Kojetin '29 finished as a state quarterfinalist, Sophie Oliver '26 and Mary Kate Adler '28 finished as state semifinalists, and Veer Kodali '29 and Max Parker '29 finished as state champions. Meanwhile, eight runners competed at the state track and field meet in Knoxville, where Griffin Davidson '27, Caleb Freifeld '28, Drew Zwerner '28, and Jack Fruin '27, sprinted to first in the 4x800m relay and Jack also placed first in the 800m dash.Read More -
USN creates the Juliet Douglas Endowed Fund for Student Success
For the entire USN community: an invitation to give in gratitude, in celebration, and in honor of the woman who has given so much to our school. Make a gift at usn.org/giving to support students with needs beyond tuition and honor Interim Director Juliet Douglas.Read More -
Middle School Quiz Bowl competes at national championship
The Middle School Quiz Bowl finished off another successful season with a trip to the Middle School National Championship Tournament in Chicago. The team fought hard and ended the season as a top-100 program in the country, finishing 75th overall. Congratulations to the team on a great performance and to Lucas Lupu ’31, named an All Star for being the fifth-highest scorer nationwide.Read More
Contact
Edgehill Campus
2000 Edgehill Ave.
Nashville, TN 37212
Phone: 615-321-8000
Fax: 615-321-0889
Email: info@usn.org
River Campus
1200 County Hospital Road
Nashville, TN 37218
2000 Edgehill Ave.
Nashville, TN 37212
Phone: 615-321-8000
Fax: 615-321-0889
Email: info@usn.org
River Campus
1200 County Hospital Road
Nashville, TN 37218
USN Mission:
University School of Nashville models the best educational practices. In an environment that represents the cultural and ethnic composition of Metropolitan Nashville, USN fosters each student’s intellectual, artistic, and athletic potential, valuing and inspiring integrity, creative expression, a love of learning, and the pursuit of excellence.
University School of Nashville models the best educational practices. In an environment that represents the cultural and ethnic composition of Metropolitan Nashville, USN fosters each student’s intellectual, artistic, and athletic potential, valuing and inspiring integrity, creative expression, a love of learning, and the pursuit of excellence.