BY MIKE BLACKERBY
Senior standout Trevor Coggin set a blistering pace and his teammates followed in lock stride as Farragut’s cross-country team recorded a season for the ages in 2022.
Sometimes, living up to lofty expectations is impossible, but Coggin and Farragut did just that as the Admirals claimed their first state championship in cross country in 21 years.
And it wasn’t even close.
Farragut (41 points) won the November state Class AAA meet at Sanders Ferry in Hendersonville by a whopping 60 points over runner-up Beech.
The Admirals will likely be remembered as one of the top cross-country teams in TSSAA history.
Coggin, the 5Star Preps boys Runner of the Year, was second individually as he toured the 5K course in 15 minutes, 33.13 seconds.
His teammates were right on his heels.
Farragut placed three runners in the top five and the Admirals had five runners finish in the top 20.
“Trevor, being one of our senior co-captains, had that focus and drive all season,” said Admirals coach Chelsea Osborne.
“You could see it bleed all the way down with the team. Every kid on the team wanted success. It was one of the best seasons Farragut has had in a long, long time – if not ever.”
Coggin, who has committed to run in college for Tennessee, called it a dream season.
“It was super satisfying to be with a group of guys who worked so hard to get where we are and see it come to fruition,” said Coggin.
“It was really unique and really cool to be on a team like this. We were all really close and we just kind of fed off each other’s success. We stayed focused on our goals.”
Osborne said that Coggin’s drive is second to none.
“Trevor, when he sets his mind to something, is going to do everything he can to accomplish that as an athlete,” said Osborne.
“He puts himself in those situations and there’s no fear.”
Coggin ran 15:13 at KIL to lower his own school record in the 5K.
Osborne credits much of Coggin’s success in running to his healthy perspective on the sport.
“Trevor has a passion and love for it, but it is not an obsession for him,” said Osborne.
Coggin, who has a 4.6 GPA and has never made anything but an ‘A’ in high school, said his father once gave him some sage advice.
“My dad said I’m likely not going to make a living off running, so I devote a lot of time to school work,” said Coggin, who plans to study accounting at UT.
“You can’t devote all of your hours in the day to one thing. At the end of the day you’ve got other things to devote your time to besides running.”
Osborne predicted that Coggin has a bright future ahead of him at Tennessee.
“Going into college he has so much room to grow,” said Osborne.
“He still has quite a bit of a ceiling.”