HS Athletics recap: August 22-28

As the sun went down Saturday night, things were just beginning to heat up at Sanders Ferry Park as the 2026 Chick-Fil-A Saturday Light Fever races got underway! 

 

Competition kicked off with the girls and boys JV races where there was tremendous effort across the board.

 

The girls were off first with five freshmen and two seniors towing the line - all first-time 5kers accept return runner Billie '27. Lena '30 led the way, followed by Julia '30, Charlotte '30, Olive '30 and Liliane '30 who ran side by side to the very end, Kumi '30, and Billie '30 with a massive 5+ minute PR!

 

On the boys' side, the first five finishers were all freshmen or sophomores, led by Oren ‘29 and Abe ‘29. Kudos to first-time High School 5kers: Ram ‘30, Wyatt ‘30, Aayen ‘29, and Lucas ‘27.​ Both JV teams placed 12th in a large team scoring field. 

 

As darkness settled in, it was time for the varsity races to begin.

 

​The girls varsity field went out fast and furious, as to be expected with a field of 284 girls, including powerhouse schools from the large school division. Fresh off the SAT, Madeleine ‘27 found her familiar spot at the front of the Tiger pack, leading her team from start to finish. Our next six finishers came across in three closely matched duos - veteran Jackie '27 followed closely by first time 5ker Penny '28, then newcomer Charlotte '28 and current Chicago Marathon training extraordinaire Norah '27, and senior Adelaide '27 and Sydney '29 (in at least one borrowed shoe)! These three dynamic duos stayed within each other's sights throughout the race and proved to be the perfect push each one needed. Rounding out our varsity top 10 for the night were Lucy '30, Ella '29, and Greenlee '29. Extra shout out to Lucy for her incredible effort and courage to race in a fast varsity field as a freshman! The girls placed 18th out of 32 scoring teams with a top 5 average time of 23:15.

The boys varsity was the last race of the night and featured ​307 runners, including the top 2 ranked teams in the State in the large public school division. The boys squeezed into a starting box right next to one of those teams, undeterred by their ranking and their dismissive behaviors. Within a mile, Griffin ‘27 and Drew ‘28 were already in the top 10, with Caleb F. ‘28 and Jack ‘27 not far behind. As the race went on, the “fab four” continued to move up, with a supporting case of James ‘28, Caleb ‘28, and Ike ‘30 running together as the rest of our top 7. Griffin ended in 4th place with the second-fastest time in USN history. Drew finished in 8th place, just 10 seconds behind. Caleb F. also ran a PR and Jack gave a strong performance after a morning spent taking the SAT. Ike would emerge as our fifth runner, closing out our team score in 4th out of 35 teams. Tyler ‘30, Meade ‘29, and Elliott ‘29 all ran well as part of our ten-runner varsity. The top 5 posted the fastest average in USN history​, 16:46.

 

​The evening ended with a rather large glow stick and glitter filled disco rave on the field of the finish line. Almost zero fun was had. 

 

​You can visit the race website on MileSplit for complete meet results along with fantastic photo coverage of the meet. We’ll get back to work and race again in a few weeks at the Chickasaw Trails meet in Alabama.

On Monday, the Tigers took to the course to play against Nashville Christian School. The lowest scorer for USN across all the matches thus far is Gil Jones, who shot 40 at Greystone on Monday. In the end, the team lost 178-166 to NCS. Their Wednesday match was canceled due to weather. The golf team will compete again on September 8 against Donelson Christian Academy.

 

Donelson Christian Academy Wildcats football started off the year with an impressive road win over Tipton- Rosemark Academy, and USN junior Eli Whelan scored a touchdown on a screen pass over the middle. They will be at home against Jackson Christian School on Friday, August 28.

The HS Volleyball team played their first games at home on Tuesday, August 25 during Spirit Night. While festivities like custom T-shirt making, friendship bracelets, and enjoying Daddy’s Dogs were in full swing, JV took the court at 4:30 p.m. to play a dominant match against Davidson Academy. USN had an early lead and kept it up through the first set, winning against DA. In the second set, the Tigers came out just as competitive to pull off a clean sweep and win the match 2-0. 

Varsity began their game in high spirits at 5:45 p.m. after an exciting JV win. The stands were packed, the student section was cheering loudly with encouraging signs, and our athletes felt the good vibes when they began serving. Sarah Ajang ‘29 and Flora Li ‘27 crushed it on the court, spiking balls and earning several points for the team. The Tigers took the win in the first set, and continued their success into an even closer second set. While the third set was often neck and neck, Davidson and USN alternating the lead, the Tigers pulled off the win for a 3-0 sweep. Way to go, Tigers!