Full KIL Championship Results
Hardin Valley Academy is legit.
We already knew that, but this past Friday gave us more evidence.
The Hawks have a shot at the podium in Division One Large Schools.
The KIL Championship is always a good barometer for who the best teams are out of East Tennessee every single year.
Not only did Hardin Valley take the boys team title against some of Knoxville's best teams, they finished with a perfect score.
| 1 | Kaden Keller | 11 | Hardin Valley Academy | 16:24.00 | 1 | ||
| 2 | Andrew Schultz | 12 | Hardin Valley Academy | 16:37.00 | 2 | ||
| 3 | Alex Brittain | 12 | Hardin Valley Academy | 16:40.00 | 3 | ||
| 4 | Mitchell McCown | 11 | Hardin Valley Academy | 16:44.00 | 4 | ||
| 5 | Nathan Hillis | 11 | Hardin Valley Academy | 16:44.00 | 5 | ||
| 6 | Trevor Coggin | 10 | Farragut High School | 16:47.00 | 6 | ||
| 7 | Tyler Ebbert | 11 | Farragut High School | 16:57.00 | 7 | ||
| 8 | Daniel Blackston | 11 | Hardin Valley Academy | 17:02.00 | 8 | ||
| 9 | Riley Smith | 12 | Knoxville Catholic High School | 17:03.00 | 9 | ||
| 10 | Spencer Stovall | 11 | Knoxville Catholic High School | 17:19.00 | 10 | ||
Kaden Keller continues to have a strong junior season, finishing 13 seconds ahead of Andrew Schultz.
But Hardin Valley's strength comes in its ability to run as a pack.
The Hawks' 20-second one through five split was the best in the whole field. No. 3 runner Alex Brittain was only one-thousandth of a second ahead of No. 4 Mitchell McCown...and just two-thousandths ahead of Nathan Hillis, who finished fifth.
It does not get much closer than that.
We've got Hardin Valley as the No. 3 team in Tennessee so far this year.
They haven't had the opportunity to race Bartlett or Franklin yet, but they'll get that chance at the state meet in a little under a month.
If the Hawks continue to run in that tight of a pack, look out.
The sky is the limit for this team.