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Siegel boys claim third straight state title on a day full of repeats and redemption

Joseph Spears
Nashville Tennessean

 As Siegel boys cross country coach Phil Young walked off the podium he couldn't help but smile. The Stars had just completed a three-peat in the state's largest classification. 

"When I started 12 years ago, I dreamed that we'd be able to win one state championship but never did I dream that we'd win three," Young said. "Hats off to all of the other teams we competed against today because without them we wouldn't have been pushed like we have been. We have great support system for this program that made this all possible.

"It still hasn't really sunk in what we've been able to accomplish."

For the four seniors who ran for Siegel, this last race and result felt like the appropriate note to go out on.

"This one felt really good for us compared to the others," Canaan Anderson said. "The last couple of times it was nice but we knew we had another chance to win another one. This is the end of our high school careers so we had to make it count."

Here are some other takeaways from the final day of the 2019 cross country season. 

Redemption for Sasha Neglia

As Neglia crossed the finish line, she couldn't help but smile. A year after being disqualified after going off course on the last quarter mile, Neglia cruised to a state championship.

Neglia's time of 17:22.90 was almost 29 seconds faster than the second-place runner. Not only did Neglia dominate the race, her performance helped fuel Dobyns-Bennett to the  Large Class championship and its first state championship since 1997.

"I'm just really happy right now," Neglia said. "I went into this race telling myself that I had nothing to lose considering how it went last year. It was just pure joy when I crossed the line and the fact that we won the team title makes it that much more special."

Dobyns- Bennett runner Sasha Neglia finishes first at the TSSAA division 1 cross country state meet at Percy Warner Park in Nashville on Saturday, Nov. 2, 2019.

Brentwood Academy repeats but just on the girls side

Brentwood Academy had won the last five team titles on the boys side while the girls were looking to repeat as DII-AA champions. While the girls completed the repeat by beating Harpeth Hall by 37 points, the boys finished fifth.

McCallie took home the boys title as the Blue Tornadoes had five runners finish in the top 15. Chattanooga Christian's Edimo Ninterestse cruised to a win with a time of 16:28.86. 

A sweep in both Dll-A races

Of the eight races on Saturday, three of the individual winners were on teams that won a team title. Both of the races in Dll-A were like that.

On the girls side, St. George's took the team title with Allison Newman coming in first in 18:52.79 followed by her teammate Lauren Rutlin. University School of Nashville took home the title on the boys side with Timothy Hays (16:35.44) coming in first followed by his teammate Pelham Bergesen. 

Boys start their race at the TSSAA Division 1 cross country state meet at Percy Warner Park in Nashville on Saturday, Nov. 2, 2019.

Signal Mountain cruises in both boys and girls

Winning a state championship is nothing new for the Signal Mountain girls, who won their third straight state championship, taking the Small Class championship, and sixth in the last seven years.

However, while the girls have been able to win state titles on a yearly basis, a state championship has eluded the boys program. That changed on Saturday.

Winning by 105 points, the Eagles claimed their first state championship. 

"We've been trying to do this for awhile now," Signal Mountain coach Dustin Carpenter said. "We've been blessed with a very successful girls program the last couple of years and really been working to bring the boys to that level. They did a great job of running as one unit today."

Reach Joe Spears at jspears2@gannett.com or 731-343-4923. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter @joe_spears7.