Tennessee Cross Country Year-by-Year Archive
2024 Season
Men's SEC Finish:Â 6th
Men's Postseason: 3rd NCAA South Regional
Women's SEC Finish:Â 2nd
Women's Postseason: 4th NCAA South Regional | 26th NCAA Championships
Coach: Justin Duncan (1st Season)
The 2024 season ushered in a new era for Tennessee cross country as Justin Duncan was hired as the program's head coach on August 3, 2024.
In his first year leading the Big Orange on the grass, Duncan guided the Lady Vols to a second-place team finish at the SEC Cross Country Championships — their best finish at the conference meet since 2009. Four Lady Vols earned All-SEC honors, while Ashley Jones and Jillian Candelino also collected All-Region accolades. Tennessee punched its ticket to the NCAA Championships on the women's side, placing 26th in the team standings.
Newcomer Christopher Middleton-Pearson stood out on the men's side in Duncan's debut campaign on Rocky Top, earning All-Region honors with his fourth-place finish at the NCAA South Region Championships — helping the Vols secure third in the team standings and punching his individual ticket to the NCAA Cross Country National Championships.
2023 Season
Men's SEC Finish:Â 3rd
Men's Postseason: 1st NCAA South Regional | 26th NCAA Championships
Women's SEC Finish:Â 3rd
Women's Postseason: 1st NCAA South Regional | 6th NCAA Championships
Coach: Sean Carlson (2nd Season)
The Lady Vols raced their way to a special season – finishing sixth nationally at the NCAA Championships after qualifying for the NCAA meet for the first time since 2006. The placement was the program’s best since also finishing sixth in 1989 and tied for the second-best finish in Lady Vol cross country history.
The women won the NCAA South Region title for the first time since 2005 as Ashley Jones, Jillian Candelino, Jessie Secor, Rachel Sutliff, Caroline Lyerly and Kayla Gholar took home all-region honors.
At the SEC Cross Country Championships, the Lady Vols placed third with six total All-SEC honors.
On the men’s side, the Vols placed third at the SEC meet with three individuals earning All-SEC accolades. Tennessee defended its NCAA South Region title as it won the championship in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1994-95. The Vols had five runners finish inside the top 31 with four capturing All-Region accolades.
The region crown punched Tennessee's ticket to the NCAA Championships where it finished 26th as a team. Its appearance at the national meet marked the first time UT has made consecutive trips to NCAAs since 2001-02.
Freshman Dean Casey was named the SEC Men’s Freshman Runner of the Year – the first UT athlete to win the award – while head coach Sean Carlson was named the USTFCCCA South Region Men’s Coach of the Year for the second season in a row.
2022 Season
Men's SEC Finish:Â 2nd
Men's Postseason: 1st NCAA South Regional / 20th NCAA Championships
Women's SEC Finish:Â 6th
Women's Postseason: 5th NCAA South Regional
Coach:Â Sean Carlson (1st Season)
Under first-year head coach Sean Carlson, the men's cross country team reached heights the Big Orange had not seen in more than two decades. The Vols took second at the SEC Championships, won the NCAA South Region title and finished 20th at the NCAA Championships—representing UT's best team placement at the national meet for the men since 1995. Carlson's athletes received numerous individual honors throughout the 2022 cross country campaign, including four All-SEC, eight All-Region and two All-America certificates. Graduate transfer Dylan Jacobs was tabbed the USTFCCCA South Region Men's Athlete of the Year, and Carlson picked up South Region Men's Coach of the Year honors.
A young Lady Vols team finished sixth at the SEC Championships and fifth at regionals.Â
2019 Season
Men's SEC Finish:Â 9th
Men's Postseason:Â 12th NCAA South Regional
Women's SEC Finish:Â 4th
Women's Postseason: 3rd NCAA South Regional
Coach: Beth Alford-Sullivan
The Lady Vols posted their best campaign of the decade in 2019, securing the highest SEC (4th) and NCAA South Regional (3rd) finishes for the program since 2009. The squad was consistently paced by the trio of Sydney Seymour, Megan Murray and Katie Thronson, who each concluded the season earning All-Region honors. Tennessee's women put together an 87-10 (.897) head-to-head record, marking the highest win-loss percentage for the Lady Vols since 1989.
On the men's side, junior front runner Alex Crigger was UT's top finisher at the final four meets of the regular season. The Johnson City native concluded the season with an 18th-place finish at the NCAA South Regional Championships for his first career All-Region award.
2018 Season
Men's SEC Finish: 4th
Men's Postseason: 3rd NCAA South Regional
Women's SEC Finish: 7th
Women's Postseason: 7th NCAA South Regional
Coach: Beth Alford-Sullivan
Led by a mix of veterans and newcomers, the Tennessee men put together one of its best seasons in more than a decade, finishing fourth at SECs and third at the NCAA South Region Championships, one spot away from making nationals as a team. Senior Zach Long led the way, finishing second at the NCAA South Region meet and qualifying as an individual for the NCAA Championships, finishing 204th. Karl Thiessen earned SEC All-Freshman honors, taking 16th at SECs and NCAA Regionals. Sophomore Alex Crigger was one spot away from earning All-SEC and All-Region honors.
