After winning the Division II Class AA state championship in the spring, awards for the McCallie soccer team have continued to roll in throughout the summer.
Most recently, Will McGregor and Drew Viscomi were named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America’s High School Scholar All-America Team.
McGregor, who finished his high school career with a 3.99 grade point average, and Viscomi, who held a 3.97 GPA, were among the 38 players from across the country to be honored.
"We're really proud of the culture these guys, and the those who came before them, have established,” McCallie coach Chris Cushenbery said. “They work hard on the field and in the classroom, and this season they really reaped the rewards."
This fall McGregor will be attending the University of North Carolina as a recipient of the school’s prestigious Morehead-Cain scholarship, while Viscomi is one of four seniors from the Blue Tornado championship team who committed to play college soccer.
Noah Cingilli, whose heroics in the state tournament helped McCallie secure its title, will play soccer at Berry College this fall, along with teammate Emerson Brock. Harrison Swank will be continuing his career at Bowdoin College. Viscomi, who capped a stellar high school career with numerous state and national honors, will play for Northwestern University.
Viscomi was honored as the Gatorade Player of the Year for Tennessee, was named All-America by three different organizations (USA Today, NSCAA and Top Drawer Soccer), and was one of seven finalists for the USA Today National Player of the Year award.
“Drew had a terrific season,” Cushenbery said. “It’s almost overwhelming. I'm just so proud of him and the effort he's put in to become great. He's improved year after year because he continues to push himself and challenge himself to be better. And to succeed at that level while also volunteering and earning A's shows what he's about.”
Viscomi finished his senior season with 36 goals and 12 assists, but even more important to the Blue Tornado was its final record of 14-1-4. McCallie had five first-team all-state players helping achieve that mark, as Thomas Priest, Ben Brock and Jonah Bryan joined Viscomi and McGregor, along with Eemeli Makela from Baylor, on the coaches’ team. Priest and Brock became the eighth and ninth different players from McCallie to earn all-state honors in the past three seasons.
“As good as Drew was, it was the depth of this team that carried us to the championship,” said Cushenbery, who was also named the NSCAA Coach of the Year for Tennessee private/parochial schools. “Having five guys earn first team All-State honors in the coaches poll is outstanding. It's a testament to how hard every guy works every year. Thomas Priest and Ben Brock won that honor for the first time this year after serving as captains for the Chattanooga Football Club Academy '99 team that won a club state title last fall. It's no surprise that they had great seasons.”
Other accolades for the Blue Tornado include Priest, Brock, Bryan, Viscomi and McGregor’s selection to the Top Drawer All-State team for Tennessee and Georgia. Other local players selected to that team include Dalton’s Jose Boyzo, Domingo Granados and Omar Hernandez, Northwest Whitfield’s Nicolas Infante and Enzo Lavecchia and Leonel Lugo of Southeast Whitfield.
Bryan, McGregor and Viscomi joined Hernandez and Lugo on the Top Drawer All-Region team, and Lugo was named 2nd Team All-American.
(E-mail Jaime Barrett at jaimenbarrett@gmail.com)