Cross country roundup: Brentwood Academy boys win fifth straight title with near perfect score

NASHVILLE - Brentwood Academy nearly pulled off a perfect score in racking up its fifth consecutive Division II-AA boys title on Saturday at Percy Warner Park in the TSSAA Cross Country State Championships.

BA won with 17 points, having runners finish first, second, third, fourth and seventh overall. A perfect score is 15.

Matthew Porter won in 16:00.63. Matthew McMillan was second in 16:26.57.

"This is something I've strived to do," said Porter, who finished runner-up a year ago.

Brentwood Academy's girls completed the DII-AA team sweep, winning with 32 points — 26 better than second-place Harpeth Hall. BA's Coco Holliday won in 19:45.82. Teammate Kylie Wittman was second in 19:52.89.

Division II-A

Knoxville Webb's Niki Narayani finally got her individual championship and the Lady Spartans won their seventh straight state title.

Narayani won in 18:20.43 for her first state title after finishing runner-up her eighth-grade year through her junior year.

"It was really exciting to get the win, but more exciting to get it as a team," Narayani said. "It was really important for us."

Webb finished with 31 points. St. George's was second with 98 points. 

It was the Lady Gryphons' highest girls cross country finish.

"We've been growing and getting people to come out that never thought they could run," said St. George's coach Mark Newman, whose daughter Allison Newman finished runner-up in 18:56.59. "We knew Webb had it locked up. We did everything we could to finish second."

Franklin Road Academy's Andrew Cox won the boys race in 16:24.74 to edge University School of Nashville's Nick Sieders (16:38.52). USN finished runner-up to Chattanooga Christian. CCS won with 61 points. USN was second with 68.

Division I Large School

Siegel won its second consecutive boys title with 73 points — 72 points better than second-place Bartlett. 

"As a team, we changed a little bit with some new runners," said Siegel's Canaan Anderson, who was 10th overall. "It means a lot to do this again."

Knoxville Catholic's Jake Renfree won the meet in 15:25.58. Beech's David Ahlmeyer was second in 15:40.85.

On the girls side, two-time state champion Sasha Neglia of Dobyns-Bennett was disqualified after winning her third title. Neglia and eventual champion Jenna Hutchins of Science Hill both went off course in the final half-mile when they ran inside a pine tree heading up the hill to the finish line as fans crowded the course at the final turn.

However, Hutchins corrected herself and went back around the tree to win in 17:37.01. Cookeville's Landri Wilcox was second in 18:05.57.

Knoxville West won the girls title with 130 points by 25 points over runner-up Farragut.

Division I Small School

Dresden's Loral Wynn won her first state title in the girls race, winning in 19:37.02 in her final high school race. Wynn finished runner-up to former teammate Anna Johnson last season.

"The last three years I've come here and not had a great race," said Wynn, an Ole Miss commitment. "It's been mentally challenging block. I relaxed this year."

Signal Mountain's Mattie Parker was second in 19:53.66 to help lead the team to the girls team title with 44 points.

On the boys side, Gatlinburg Pittman's Emerson Fulton won in 16:41.02. University School of Johnson City won the boys title with 79 points.

Reach Tom Kreager at 615-259-8089 or tkreager@tennessean.com and on Twitter @Kreager.