The Tennessee women took steps forward as a program, finishing seventh at both SECs and the NCAA South Region meet. Megan Murray earned All-Region honors, placing 10th in the South Region to earn her first spot at the NCAA championships where she placed 139th. Newcomer Katie Thronson received All-SEC and SEC All-Freshman Team accolades.
2017 Season
Men's SEC Finish: 5th
Men's Postseason: 5th NCAA South Regional
Women's SEC Finish: 10th
Women's Postseason: 10th
Coach: Beth Alford-Sullivan
The Tennessee men placed fifth in both the SEC championships and NCAA South Regional, paced by local Vol Zach Long, who earned USTFCCCA All-Region honors after his 21st place finish at the regional meet. Four Vols placed in the top 50 at the regional meet, which also included Wesley Robinson (27th), Alex Crigger (38th) and John Elrod (45th).
The Tennessee women finished 10th at the SEC Championship with Meghan Murray (21st) and Niamh Schumacher (22nd) both finishing in the top 25. Murray went on to earn USTFCCCA All-Region honors for her team-leading 19th-place finish at the NCAA South Regional meet.
2016 Season
Men's SEC Finish: 9th
Men's Postseason: 10th NCAA South Regional
Women's SEC Finish: 14th
Women's Postseason: N/A
Coach: Beth Alford-Sullivan
The Tennessee men's squad took home ninth place at the SEC Championship as sophomore Zach Long finished in 26th place and then followed that up with a 14th place finish at the NCAA South Regional. Gashaw Duhamel earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors after he was the third Vol finisher at the Commodore Classic on Sept. 17th.
The women's squad was paced by freshman Megan Murray as she took 35th at the NCAA South Regional. Peighton Meske enjoyed a breakthrough sophomore campaign which saw her earn a fifth place finish at the Tennessee Dual. UT opened their season at the Tennessee Cross Country Course at Cherokee Farm. It was the first race at the team's new cross country facility.
2015 Season
Men's SEC Finish: 11th
Men's Postseason: 9th NCAA South Regional
Women's SEC Finish: 11th
Women's Postseason: 19th NCAA South Regional
Coach: Beth Alford-Sullivan
Senior Chelsea Blaase lead the Vols, and finished first overall in the women's South Regional 6K posting a time of 20:02.29. She also finished as the runner-up at the SEC Championship with a 6K time of 19:40.90. Blaase finished in the top three of her first four races including winning the Louisville Classic. She was named USTFCCCA South Region Athlete of the Year.
Freshman Zach Long was named men's SEC Freshman of the Week twice in the 2015 season. This marks the first time a runner has earned two SEC weekly cross country honors in the same season. Jack Little finished his career strong with a 37th place finish at the NCAA South Region to lead the Vols to a ninth place finish.
2014 Season
Men's SEC Finish: 7th
Men's Postseason: 10th NCAA South Regional
Women's SEC Finish: 11th
Women's Postseason: 19th NCAA South Regional
Coach: Beth Alford-Sullivan
Senior Austin Whitelaw and junior Chelsea Blaase each concluded strong regular seasons with berths in the 2014 NCAA Championships, marking the first time since 2005 that Tennessee sent both a men's and women's representative to Nationals.
Blaase capped an incredible junior campaign with an All-American finish at the NCAA Championships, coming in 10th place at the national meet to become UT's 10th All-American. Blaase finished inside the top 10 in every race she ran in 2014, including six top three finishes. She earned her second career victory at the Crimson Classic in mid-October. Meanwhile, Whitelaw qualified for the Championships following his second consecutive All-Region performance, finishing seventh at the NCAA South Regional. He also earned All-SEC recognition after coming in 11th at the SEC Championships, helping lead the men's side to its second straight seventh-place finish at the event.
2013 Season
Men's SEC Finish: 7th
Men's Postseason: 5th NCAA South Regional
Women's SEC Finish: 8th
Women's Postseason: 9th NCAA South Regional
Coach: J.J. Clark
The Vols ranked among the top ten in the region all year, while the Lady Vols built upon foundations laid in previous seasons with top ten performances in SEC, NCAA South Region.
Peter Okwera represented the Vols at the NCAA Championship after earning All-SEC and South Regional honors for the second consecutive season. Daniel Tobin and Austin Whitelaw also achieved All-South Regional recognition. Chelsea Blaase placed tenth at SEC and NCAA South Regional meets, scored a victory at the Crimson Classic, and top 40 of every race this year. With four of five top runners for next season and ranking high as fifth in the region, the future is very promising for the Lady Vols.
