BY MIKE BLACKERBY
Catholic’s Keegan Smith put a punctuation mark on a remarkable high school cross-country career in 2024.
So much so that Catholic coach Sean O’Neil makes a strong case that Smith perhaps cobbled together the greatest single season in history for a Tennessee prep runner.
In the pantheon of great runners from the state, Smith might just sit at the top of the list in history.
“It’s the best (season),” I’ve ever seen,” said O’Neil, in his 18th year as Catholic’s coach.
“We’ve never had anybody locally go to the NIKE and Footlocker Nationals and race at such a high level,” said O’Neil.
“He broke the Tennessee record for a 5K when he ran 14:23 at the NIKE Regional Championships. He also won the state championship and became the only guy to win KIL four years in a row.”
For his efforts, Smith is the 2024 5Star Preps Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year for the second time.
He also won the award as a freshman in 2021.
Among Smith’s many achievements and accomplishments during his senior season in 2024:
- Fastest 5K time in the country.
- Only male in the nation to be named first team All-American in both the NXN and Footlocker Nationals.
- Smith broke three all-time course records in addition to breaking the all-time Tennessee state record.
- NXR Southeast champion.
- Footlocker South champion.
- Tennessee state champion.
- Four-time KIL cross-country champion.
- Signed with Colorado and inked NIL contracts with HOKA and Precision Fuel and Hydration.
By any national measuring stick or metrics, Smith was a top-five runner in the nation as a senior.
“Keegan did things that have never been done around here,” said O’Neil.
At first glance you might assume things came easily to Smith, but that wasn’t the case.
As with any elite athlete, there were bumps along the road.
Smith’s were just more visible.
‘TARGET ON MY BACK’
Smith started running at an early age and earned a reputation as a star of the future.
“I’ve always had a target on my back – that goes all the way back to the third grade,” said Smith.
He started his high school with a bang, winning a state championship as a freshman and pretty much fulfilling all of the predicted promise.
Smith was still really good as a sophomore and a junior, but his trajectory seemed to stall.
“Some of it was he felt that pressure of early success,” said O’Neil.
“Every time he got to the starting line people expected him to do amazing things. Keegan went through some rough patches where he struggled to run his best when it mattered most, but it never affected his attitude.”
Despite not reaching some of his lofty goals as a sophomore and junior, Smith persevered.
“My sophomore and junior years weren’t the kind of years I wanted to have,” said Smith.
“But looking back they were two really good years as well. After my junior year I changed my mindset and decided not to get bogged down with outside noise,” explained Smith.
“After that I took a break and reset.”
LAST RIDE, COLORADO AND BEYOND
Smith still has some goals to attain in track and field at Catholic.
In addition to winning four consecutive KIL cross-country titles, Smith has a chance to show his uncanny range as he attempts to four-peat as the state 800 winner on the track this spring.
After that, he’s off to college at Colorado.
Smith said he picked the Buffaloes over Northern Arizona, Oklahoma State, Tennessee, Wake Forest and Stanford.
“The biggest thing to me was the location (of Colorado) and the school itself,” said Smith.
While the transition from high school to college can be difficult, O’Neil predicts Smith will be able to pull it off.
“For him, dealing with some tough races and struggles through high school, he is better equipped to handle that in college,” said O’Neil.
Smith won’t have a target on his back when he steps to the starting line for his first race at Colorado, but he said that’s OK.
At least for now.
“With moving to Colorado I’m leaving everything in high school behind,” said Smith.
“It’s kind of refreshing not to have that target on my back, but the Olympics has always been my goal.”