After finishing second in her region and qualifying for state, Loudon's Bre Snow was able to post a 10th place finish in the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association's cross country state championship Saturday at Nashville's Percy Warner Park Steeplechase Course.

The junior finished with a time of 21:07.18 in her first trip to state.

"I was happy, but I thought I could have done better," Snow said. "I was top six the whole time and at the end I just, I don't know. I'm glad I got top 10 though."

Loudon coach Joseph DeWan said he was happy with his runner's performance and proud of what it means for the program.

"She is the first runner from Loudon to place in the top 15 runners at state for A-AA," he said. "Not only did she set a record for herself, she also set a record for the school."

Snow did not run as a freshman and said she plans to push for a better performance in the future.
"I think if I would have started as a freshman I probably would have done a lot better this year," she said. "Next year I'm going for top five, hopefully win it all."

She now turns her attention toward basketball, where she is expected to put in substantial minutes at the guard position. She also runs track in the spring.

Loudon also qualified Mark Rupinski, a junior, as an individual on the boys' side and ran Raina Neif, Sydney Talnagi and Kellie Peyton as members of the girls' team, which finished third in the region.
Rupinski ran a time of 20:02.87, finishing in the middle of the field. Neif ran a 28:07.87, Talnagi a 28:31.73 and Peyton a 30:29.23. None of Loudon's five state runners are seniors, which creates optimism for the future of running at the high school.

"They had a great showing for Loudon," DeWan said. "I am hoping that with this season's performance it will continue to generate interest and keep growing my program."

Lenoir City also sent two runners, sophomore Haley Morris and senior Nathan Jones.

Jones finished 29th with a time of 17:17.92, and Morris finished 58th with a time of 21:42.5.

Lenoir City coach Jeff Kuhl was happy with his runners results overall, saying he felt a rise in temperature at race time played a factor, a notion Snow also said could have made some impact.

"Haley probably misjudged the start a little," Kuhl said. "In some sports, you can overcome a bad play or stretch where momentum is going against you. In running 5K, if you are not feeling right at the mile the rest of the race is probably going to be a long day."

Jones finished below his goal for state, but Kuhl said he is proud of his senior.

"Nathan Jones has lead Lenoir City distance running to a new level," Kuhl said. "I am looking forward to seeing him continue to improve this year in track and as he runs in college."

The future is bright for Morris, who exceeded her own expectations for the season.

"When she does well, she still seems a little surprised," Kuhl said. "Look out when she starts expecting it to happen."