Following exceptional regular season and impressive regional effort, Science Hill junior has team back in Division 1 large school final, searching for second career individual state title after illness contributed to third-place finish last season

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Jenna Hutchins has referred to the opportunity in front of her as redemption.

But the journey the Science Hill High junior has taken in pursuit of another Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association Division 1 large school state championship Thursday in Hendersonville has been nothing short of relentless.

Hutchins, 16, won the state title as a freshman, but illness limited her output in last year’s championship meet at Percy Warner Park in Nashville, resulting in a third-place finish. In five dominant performances this season, Hutchins has left no detail to chance, performing at the highest level in her career entering the race at 10 a.m. CST Thursday on the new 5-kilometer layout at Sanders Ferry Park.

“I am very fortunate to be so much happier and healthier at this point in the season this year than last year. It was disheartening last year going into the meet knowing that I wouldn’t be able to perform my best, but I am ready to get some sort of ‘redemption’ this Thursday,” Hutchins said. “I feel more prepared than I ever have and am so grateful to have the opportunity to compete while many, at this point, do not. I am going to use this as extra motivation to run my best, help my team as much as possible, and of course, have fun.”

Science Hill, with a lineup featuring one senior in Ashley Doyle, a pair of juniors in Trinny Duncan and Hutchins, along with four freshmen in Hannah Eisenzopf, Micah Lane, Morgan Mahoney and Karly Wilhjelm, qualified as a team for a third year in a row after placing sixth in 2018 and fourth last season.

Although Hutchins won her regional race Oct. 29 in 17 minutes, 6.7 seconds on the 5-kilometer Daniel Boone High course in Gray by overcoming a course that included standing water as a result of flash flooding due to Hurricane Zeta, in addition to winds that reached 30 mph, she was quick to offer praise to her teammates, who stepped up in Duncan’s absence in order for Science Hill to advance by placing third behind David Crockett and the host Trailblazers.

“With all of this accounted for, I was extremely happy with my performance, but even happier to be able to have qualified along with my team to state,” Hutchins said. “I was really proud of how we were able to work together, even though our No. 2 runner was not able to compete because of COVID contact tracing implications.”

During a season in which Hutchins became only the second prep cross country athlete to achieve four consecutive 5-kilometer races under 17 minutes – matching the 2018 success of recent North Rockland High of New York graduate Katelyn Tuohy, now a freshman at North Carolina State – the ability to lower her time on the Daniel Boone course from last year by more than five seconds, given the challenging conditions, might have been the most impressive performance of her All-American career.

“Initially, I had my eyes set on some different goals and aspirations for my race at sectionals, but seeing the weather the day and the week prior to the meet, I knew I was going to have to take the new implications into account and slightly alter my expectations,” Hutchins said. “I went in with the mindset of not killing myself, but feeling good, making it to state and having a strong performance. After finishing the race and seeing how I still improved my time from last year, even though most runners were around 45 seconds slower, gave me confidence in my fitness and training, and reinstated in my mind how far I have come since last season.”

For additional perspective, only Daniel Boone junior Connor Wingfield – among 131 male athletes competing in the Division 1 large school regional – ran faster than Hutchins, clocking 16:56.7.

Had the state meet been held again at Percy Warner Park, Hutchins possessed the potential to become only the second athlete in Tennessee history to run under 17 minutes on the 5-kilometer layout, joining Independence High graduate Kathy Kroeger, who clocked 16:59.45 in 2006.

But the move this season to Sanders Ferry allows for Hutchins and her fellow competitors to author a new chapter in Tennessee state championship history, significance that is not lost on the Science Hill standout, who produced the No. 10 all-time prep cross country performance on a 5-kilometer course Sept. 12 by clocking 16:25.08 at the Chickasaw Trails Invitational in Oakville, Ala.

“I am extremely happy with the decision. Although I have never competed there before and steeplechase has such a long history, I think having a change in venue will spark a new sense of excitement and provide a new opportunity to see and endure new and unfamiliar challenges,” Hutchins said. “The park and scenery around the course is beautiful and I hope TSSAA officials will consider continuing to host the state meet here in the future.”

Having achieved course records at every venue she has competed at this season, whether it has been in Alabama, Georgia or Tennessee, Hutchins is ready to take aim at her next challenge Thursday, continuing to showcase why she is the top-ranked junior in the country and one of the best in the nation overall.

“I cannot express enough gratitude for TSSAA in allowing cross country athletes to compete and have a season, including a state championship,” Hutchins said. “So many runners in the nation have had this stripped away and we are extremely lucky just to be out there, so no matter what happens on Thursday or what the results reflect, it is a privilege to be able to do what I love most.”