Catholic's Keegan Smith again named Tennessee Gatorade Boys Cross Country Player of the Year

Gatorade has named Knoxville Catholic’s Keegan Smith the 2022-23 Tennessee Boys Cross Country Player of the Year.

Smith, a sophomore, won the award for the second straight season. He is the second runner from Catholic to earn this honor. Jake Renfree was selected for the 2018-19 season.

Smith was the Knox News Boys cross country runner of the year last season and is on the All-PrepXtra high school boys team this year.

The 5-foot-8, 117-pound sophomore placed fourth at the Division II-AA state championship, clocking a time of 15 minutes, 31.78 seconds to lead Catholic to a fourth-place team finish. He was also the state’s top performer at the Champs Sports Southeast Regionals, where he finished 13th with a time of 15:20.8.

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Smith was the fastest Tennessean in the Saturday Light Fever Invitational Gold Varsity race this past season, finishing with a personal-best time of 14:53.6 over 5K to take second place. 

“A 19-time national champion at the age-group level, Keegan Smith has continued his excellence on the prep scene,” said PrepCalTrack editor Rich Gonzalez in a Gatorade news release. “Winning his second Gatorade Player of the Year award as a sophomore speaks volumes about his work ethic. His showing at Saturday Light Fever was a season highlight, but he then delivered an impressive top-15 finish at the Champs Sports Southeast Regionals.”